mr. bagdoyan: that's correct. we had informal discussions as well as the formal letter of responding to our recommendations. ms. stabenow: thank you, mr. chairman. >> mr. coats: thank you, mr. chairman itcht want to thank our two witnesses. lord knows where we would be if we didn't have g.a.o. and inspector generals. the alarming malfeasance and incompetence of the rollout of this plan is just stunning. and here we are, you know, we can't just simply brush it off and say, well, this was a bad start but everything's going great now. the cost to the taxpayer probably will never -- probably we'll never know. but thank goodness that we have your organizations providing us a ormation and spurring on seemingly bureaucratic nightmare that exists within the federal government in terms of handling these kinds of programs. anybody in the private sector that had done this would have been bankrupt. investors would have lost all their money. it's stunning to continue to observe what it takes to get these agencies to -- i think

mr. bagdoyan? is that correct? agree that increasing the utilization of existing, tested data sources is one easy way that cms can reach the mutual goal of expanding program integrity and management and better access to fraud risk? >> yes, that's, in fact, one of our recommendations to cms is to consider doing that on an active basis, both to capture the data and then analyze the data for whatever indicators that they may throw off and act upon those, yes. >> then do you have any idea when cms is going to move forward to actually take advantage of that and do it? >> well, as i stated before in response to several senators' questions, cms has accepted those recommendations. they are on record in writing as having done so. and as i said in my opening statement, it is now incumbent on the agency to take action on a timely basis. but as i said, it will take time to work through this. it's not an easy fix, it's not a short-term fix, it's not a one-and-done fix. >> well, i apologize for being late, because obviously, you

mr. bagdoyan. we turn to you. >> i am pleased to be here today to discuss results from our february 2016 report on enrollment and verification controls for aca health care coverage obtained through the federal marketplace during the 2014 open enrollment period. our results are based on extensive forensic analysis of relevant data from cms and other agencies such as ssa, irs and dhs, involving originally the entire 2014 applicant and are independent of the undercover work we perform for that period. the central future of enrollment controls is the federal data services hub, which is the primary vehicle for cms to initially check information provided by applicants against various federal data sources. in addition, the aca established a process to resolve inconsistencies, instances where applicant information doesn't match that of marketplace sources. in terms of context for our work, coverage offered through the federal marketplace is a significant skmendy tour for federal government. current levels

mr. seto bagdoyan with forensics audits and investigative service mission team. during his gao career, mr. bagdoyan has served in a variety of positions including as legislative adviser in the office of congressional relations and as assistant director for homeland security and justice. mr. bagdoyan has also served on congressional details with the senate finance committee and the house committee on homeland security. we're glad to see you back here again. am i pronouncing that right, bagdoyan? pretty close. okay. that's good. mr. bagdoyan has held several seats in the private sector, including most recently focusing on political risk and homeland security. he received his bachelor degree in international relations and economic from clairmont mcken na college and mba in strategy from pepperdine university. i want to thank you both for coming. we'll hear the witness testimony in order that they were introduced. so miss bliss, just please proceed with your five-minute statement. >> thank you. good morning, chairman hatch and other distinguished members of the commi

mr. bagdoyan. we turn to you. >> i am pleased to be here today to discuss results from our february 2016 report on enrollment and verification controls for aca health care coverage obtained through the federal marketplace during the 2014 open enrollment period. our results are based on extensive forensic analysis of relevant data from cms and other agencies such as ssa, irs and dhs, involving originally the entire 2014 applicant and are independent of the undercover work we perform for that period. the central future of enrollment controls is the federal data services hub, which is the primary vehicle for cms to initially check information provided by applicants against various federal data sources. in addition, the aca established a process to resolve inconsistencies, instances where applicant information doesn't match that of marketplace sources. in terms of context for our work, coverage offered through the federal marketplace is a significant skmendy tour for federal government. current levels