Telecommunications Relay Service
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Program level Payment Integrity results
Sponsoring agency: Federal Communications Commission
PROGRAM METRICS
$1,200 M
in FY 2023 outlays, with a
100.0%
payment accuracy rate
-
Improper payment estimates over time
View as:
Chart toggle amounts:Proper paymentsOverpaymentUnderpaymentTechnically improperUnknown
Payment Integrity results
-
FY 2023 improper payment estimates
Chart legend and breakdown
Payment accuracy rate
Improper payment rate
Unknown payment rate
Sampling & estimation methodology details
Sampling timeframe:
07/2022 - 06/2023
Confidence interval:
100%
Margin of error:
+/-0.0
-
Actions taken & planned to mitigate improper payments
Mitigation strategy Description of the corrective action Completion date Status Training A discussion took place with the process owner of the TRS Provider Distribution process in September 2023. The process owner was instructed to update all TRS signers who approve payments when any file intervention must take place. It is rare for manual overrides to be made on the payment files but in the situation where it must be done, they must notify the signers of what manual overrides had to be performed as well as the impact of those overrides to ensure signers recalculate any calculations a 2nd and 3rd time.FY2023 Q3CompletedAudit Provider Distribution Process documentation was updated for the item discussed in ATP3_1. Future internal control audits and PIIA reporting will include this as a note for any manual calculations being performed.FY2023 Q4CompletedAutomation TRSUI calculates the provider distribution amounts based upon the minutes submitted and the current rate in the database. Calculations are randomly checked by signers when reviewing distribution documents. TRS will continue to rely on the system calculations unless errors arise.FY2023PlannedTraining A discussion took place with the process owner of the TRS Provider Distribution process in September 2023. The process owner was instructed to update all TRS signers who approve payments when any file intervention must take place. It is rare for manual overrides to be made on the payment files but in the situation where it must be done, they must notify the signers of what manual overrides had to be performed as well as the impact of those overrides to ensure signers recalculate any calculations a 2nd and 3rd time.FY2023PlannedAudit Provider Distribution Process documentation was updated for the item discussed in ATP3_1. Future internal control audits and PIIA reporting will include this as a note for any manual calculations being performed.FY2023Planned
Overpayments
| Overpayment root cause | Overpayment amount |
|---|---|
| Amount of overpayments within the agency's control | $0 M |
| Overpayment root cause | Overpayment amount |
|---|---|
| Amount of overpayments outside the agency's control | $0 M |
Underpayments
| Underpayment root cause | Underpayment amount |
|---|---|
| Amount of underpayments | $0 M |
| The amount of underpayments that occurred because the data/information needed to validate payment accuracy prior to making a payment does not exist | $0.0 M |
| The amount of underpayments that occurred because of an inability to access the data/information needed to validate payment accuracy prior to making a payment | $0.0 M |
| The amount of underpayments that occurred because of a failure to access data/information needed to validate payment accuracy prior to making a payment | $0.0 M |
| Eligibility element/information needed | Eligibility amount |
|---|---|
| Financial | $0.0 M |
| Mitigation strategies taken | Mitigation strategies planned |
|---|---|
| Audit, Training | Audit, Automation, Training |
Technically improper payments
| The amount of improper payments that were paid to the right recipient for the correct amount but were considered technically improper because of failure to follow statute or regulation | $0.0 M |
Additional information
Unknown Payment Details
Evaluation of corrective actions
The actions taken were aimed at making the Distribution signers responsible for approving payment aware when manual intervention takes place. Manual intervention is typically needed roughly once a year therefore automation is relied upon the majority of the time. Due to the limited times that this happens as well as the severity of the finding, no further automation or action is needed at this time.
Future payment integrity outlook
Telecommunications Relay Service has established a baseline.
Error rate found in current reporting year amounted to .000004% therefore we are currently projecting that the future year will have 0% error rate.
| Out-Year improper payment and unknown payment projections and target | |
|---|---|
| Current year +1 estimated future outlays | $1,480.9 M |
| Current year +1 estimated future improper payments | $0 M |
| Current year +1 estimated future unknown payments | $0 M |
| Current year +1 estimated future improper payment and unknown payment rate | 0 % |
| Current year +1 estimated future improper payment and unknown payment reduction target | 0 % |
The program's current year improper payment and unknown payment rate of 0.0 % has been achieved with a balance of payment integrity risk and controls and represents the lowest rate that can be achieved without disproportionally increasing another risk, therefore it is the tolerable rate.
Based upon the 100% testing completed of the Provider distributions which amounted in an error rate of .000004%, RL concludes that the programs improper and unknown payment rate are at a tolerable rate.
The error found was a result of manual intervention which is rare in the regular course business. TRS has adequate systems, human capital and internal controls over this process. The changes implemented will help to open communication for further questions and analysis if manual intervention is needed in the future.
No resources were requested in the most recent budget submission of the agency to establish and maintain the current internal controls.