What we investigated The Old Age Security program pays three benefits to seniors, each with its own eligibility conditions—the Old Age Security (OAS) pension, the Guaranteed Income Supplement (GIS) and the grant. What we found • Human Resources and Social Development Canada and Service Canada improved seniors' access to program benefits by simplifying the application process and by implementing initiatives to. Human Resources and Social Development Canada and Service Canada do not have the consolidated information they need to properly manage remittances.
Information provided by Human Resources and Social Development Canada and Service Canada in August 2006 indicates that they have begun action to strengthen their management of the OAS program. Human Resources and Social Development Canada and Service Canada have agreed with each of us. Social Development Canada's mandate was to design and deliver a range of social programs, including the Old Age Security Program.
If the applicant is married or living in a cohabiting relationship, the total income of the pensioner and the spouse or partner is taken into account. In February 2006, Social Development Canada was merged with Human Resources and Skills Development Canada to form Human Resources and Social Development Canada. Resources and Social Development Canada and Service Canada to ensure the accuracy of OAS program payments.
Human Resources and Social Development Canada and Service Canada make available information about the Old Age Security program and provide access to services in ways that meet the needs of beneficiaries.
Observations and Recommendations
- National quality review. At the time of the audit, Human Resources and Social Development Canada and Service Canada did
- Quality deficiencies may or may not cause a payment error . This is because the potential for a payment error depends not only on
- Quality reviews in processing centres. Each of the processing centres we visited had conducted some quality reviews during the
- Recommendation. Service Canada should implement a
- Recommendation. Until a standardized approach is in place, Service Canada should direct its processing centres to apply existing
- Recommendation. Service Canada should review the approaches it currently uses to assess beneficiaries’ continuing
- Service delivery. Human Resources and Social Development Canada and Service Canada measure and publicly report on
- Client satisfaction. Information on client satisfaction with the delivery of the OAS program has not been collected regularly and
- Reporting to Parliament. The Department uses only the two key service delivery performance indicators to report its results in its
- No interest is charged on OAS overpayments. The Financial Administration Act requires federal departments and agencies to charge
- Policies needed to implement the penalty provisions of the Old Age Security Act have not been completed. The Act was
- Recommendation. Human Resources and Social Development Canada and Service Canada should take steps to improve their
The increase coincided with the start of the GIS broadcasts and changes in the outreach program. But Human Resources and Social Development Canada plans to conduct a program evaluation of the GIS intake in 2006-07 and another evaluation of the outreach program in 2008-09. The result is that the assessment of several of the risks was partial or not yet completed.
The applicant has resided in Canada for at least 40 years after the age of 18 and before the application is approved. In the case of a partial pension, the 20 years may include the time spent in Canada after the pension was granted. At the time of the audit, Human Resources and Social Development Canada and Service Canada did Human Resources and Social Development Canada and Service Canada did not have a standardized national quality review procedure for applications for OAS program benefits.
These errors affected 0.6 percent of the total amount of monthly benefits to which claimants were entitled in the sample period. In each of the previous three years it had carried out examinations of all types of applications and of a number of actions to update beneficiaries' accounts. Some processing centers have not taken timely follow-up action on entire parts of the reports.
None of the processing centers had conducted quality assessments of how they handled their automated reports. Only one of the four processing centers we visited followed up on the returned slips to update the information for the affected beneficiaries. Three of the processing centers we visited use an information system to track their workload and provide monthly reports to national authorities.
Information on client satisfaction with the delivery of the OAS program was not collected regularly and delivery of the OAS program was not collected regularly and consistently. One of the amendments, which will enable Human Resources and Social Development Canada to charge. Service Canada has informed us that it will determine what steps to take on procedures to ensure continued eligibility based on the results of the national quality assurance survey.
Therefore, Service Canada will not yet be able to report trends in customer satisfaction with the delivery of the OAS program. Both organizations said the legislative initiative includes further changes to the current criminal provisions of the OAS law.
Conclusion
They had not yet begun reporting against revised indicators, but planned to provide revised and expanded performance information to Parliament and the public in the fall of 2007. We were told that this information would include the results of Service Canada's 2006 customer satisfaction survey. Service Canada believed that the customer satisfaction survey would provide an initial baseline of customer satisfaction and therefore would not be comparable to the 2001 departmental survey or the Citizens First surveys.
Service Canada informed us that by August 2006 it had made changes to its information systems and August 2006 had made changes to its information systems and procedures to improve the information available on remittances. Human Resources and Social Development Canada said it continues to review its remittance policy and plans to develop a new draft policy by March 2007. It also said it was pursuing a legislative change to the OAS Act for the fall of 2006, including amendments related to respect. to the Financial Administration Act requirement to charge interest on remittances.
However, until these measures are completed, organizations will not comply with the legislative requirement to charge interest on unpaid. Service Canada is simultaneously finalizing the policies and procedures necessary to implement the penalty provisions for the OAS program. However, it is not known whether this will continue, as payment accuracy is not systematically measured.
These variations signal a need for regular monitoring of the quality of application processing to ensure that payment error rates remain under control. The organizations develop a national risk management approach to systematically identify and assess risks, design appropriate control mechanisms and monitor the risks. But Human Resources and Social Development Canada and Service Canada don't have the consolidated information they need to properly handle overpayments.
In addition, the two organizations do not comply with legislation requiring them to charge interest on overpaid OAS payments. At the end of 2007, they indicated that they had collected and reported improved information on customer satisfaction and service, and had implemented and improved a national quality assessment system.
About the Audit
The population estimates reported in this audit have been appropriately weighted to reflect the distribution of the national population. Human Resources and Social Development Canada has reliable information on the cost and effectiveness of measures to increase use. Information about program benefits is easy to find, and access is offered through channels that meet beneficiaries' needs.
Human Resources and Social Development Canada identifies and mitigates risks to the integrity of program benefits.
Appendix List of recommendations
Existing systems, with appropriate built-in checks, will be used until the migration of Old Age Security program information to the department's accounts receivable system. The Department is seeking the earliest opportunity to amend the OAS Act to comply with the requirements of the Financial Management Act. Given the limited financial resources of most pensioners, the Department's position has been that public pension schemes should be exempt from the general requirement to charge interest on overpayments, except in cases of fraud or misrepresentation.
Human Resources and Social Development Canada has identified a list of potential legislative initiatives for fall 2006, which includes a proposed amendment to the OAS Act. Human Resources and Social Development Canada and Service Canada will also take steps to finalize appropriate policies and procedures to allow for the implementation of sanction provisions at the earliest possible opportunity. Human Resources and Social Development Canada and Service Canada recognize the need to implement appropriate penalty provisions in the OAS Act in cases of willful omission or misrepresentation.
The current articles of the OAS law on sanctions, which are not yet in force, contain provisions that could create administrative complexity. Both organizations are reviewing these sections and will take legislative action as soon as possible.
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