Government Accountability Office (GAO) Podcast: Watchdog Report Government Accountability Office

The financial exploitation of seniors is a growing problem in the U.S. and is expected to continue to grow as the population of older Americans also increases. The Department of Health and Human Services has created a national database for reporting elder abuse with the goal of improving preventions, interventions, and services for exploited seniors. We talk with GAO's Kathy Larin, an expert on programs for vulnerable populations and a director in our Education, Workforce, and Income Security Team, to learn more.

The Department of Defense spends billions of dollars every year developing high-tech weapons to maintain our battlefield superiority. Sometimes, we sell these weapons to our allies overseas in an effort to support U.S. national security, foreign policy, or economic interests. However, these high-tech weapons can become the targets of theft, espionage and reverse engineering. So, how does the U.S. government identify and respond to those threats? We talk with GAO's Bill Russell to find out more.

Transportation—whether it's planes, trains, boats or cars—is becoming more automated. While automated technology holds promise—such as improving your ability to parallel park—recent accidents caused by automated technology have demonstrated its potential safety challenges. Wow is this technology being monitored to ensure it is safe? We talk to GAO's Heather Krause to learn more

As the number of older Americans increases, so does the need for long term health services and supports. Medicaid is the nation's primary payer for long-term care. And because of how expensive it is to provide this care, more and more states are moving to managed care delivery models. But there are concerns about access to and the quality of care provided by these managed care organizations. We talk with Carolyn Yocom, an expert on Medicaid policy and a director in our Health Care Team, to learn more.

NASA has plans to return American astronauts to the Moon by the end of 2024, However, the success of these plans depend on two upcoming test flights. GAO reviewed NASA's progress towards that first test flight, as well as, the cost of efforts and the likelihood NASA will meet its 2024 deadline. We talk with GAO's Bill Russell, an expert on NASA programs and a director in our Contracting and National Security Acquisition Team, to find out more.

The federal government relies heavily on information and communication technology products and services to carry out day-to-day operations. This dependency has increased the complexity, diversity, and scale of the government supply chains--that is, the public and private partnerships that make, implement, or use communication technology solutions. However, in September of 2019, the Department of Homeland Security reported about 180 different threats to the supply chain. We talk with GAO's Carol Harris to find out more.