Word: gao
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...firms with a DNA sample in the form of a cheek swab and a detailed description of dietary and lifestyle habits. According to the agency, the reports peddled by these firms are in equal parts misleading, vague to the point of uselessness and based on scientifically dubious claims. The GAO sent in profiles for 14 mock customers - each with a unique lifestyle and physical profile - but derived from only two DNA sources. According to the GAO, the companies sent back a variety of reports. That suggested, in the GAO's opinion, that the advice had very little to do with...
...Rosalynn Gill-Garrison couldn't disagree more. The chief scientific officer of Colorado biotech Sciona, one of the companies probed by the GAO, says her firm's reports differed for each fictional customer because each report is a function of both the genetic and the lifestyle information provided. Change half the function, she says, and you?re bound to get a different result. And although she concedes that nutrigenomics is a young field, she disagrees vehemently with the GAO?s claim that her company cannot back up its reports with sound science. "Can we tell you that in 30 years...
...GAO investigators last March made 900 phone calls to the call centers for the 10 largest private insurance plans handling the drug program and found that on two-thirds of the calls they were given incorrect or incomplete answers to questions. In particular, in 70% of the cases when service reps were asked a question like "My mother takes the following drugs... which of your plans would cost her the least amount annually?" they provided inaccurate or incomplete responses...
...Medicare officials are furious with the report. Mark McClellan, administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, fired off an angry memo to GAO after he read it, accusing the agency of using "inaccurate, incomplete and subjective methods" to reach its conclusions. McClellan complains that the congressional watchdog agency asked trick questions in some cases, which a call center employee couldn't be expected to answer. GAO stands by its questions and its conclusions...
...state has 40 to 50 different plans to choose from, and each insurance company is required to set up call centers to answer questions about the different plans it offers to help seniors pick the right one for their drug needs. But the lesson seniors should draw from the GAO report is that, whether signing up for the benefit the first time or renewing it, you need to study the plan carefully yourself...