The Department of Health and Human Services announced the Audit Enforcement and Risk Oversight (AERO) initiative.
AERO, through the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Financial Resources, aims to utilize analytical artificial intelligence tools to conduct audits across all 50 states and other federal grant recipients. AERO will review all audits that grantees have filed in the last five years. States, local governments, nonprofit organizations, and other grantees that receive $1M or more in federal funding must submit an audit to the federal government to ensure compliance with federal regulations and detail their financial operations.
With the AERO initiative, HHS hopes to eliminate or reduce audit noncompliance, unresolved audit findings, and delinquent submissions. HHS did not provide an estimate of potential cost savings, noting that the initiative is too new.
In its press release, the department stated that any entity that is unwilling to address findings from AERO may face temporary payment withholds, suspension or termination of award, withholds of future federal funds, or other remedies permitted under the law.