Opinion ID: 3012795
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Inspector General.

Text: The Office of Inspector General of HHS, along with inspector generalships for other federal administrative agencies and departments, is governed by the Inspector General Act of 1978, 5 U.S.C. App. 3.3 Offices of Inspector General are designed to be “independent and objective units” separate from their respective departments and agencies. 5 U.S.C. App. 3 § 2. They are directed to “conduct and supervise audits and investigations relating to the programs and operations” of their respective agencies. Id. Their primary task is to prevent fraud and abuse within such programs and operations. The Office of Inspector General of HHS is thus an independent office with a primary function to investigate fraud and abuse within the Medicare program. The Inspector General Act grants inspectors general broad discretion to determine which investigations and audits are necessary to its mission, authorizing them “to make such investigations and reports relating to the administration of the programs and operations of the applicable establishment as are, in the judgment of the Inspector General, necessary or desirable.” 5 U.S.C. App. 3 § 2. 3. The inspector general for HHS (then the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare) was created by statute in 1976. Pub L. No. 94505. The Inspector General Act is similar in relevant respects to the original statute. 7