Beginning in 2025, OPM is adding stricter eligibility requirements to try to root out ineligible enrollees in the Federal Employees Health Benefits (FEHB) program — something that’s been high on GAO’s radar for at least the last few years. A 2022 GAO report showed that OPM spends up to $1 billion each year on ineligible participants erroneously enrolled in FEHB.

“One of the biggest benefit systems in the country, and for decades, nobody checked these things,” Comptroller General Gene Dodaro told lawmakers on the House Oversight and Accountability Committee during a June 13 hearing.

Each year, GAO releases a report of the programs and spending areas across the federal government that could lead to significant cost savings for agencies. The changes that GAO recommends aren’t always complex, but to be able to implement the measures, agencies need resources, Dodaro said.

“This isn’t rocket science — I mean, it’s basically looking at those things and doing some good auditing,” Dodaro said. “It could be tackled as soon as the resources could be marshaled to do it.”

Agencies often ‘slow to act’

By putting more controls in place and creating stricter measures on who can actually enroll — and stay enrolled — in FEHB, OPM should be able to more effectively address the cost issues, GAO said. Identifying ineligible dependents has remained a top challenge for FEHB since 2018, according to OPM’s inspector general office.

“[OPM] recognized the significance of the issue, but like in a lot of cases, people are slow to act on a recommendation,” Dodaro told committee lawmakers. “That’s why we keep following up.”

Addressing the FEHB spending challenges will involve a multi-pronged approach from OPM. It’s a matter of finding and removing currently enrolled ineligible FEHB members and preventing new members from enrolling in error, while also making long-term data updates to more easily root out ineligible enrollees in the future.

OPM is already gearing up to take some of these steps beginning in 2025. Starting next year, federal employees will be required to provide eligibility documentation for any family members they want to add to their insurance coverage during Open Season. But on top of that, Dodaro said an audit of current FEHB enrollees is necessary.

“[OPM] has not yet gone back and looked at all the people that are already in the system as to whether they have legitimate numbers of … people who are eligible for services,” Dodaro said. “They could sample across federal agencies, they could get some participation. But there has to be a thorough audit done of existing people that are on the federal employee’s health benefit systems.”

OPM is planning to start on this path as well. During this year’s Open Season, agencies will be required to validate the eligibility of a random sample of FEHB participants. That sample must comprise at least 10% of elections for both Self-Plus-One and Self-and-Family enrollments. Where possible, OPM is also encouraging agencies to validate larger portions of enrollees. If agencies find ineligible members through that data collection, they’ll have to follow OPM’s instructions for removing them.

A centralized FEHB database

But another major barrier for OPM to make improvements, Dodaro said, is the agency’s lack of a central database of FEHB enrollees. Without a centralized system, it’s much more difficult to identify and remove erroneously enrolled FEHB participants.

“Current FEHB eligibility determination and enrollment is highly decentralized and requires cooperation between nearly 100 employing offices responsible for determining eligibility and enrolling more than 8 million members,” OPM said in April. “If funded, OPM could extend this same central enrollment system to all FEHB enrollments, which would allow OPM to manage and make consistent all FEHB enrollments and remove individuals who cease to be eligible for the program.”

OPM, as part of its fiscal 2025 budget request, is proposing legislation to build a centralized enrollment system for FEHB. With a central database, OPM would be able to more quickly address the problem and avoid the spending errors. That system, if it’s implemented, would be modeled after the centralized system OPM just recently built for the upcoming Postal Service Health Benefits program.

During the oversight committee hearing, Dodaro said OPM Acting Director Rob Shriver’s background in insurance should help OPM make headway and get the changes underway — as would asking the Office of Management and Budget for additional support.

“He knows what the shortcomings are,” Dodaro, speaking about Shriver, told House committee members last week. “The question he’s wrestling with is how can he implement all these things that need to be implemented as soon as possible, like getting a central repository in place.”

The post Centralized FEHB database key to OPM cost savings, GAO says first appeared on Federal News Network.

Employees have reported fraudulent FSAFEDS deductions in paychecks as recently as June 7, Federal News Network has learned. FNN could not confirm the number of employees who have continued to see fraudulent deductions. The FSAFEDS fraud was originally estimated to impact approximately “several hundred” employees.

The Office of Personnel Management operates the FSAFEDS program through a contract with HealthEquity, a third-party vendor.

HealthEquity referred all questions to OPM. An OPM spokesman said the agency was continuing to work with the HealthEquity “to secure impacted accounts, refund impacted individuals, and implement additional anti-fraud controls.”

OPM did not answer specific questions about further reports of fraud impacting the program. “At this time, there is no evidence that OPM or our vendors’ systems have been compromised in any way,” the spokesman said.

But agencies have continued to warn their employees about the potential for FSAFEDS fraud. In a June 13 notice, the Coast Guard alerted employees to OPM’s temporary pause in new FSAFEDS enrollments.

“Your vigilance is crucial in helping address this issue promptly and effectively,” the Coast Guard wrote in the alert. “FSAFEDS appreciates your cooperation and understanding and will continue to communicate any new updates with members in the coming days and weeks.”

The ongoing pause in the FSEFEDS enrollment function also applies to current employees who experience a qualifying life event (QLE), such as the birth of a child or a marriage. OPM said employees will be able to retroactively adjust their elections due to a QLE after the pause is lifted.

Employees can also submit claims for reimbursement while the pause is in effect.

John Hatton, vice president for policy and programs at the National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association (NARFE), said the situation was “obviously concerning.”

“The questions now are how OPM and federal agencies are going to identify all unauthorized deductions, and ensure every federal employee is made whole; and how quickly can OPM get FSAFEDs enrollments back up and running so this employment benefit remains available to federal employees,” Hatton said in a statement. “We’re thankful the OPM OIG has identified this problem, and hope law enforcement is able to identify and prosecute the individuals responsible for these fraudulent activities.”

FSAFEDS fraudsters used personal data

The FSAFEDS fraud stems from bad actors using federal employee information to either create fraudulent accounts or fraudulent reimbursement claims, according to one government source. The source said HealthEquity has been introducing new anti-fraud and security measures, including requirements to use Login.gov, which features multifactor authentication.

But Linda Miller, the founder CEO of Audient Group, LLC and former deputy executive director of the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee, questioned why OPM didn’t require HealthEquity to use stronger fraud controls in the first place.

“There needs to be really stringent identity theft-based fraud controls at the front end, and anybody that is administering a program like this should be expected to have a baseline level of those kinds of controls,” Miller said. “Anytime you’re dealing with a service that involves money being exchanged, [multifactor authentication] is the floor, not the ceiling, when it comes to anti-fraud controls.”

Miller said it’s easier than ever for fraudsters to leverage stolen personal data, including that of federal employees, that can be found for sale on the deep or dark web.

“In my experience with federal agencies, across the board with some exceptions, there’s not really a lot of attention on the possibility that fraud or identity theft could be happening,” Miller said. “The awareness of this issue is so small compared to the impact and the size of the problem.”

The post Some feds continue to see fraudulent FSAFEDS deductions first appeared on Federal News Network.

For federal employees, a bill pending in the Senate would bring expanded coverage of fertility treatments through the Federal Employees Health Benefits (FEHB) program.

But the Right to IVF Act, which Sens. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), Patty Murray (D-Wash.) and Cory Booker (D-N.J.) introduced last week, did not garner the 60 votes needed to move forward with a floor vote Thursday afternoon. Almost all Republicans voted against the measure to advance the legislation, resulting in a 48-47 tally.

The legislation rolls together three previous bills all aiming to improve access and insurance coverage for in-vitro fertilization (IVF). In part, the bill would have impacts specifically on FEHB enrollees. One component of the Right to IVF Act aims to set higher requirements for FEHB carriers to offer IVF coverage.

The Office of Personnel Management increased FEHB carrier requirements for IVF treatments for plan year 2024. But the legislation looks to further extend the requirements of IVF to cover both treatments and medications, as well as expanding to more types of assisted reproductive technology (ART).

The Democrat-led bill currently has 48 cosponsors. Generally, it focuses on establishing broader access to IVF and ART and lowering treatment costs, which without insurance can add up to tens of thousands of dollars in costs.

“Federal workers — myself included — know how expensive paying for IVF out of pocket can be, and the cost has put it out of reach for far too many,” Stacey Young, president of the Department of Justice Gender Equality Network (DOJ GEN), a federal employee advocacy group, told Federal News Network.

The push for a vote on the IVF bill represents a mindset shift toward the presidential campaign now just five months away, the Associated Press reported. Duckworth and other co-sponsors of the bill have said the legislation is also a response to the overturning of Roe v. Wade in 2022, and other more recent efforts to limit access to fertility treatments and medications.

“Today, women and families … are worried about what comes next, including the erosion of reproductive freedoms nobody thought were at risk. This includes access to services like IVF,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said Tuesday on the Senate floor. “The Right to IVF Act establishes a nationwide right to IVF and eliminates barriers for the millions of families looking to use IVF to start and grow a family.”

The Biden administration also came out in support of the legislation and called for its passage.

“The administration looks forward to working with Congress … in order to protect access to fertility services, eliminate barriers for families in need of high-quality, affordable fertility services, and ensure that federal agencies have the resources to implement these benefits,” the Office of Management and Budget wrote in a statement of administrative policy Wednesday.

DOJ GEN has continually called for better federal health care coverage of infertility treatments. The group is one of many stakeholders that pushed for the advancement of the Right to IVF Act in the Senate.

“Supporting this bill should be a no-brainer,” Young told Federal News Network. “Our nation’s public servants should have affordable access to the full range of reproductive health care, including IVF and other forms of assisted reproductive technology.”

But some lawmakers, along with DOJ GEN, have said even without the legislation, OPM should still work to add more coverage for FEHB enrollees. For plan year 2024, OPM already expanded IVF coverage requirements for FEHB carriers to provide, at a minimum, coverage of the cost of drugs related to an IVF procedure for three cycles annually. OPM has also encouraged FEHB carriers to go beyond the minimum requirements — and so far, 24 carriers have done so.

DOJ GEN leaders said they’re grateful for the efforts OPM has made so far in the FEHB requirements. But the advocacy group wants OPM now to take things a step further. DOJ GEN is asking OPM to expand health carrier requirements to cover IVF treatments, on top of medications, for plan year 2025.

“OPM has the opportunity to break new ground again in 2025 by mandating not only coverage of IVF medications, but also medical treatments,” DOJ GEN wrote in a letter to OPM Acting Director Rob Shriver in May. “Medical treatments comprise the lion’s share of the cost of IVF. Many of our members can attest first-hand to the financial strains that paying out of pocket for IVF placed on them. Some had to drain their savings; borrow money from family members; or forgo treatments entirely. Others left DOJ for private-sector jobs that offered full IVF coverage, taking their invaluable skills and institutional knowledge with them.”

OPM declined to comment on whether there were any plans underway to further expand coverage requirements for IVF in the health insurance program. But some federal health experts have said with just a few months before Open Season, it’s likely too late to expand the coverage as early as plan year 2025 — though it would be possible in future health plan years.

Betsy Campbell, chief engagement officer at national infertility association RESOLVE, said the calls for better insurance coverage of fertility treatments have been growing.

“We know that hundreds of federal employees have been reaching out to OPM to request this coverage, and we’ve started to see some progress with OPM,” Campbell said in an interview with Federal News Network. “The next step is actually adding the medical procedure of IVF. So we’re hopeful that OPM will listen to their employees and add this highly desired benefit.”

RESOLVE has also been encouraging the adoption of a more inclusive definition of infertility that would help LGBTQ+ employees as well as unpartnered individuals access IVF and other fertility benefits through FEHB — but she said the efforts should go beyond simply updating the definition.

“There appears to still be some work, because donor sperm and donor eggs aren’t necessarily covered by all the plans,” Campbell said. “And that, of course, is needed by same-sex couples and non-partnered people when building their families. It’s one thing to have an inclusive definition, but you also have to cover the elements that are needed for these communities to build their families as well.”

A 2021 survey from Mercer, in partnership with RESOLVE, found that a vast majority of employers that increased fertility treatment coverage and benefits did not see a significant increase in medical plan costs.

Additionally, Campbell said, these types of benefit adjustments can significantly impact recruitment and retention of employees.

“You don’t want to provide yet another reason for them to leave federal employment to go to a private employer that is providing fertility benefits,” Campbell said. “Often employers don’t realize there’s a gap in this coverage until it’s pointed out. I think we’re seeing OPM trying to fill this gap piece by piece … Now it’s time to also cover these medically necessary procedures to help their employees build their families.”

The post Senate GOP blocks bill to expand IVF access as advocates call for better FEHB coverage first appeared on Federal News Network.

OPM’s inspector general office shared more information about the pause on Thursday, saying it comes “out of an abundance of caution,” and to try to prevent further fraud, the OIG said in a special fraud alert.

In addition to new enrollments, the enrollment pause also applies to any current enrollee in FSAFEDS who experiences a qualifying life event (QLE), such as a marriage or the birth of a child.

During the pause, current FSAFEDS enrollees are still able to make reimbursement claims. Once OPM chooses to resume the enrollment functionality, FSAFEDS will retroactively adjust any elections based on QLEs. But currently, OPM has not set a date for when the functionality will resume.

The pause comes after several hundred federal employees currently enrolled in FSAFEDS experienced recent fraudulent activity on their accounts. Scammers have used the employees’ personal information to either create new, fraudulent FSAs, or otherwise make fraudulent reimbursement claims on existing FSAs.

HealthEquity, the vendor that administers FSAFEDS, previously notified OPM of the recent rise in fraudulent activity.

“OPM is working with the vendor to secure impacted accounts, compensate impacted individuals and implement additional anti-fraud controls,” an OPM spokesperson said in an email statement.

The fraudulent activity in FSAFEDS is relatively limited in scope, since it’s affecting just a few hundred federal employees’ accounts. In total, the scammers have managed to shore up a couple hundred thousand dollars, Politico first reported last week.

Since becoming aware of the fraud, HealthEquity has already taken additional security measures by implementing Login.gov requirements and setting up dual-factor authentication for federal employees to be able to log in to their FSAFEDS accounts.

A HealthEquity spokesperson declined to comment with any additional details on the current status of the affected FSAFEDS accounts, or if there would be further changes to security protocols.

There’s currently no evidence that the fraudulent activity is coming from a compromise in either OPM’s or HealthEquity’s online systems, but the investigation into the source of the fraud is ongoing.

In the meantime, the accounts of any affected individuals have been secured, and OPM is in the process of reimbursing all impacted enrollees in full.

Agency benefits officers and payroll providers are advising federal employees who use FSAFEDS to review and verify their leave, earnings and FSA account statements. If employees notice any suspicious charges or activity, they can call FSAFEDS at 877-372-3337.

Each year during Open Season, federal employees have the option to enroll in FSAFEDS, but as of last plan year, less than 20% of eligible feds actually have an account set up in the health program.

FSAFEDS lets current federal employees set aside pre-tax dollars from their paychecks to go toward covering eligible health care, prescription, dental, vision and child and adult day care expenses. Enrollees will usually pay for the medical costs out of pocket and are then reimbursed using funds from an FSA.

For 2024, employees who are enrolled in an FSA can contribute up to $3,200 for the entire year. The funding has to be used within a given plan year, but there is an option to roll over up to $640 to the following year. Many federal health experts highly recommend opening and contributing to an FSA, as it lets participants save money by contributing to health expenses pre-tax.

The overall eligibility pool for FSAFEDS has also recently expanded. Beginning in January, for plan year 2024, OPM made active-duty service members as well as members of the Active Guard Reserve eligible to start a Dependent Care Flexible Spending Account (DCFSA). The program expansion made about 400,000 active-duty service members newly eligible for the benefits of FSAs.

The post OPM pauses new FSAFEDS enrollments after fraud surge first appeared on Federal News Network.

The Department of Veterans Affairs has made a major change in the rules for veterans who left military service with other-than honorable discharges. It opens the possibility of healthcare coverage for those who may have been discharged for willful misconduct or even moral turpitude. For detail, the Federal Drive with Tom Temin spoke with Anthony Kuhn, managing partner of the law firm Tully Rinckey.

Interview transcript: 

Tom Temin Veterans Affairs has made a major change in the rules for veterans who left military service with other than honorable discharges. It opens the possibility of health care coverage for those who may have been discharged for willful misconduct or even moral turpitude. Details from the managing partner of the law firm Tully Rinckey, Anthony Kuhn. Anthony, good to have you back.

Anthony Kuhn Thanks for having me. Always a pleasure.

Tom Temin So, this is — seems revolutionary in the history of VA, because it’s been axiomatic that you have to have a good discharge to get benefits. So, what’s going on here?

Anthony Kuhn Yes, it is. You know, there’s been some steps in this direction in the past, but the VA hasn’t really committed to this initiative like they have with this new rule change. So, in the past, individuals who were separated for mental health conditions and, primarily they’re looking to try to take care of individuals who develop those conditions in combat. But it doesn’t — it’s not exclusive. So, there’s going to be other situations where individuals maybe developed PTSD symptoms or mental health issues in their military service, maybe in training, or even traumatic experiences that they suffered while on active duty. So, the VA here is — they’re changing the rule to try to expand, to capture those individuals. In the past, you had to file — you had to submit an application to the board for correction of military records and hope to get a discharge upgrade. There were some memoranda published by individuals, high-ranking individuals that directed the boards in the past to give liberal consideration to those individuals. Well, this is kind of a skirt around. So, now they’re looking at giving the VA the power to determine whether those individuals might be eligible for VA benefits that they otherwise wouldn’t be eligible for.

Tom Temin And is there any estimates that you’ve seen of how many people might be affected by this potentially?

Anthony Kuhn Well, I would expect it to be at least in the tens of thousands, given the number of applications that we file and the number of veterans that have flooded the boards with discharge upgrade requests in the past few years. There was — Secretary Hagel issued a memo back in 2018, which I just referred to a couple of minutes ago here. That memo urged veterans who had mental health conditions, especially post-traumatic stress disorder and things of that nature, to apply for a discharge upgrade. And what they had to show was that the stressors that they suffered through in the military were the foundation, really, for the misconduct, or that the misconduct could be tied to those things. And the way we did that is we would submit these applications to the board. We would show that this individual had good, service in the military, good honorable service. And then something traumatic happened to that individual. And then the misconduct followed, because the individual often struggled to deal with those mental health concerns. So, again, now the VA is saying that you can do that. You can still get your discharge upgrade. You can still file with the boards for correction of military records, which are unrelated to the VA. It’s a completely separate agency and organization. But now you can actually go to the VA and you can make that same argument. And hopefully the VA will make a quicker decision because the boards can take up to two years to make that decision. So, it’s creating another avenue. And maybe if one avenue doesn’t work, you try this avenue, and now you’ve got multiple avenues where you might be able to to seek service-connected compensation and medical treatment for the conditions.

Tom Temin And just as an aside, getting the upgrade in the discharge in the first place is probably desirable outside of being able to access VA benefits. It could help your career and prospects in other zones. Fair to say?

Anthony Kuhn Yes, absolutely. So, if you want your discharge upgraded for all purposes, employment, benefits, you can still go to the board for correction of military records and file that application. And if they grant a discharge upgrade and often when PTSD is involved or other mental health conditions, military sexual trauma, things of that nature, when those types of conditions come into play, the board will often grant the discharge upgrade. At least most of the boards. Air Force can be pretty tough on the case regardless, but most of the branches will liberally grant those discharge upgrades. So, this gives you another avenue now to to seek just VA benefits so they won’t upgrade your discharge. They’re not going to issue a new DD214, the release from active duty. They’re not going to make those changes because it’s a different agency. But they’re going to, I think, take a more liberal approach and start looking to help individuals with mental health concerns combat related hardships, things of that nature. They’re going to look to assist those individuals better than they have in the past.

Tom Temin We’re speaking with attorney Anthony Kuhn, managing partner of Tully Rinckey. And besides a rule change, this is kind of a theory change in recognizing that certain things that happened while on military duty or while in active service are, in fact, manifestations of damage that can happen to someone as a result of that service. That’s there’s an expansion there.

Anthony Kuhn Yes, there is. So in the past, there was a there was an avenue that most people didn’t know about, and it was kind of difficult. You could file with the VA, and you would request that the VA consider your discharge to be something other than dishonorable, for the purposes of the VA only. So, most people didn’t know about that. It’s very rare that veterans figure that out and are able to accomplish that. We’ve done that here, but most veterans aren’t aware of that. In fact, I did it with a Korean War veteran who had fought, I think, 40 years to try to establish his claim, and nobody was ever able to establish his claim. And the way that we were able to establish this claim is that I actually filed his board for correction of military records application, and at the same time, I filed with the VA for them to consider his discharge to be something other than dishonorable. And in those arguments, I included all the evidence that this individual had actually been shot in combat. He then came home, was treated and went back and was injured again in combat. So, this is an individual that they weren’t giving benefits to. So, it was a pretty easy decision, I think, for the VA. And they very quickly turned it over, and awarded him all of the benefits that he would have been entitled to, had gotten an honorable discharge, but he didn’t have an honorable discharge. Eventually, I was able to fix that as well at the board for correction of military records, but that took a lot longer. So, now, this process should speed that up. It gives us another avenue to try to get veterans the benefits that they should be entitled to, because nobody should get shot in combat and have to fight for 40 years to establish VA benefits.

Tom Temin Even with this new process, though, the veteran is still subject to the discretion of a VA judging official.

Anthony Kuhn They will be. So what they’re going to look for is cognitive impairments, mental health concerns, combat-related hardships, things of that nature. So individuals are going to still have to meet that burden and establish that those, conditions exist in order to qualify for VA benefits. But it should be a much quicker, much easier process than filing through the board for correction of military records and, for example, having to prove that there was an error or injustice in the way that the individuals separated.

Tom Temin And in general, it’s sometimes surprising how little recent veterans, or maybe not-so-recent veterans, are aware of all of the services that is available to them from VA. I mean, it’s just that’s the way the world works. And for those that have a less-than-honorable discharge, they might have figured, well, that’s the end of me in VA. See you later, Charlie. How does the word get out to people that they have a chance now, perhaps to have that upgrade or to get those benefits despite the discharge status they do have?

Anthony Kuhn And that’s exactly right. There are so many individuals out there that don’t even really understand the definition of veteran, because it’s different everywhere you go. So, some organizations will help veterans, but they define veteran differently than the VA. For me, you know, I want to give someone credit for going to basic training and making it through and serving in the military regardless of what happened that ended their military career. To me, that’s a veteran, but the VA disagrees. The VA says that a veteran is someone with an honorable discharge. So, there are questions about who are veterans and who’s going to obtain these benefits. So, I mean, it starts there, and it’s going to work through the VA to decide who they want to issue these benefits to, because some of these people are going to run into the issue of whether they’re actually a veteran. The VA is now saying that — they haven’t come out and clearly said this — but they’re at least inferring that they’re going to have to consider some of these people veterans regardless of what their discharge status is, because they say only veterans are entitled to VA benefits. So, it’s going to be interesting to see what they do with the definition of veteran as well moving forward.

Tom Temin Attorney Anthony Kuhn is managing partner of Tully Rinckey. Thanks so much for joining me.

Anthony Kuhn My pleasure. Anytime. Thanks for having me.

Tom Temin And we’ll post this interview at federalnewsnetwork.com/federaldrive. Hear the Federal Drive on demand. Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.

 

The post VA rule change could mean health care benefits for a million more veterans first appeared on Federal News Network.

Here are six benefits that affect a federal employee’s retirement, as well as a brief overview of what to consider about each when planning to retire:

Pension

There are actually two federal employee pension systems: The Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) and the Federal Employee Retirement System (FERS). Most federal employees these days are on FERS; only federal employees who began their service before January 1, 1984 are on CSRS. CSRS offered feds an annuity that amounts to a percentage of the average of their three highest-earning years of employment. FERS offers a pension that is a lower percentage of their high-three, but combines it with Social Security benefits and the Thrift Savings Plan, the government’s version of a 401k plan.

The FERS pension formula is 1% of your high-three average salary, multiplied by your years and months of service. If you retire at age 62 or older and have 20+ years of service, that percentage becomes 1.1%. So someone who is 62, with 20 years of service and a high-three average of $70,000 would receive an estimated annual pension of around $15,400, or about $1,283 monthly.

Social Security

Federal employees pay 6.2% of every paycheck into Social Security, the second leg of the FERS retirement income tripod. The government matches that, which means 12.4% of every paycheck is going toward their retirement. It’s more complicated with CSRS employees, who should consult a financial adviser who specializes in federal retirement to see if they qualify for Social Security.

FERS retirees need 40 quarters of qualified employment to earn Social Security benefits, which will then be based on their highest 35 years of earnings. They can begin taking Social Security at age 62, but that’s technically considered early retirement. Feds who chose to do that will receive the smallest payments, but will also receive the most payments over time. The payment amount goes up a percentage every year until age 70, when it maxes out. Feds who retire at 70 will get the biggest payments, but the fewest. It does not grow after 70; feds who don’t claim Social Security at age 70 are leaving money on the table for no reason.

TSP

Finally, there’s the TSP. The government’s version of a 401k plan consists of five core funds: G, C, I, F and S. Then there are the Lifecycle funds, which consist of a blend of each of the core funds targeted at a specific retirement year.

The TSP is one of the most important and beneficial government benefits. While it is one of the simplest 401k structures, it can do a great job of accumulating retirement dollars while you work if used correctly. The biggest reason for that is the matching contribution: The government will match up to 5% of each paycheck if you invest that much in your TSP.

Another benefit is that unlike the pension or Social Security, TSP has liquidity. Retirees have far more control over how much they withdraw from it. Finally, the contribution limits are huge; federal employees and retirees can find out what those limits are and keep up with yearly changes at TSP’s website.

While TSP is a great accumulation tool, it has limitations in the pre-retirement and income phases because of the lack of diversification. It is vitally important to consult with a financial professional who truly understands TSP, its options and the rules that apply to it so you can Maximize it later in your career and into retirement.

FEHB

The Federal Employee Health Benefits (FEHB) program is the government’s health insurance, of which it pays 72%; employees only pay 28% of the cost. Feds can take their FEHB into retirement as long as they were covered for five consecutive years, up to their retirement date. That also includes qualified family members, who can also be added during major life events or any Open Season.

One common myth about the FEHB in retirement is that it gets more expensive. But what’s actually happening is the same yearly deduction is being split across 12 pension payments, rather than 26 paychecks. So the payments are larger, but fewer. However, the deductions do come out after taxes in retirement, unlike when feds are working.

Survivor benefits

If a retired federal employee passes away before their spouse, that spouse does get some benefits. However, those are difficult to calculate and generally require the help of a qualified financial adviser to determine. In addition, there are differences between how that’s calculated between FERS and CSRS.

FEGLI

Finally, there’s the Federal Employee Group Life Insurance (FEGLI). This is often the most confusing because most people don’t know which option they have or what they’re paying. Those options are:

• Basic: Costs $10-30+ per pay period. It’s very inexpensive while you work but the price increases dramatically in retirement. It pays your adjusted base salary rounded to the next thousand, plus $2,000.
• Option A: Cheapest at $2 per pay period, then $6 per pay period once you turn 60 (regardless of if you’re retired). It pays $10,000.
• Option B: Pays up to five times your salary. It’s generally a good deal while you’re young but becomes expensive as you get older because the cost rises every five years. This can create a life insurance trap as you get older if you don’t understand the price increase and plan accordingly.
• Option C: Optional family coverage with up to five multiples. Each multiple is $2,500 for children or $5,000 for spouses.

See a fiduciary

These are just basic overviews of very complicated federal benefits. Unfortunately, federal agencies don’t have retirement officers anymore, and call centers don’t offer personalized advice on benefits. Meanwhile, fiduciaries are financial advisers required to act in your best interests. Only 11% of financial advisers are fiduciaries. However, of those, few are trained in the intricacies of federal benefits, which require deep and specialized knowledge.

Justin T. Pierce and James M. Campbell are fiduciaries as well as federal retirement consultants (FRCs). They are the managing partners of Federal Employee Benefit Advisors and have a whole team of FRCs. Join Justin T. Pierce and James M. Campbell in their next complimentary webinar.

The post Navigating the complexities of federal retirement benefits first appeared on Federal News Network.

More than 175 House and Senate Democrats are urging the Office of Personnel Management to require every FEHB carrier to expand their offerings and cover costs for both infertility treatments and medications, starting in plan year 2025.

That requirement “would reflect the reality that IVF is one of the most effective treatments for families struggling with infertility, and growing in popularity, with its usage nearly doubling from 2012 to 2021,” the lawmakers, led by Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.) and Sen Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), wrote in a letter to OPM Tuesday.

Starting just this year, FEHB carriers already began covering, at a minimum, two forms of artificial insemination and associated drugs, as well as the costs of IVF-related medications for at least three cycles of treatments. The requirements for carriers cover the cost of medications, but not necessarily the cost of the IVF treatment itself.

OPM did not note any plans to increase infertility treatment coverage for 2025 in its most recent call letter to carriers from February. But Kevin Moss, marketing director at Consumers’ Checkbook, said that’s not necessarily surprising. OPM is running up against the clock for FEHB negotiations ahead of plan year 2025.

“I would be surprised to see a change this big happening this late for a new plan year,” Moss said.

There are only a few months left before benefits are locked in with the federal insurance program’s carriers. FEHB health plans have to submit their rates and benefits for the 2025 plan year by May 31. From there, OPM will negotiate and finalize benefit negotiations by July 31 for the upcoming plan year.

During that process, an OPM spokesperson said the agency will work with carriers to promote expanded access to comprehensive IVF services. In particular, OPM is strongly encouraging carriers to offer more comprehensive IVF coverage, beyond the minimum required level.

“OPM expects carriers to provide quality options for gender-affirming care and services, maternal health, fertility, obesity management, mental health and substance use disorder treatment, and telehealth benefits” the agency wrote in its February call letter.

In their letter, lawmakers expressed appreciation for the steps OPM has already taken to broaden infertility treatment coverage in FEHB by offering some coverage of related medications. It’s a significant change, considering that IVF treatments can cost tens of thousands of dollars out of pocket for just one cycle — and 35% of that price tag comes from prescription drug costs, the lawmakers said.

But the lawmakers said offering further benefits would help agencies better compete for employees, who may seek different job opportunities with better insurance coverage elsewhere.

“While significant work remains to be done to improve IVF access, which includes ensuring comprehensive plan designs are inclusive of LGBTQ and solo individuals who rely on medical intervention to build their families, your leadership in making sure FEHB plans cover IVF medications represents meaningful progress in expanding access to fertility treatments, which will ultimately prove life-changing for families across the country,” the lawmakers said in their letter to OPM Director Kiran Ahuja.

An OPM spokesperson said that 24 plans are currently covering a greater portion of the IVF procedure, beyond the drug costs and above the minimum requirements in FEHB. For instance, Blue Cross Blue Shield Association is covering up to $25,000 per year in IVF costs.

Still, the current coverages available through FEHB may leave room for improvement.

“There is some coverage in some of the plans, but it is fairly limited and leaves couples with a lot of out-of-pocket expenses,” Tammy Flanagan, a federal benefits and retirement specialist at Retire Federal, told Federal News Network. “We will see how much this is expanded later this year when the plans announce their benefit changes for 2025.”

Regardless, it’s important for enrollees to carefully review all available information when selecting a plan during Open Season, the OPM spokesperson said.

OPM is also ramping up preparations for the launch of the Postal Service Health Benefits (PSHB) program next year. The program will cover about 2 million Postal Service employees, annuitants and their family members. In March, OPM conditionally approved 32 carrier options for PSHB in 2025.

This year, Open Season will run from Nov. 11 to Dec. 9. During that time, both FEHB and PSHB enrollees can make elections and changes to their health care options for plan year 2025.

The post Lawmakers urging expanded IVF coverage for FEHB enrollees first appeared on Federal News Network.

The House is once again nearing a finish line to address two provisions limiting Social Security benefits for some federal annuitants.

But it’s still up in the air what direction Congress will take. Many lawmakers are pushing for a full repeal of the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and the Government Pension Offset (GPO). Others are instead looking to keep the provisions, but reform their calculations.

The Social Security Fairness Act, a bill that would eliminate WEP and GPO, has broad bipartisan support, gaining 316 House co-sponsors and 53 in the Senate. But during a House Ways and Means Committee hearing, some Republicans and other stakeholders called for different answers.

“Fully repealing the WEP and GPO would violate the principles of fairness and equity that these provisions were intended to protect,” Bipartisan Policy Center Chief Economist Jason Fichtner told lawmakers on the committee’s Social Security subcommittee Tuesday. “[But] given data limitations at the time the WEP and GPO provisions were first established in law, these provisions create an overly complex structure.”

In response to Tuesday’s hearing, Reps. Abigail Spanberger (D-Va.) and Garret Graves (R-La.) are doubling down in their push for the passage of the Social Security Fairness Act, reintroduced in January 2023.

“Throughout our time in Congress, we have heard from tens of thousands of Americans who have been adversely impacted and impoverished by these harmful policies,” the representatives wrote to committee members in a letter shared exclusively with Federal News Network. “With the Ways and Means Committee so focused on ensuring retirement security for all Americans, there is no time like the present for Congress to act … We believe that full repeal is the best solution.”

The WEP and GPO reduce — and in some cases eliminate — Social Security benefits for some federal retirees and other public sector workers, as well as their spouses, widows and widowers. For years, some members of Congress have been urging a full repeal of the two provisions to give affected annuitants a full Social Security benefit amount. Advocates have said WEP and GPO are unfair to those who work in the public sector.

The Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) originated in 1983, and it reduces Social Security benefits for anyone who receives an annuity from their time in government, but who also worked in a Social Security-covered job, typically a private sector position. WEP impacts roughly two million individuals, including employees in the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) who were hired to the federal government prior to 1984.

The Government Pension Offset (GPO) dates back to 1977, and impacts the Social Security benefits of the spouses, widows or widowers of any individual with a government pension. If two-thirds of a government pension is more than the value of the Social Security benefit, then the GPO can entirely eliminate a Social Security benefit.

Despite agreeing that the WEP and GPO formulas are outdated, a few witnesses at the subcommittee hearing said they still wanted to maintain what they said was equity between public and private sector workers.

“The WEP and GPO are necessary features in a system with Social Security’s basic design, but their current forms failed to achieve their intended purposes in large part because there are simplified approximations reflecting previous data limitations,” said Charles Blahous, a senior research strategist at George Mason University. “Appropriate reforms could result in greater parity.”

Bills such as the Equal Treatment of Public Servants Act and the Public Servants Protection and Fairness Act may provide the framework for reforming rather than repealing WEP and GPO. The two bills operate slightly differently, but either one would provide at least some relief to CSRS annuitants.

One option on the table to address WEP and GPO would adjust the current Social Security benefit formula. Specifically, it would change the formula to make proportional calculations based on workers’ earnings in Social Security-covered jobs, versus their total earnings in both covered and non-covered jobs. Current annuitants would also have their penalties reduced and receive rebates.

“Much good can come from a relatively straightforward change that would make the Social Security benefit proportional or prorated for workers with non-covered earnings,” Fichtner said.

For now, it’s unclear what exact language lawmakers will choose, should they decide to move forward with a reform rather than a full repeal of WEP and GPO.

And while expressing appreciation for the subcommittee hearing, Spanberger and Graves still said a full repeal of WEP and GPO will bring the most relief to those negatively affected.

“We have heard from tens of thousands of Americans who have been adversely impacted and impoverished by these harmful policies,” the lawmakers said in their letter to the committee. “These WEP [and] GPO victims have had their Social Security benefits unfairly reduced — and in some cases altogether eliminated — because they chose a life of public service. It is time to offer them a remedy.”

One main concern from opponents of a full repeal of WEP and GPO is the cost of the change. Some raised concerns that giving full Social Security benefits to CSRS annuitants and other public sector retirees would negatively impact the solvency of Social Security overall — or in other words, the ability to continue paying out benefits on time and in full to beneficiaries.

“There’s some back and forth on what the solution for Social Security going forward is, and what we need to do about that. That general debate is going to continue to be in the background and you can’t really separate a repeal of WEP and GPO from that,” NARFE Staff Vice President John Hatton said in an interview. “A lot of Congress members agree these are unfair provisions. But they probably don’t want to do this without some type of cost offset, because they don’t want to hurt the solvency of Social Security more. That’s going to be the challenge for us.”

NARFE, or the National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association, has been a long-time advocate of a full repeal of both WEP and GPO. Despite maintaining that stance, Hatton said in the short-term, any type of reform to the system would still be a step in the right direction.

“If we can get some progress, actually made and passed into law, we’ll take that as a win and keep on working on this issue going forward,” Hatton said. “We’ll continue to work towards repeal, but we will certainly take what we can get if there is a consensus that finds a compromise.”

The post Repeal or reform? House lawmakers weigh responses to WEP, GPO first appeared on Federal News Network.

Starting in Open Season this fall, agencies will be required to validate participant eligibility of a random sample comprising at least 10% of FEHB elections for both Self-Plus-One and Self-and-Family enrollments.

OPM noted that 10% is the minimum for validation, and is encouraging agencies to validate larger portions of enrollees when possible. Agencies have to report their enrollment reviews to OPM by July 2025. If agencies find ineligible members through the sample collection, they’ll also have to follow instructions for promptly removing them, OPM said in a benefits administration letter Wednesday.

“Today’s actions build on years of progress addressing issues in FEHB enrollments,” OPM said. “Collectively, these requirements ensure that agencies are verifying documentation provided during each of the key periods when an employee might make a change.”

The new requirements for agencies come after a 2022 Government Accountability Office report found that OPM may be spending up to $1 billion each year on ineligible enrollees in the governmentwide health insurance program, which covers 8 million participants.

“The longer OPM delays its efforts to establish a monitoring mechanism to identify and remove ineligible program members, the more ineligible members and related improper payments in the program may continue to accrue, costing the program millions, or up to approximately one billion dollars per year, according to OPM’s own estimate,” GAO said in the 2022 report.

Beginning in 2025, federal employees will also be required to provide eligibility documentation for any family members they want to add to their insurance coverage during Open Season.

Identifying ineligible dependents has remained a top challenge for FEHB since 2018. In 2021, OPM first put regulations in place to monitor family member eligibility during a member’s initial enrollment, or during qualifying life events. Before 2021, OPM was not asking FEHB enrollees for any verification of family members’ eligibility for health insurance coverage, and instead only using “self-certification.”

OPM’s new requirements, announced this week, now mark even stricter requirements, now verifying family members who get added to FEHB elections during Open Season, the time of year when many participants are actually adding new individuals to their plans.

OPM also just recently completed an FEHB “Master Enrollment Index” that’s meant to root out any irregularities in existing FEHB enrollments. OPM said it will then further review any irregularities that the index finds, and keep agencies informed of those reviews.

The challenges in FEHB eligibility verification have gained attention in Congress as well. The FEHB Protection Act, which Sens. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) and Tom Carper (D-Del.) introduced in March, would similarly require OPM to verify eligibility before adding new members to the health care program. If enacted, the bill would also require an audit of FEHB to remove any invalid members who are currently enrolled.

“By confirming eligibility, we have the potential to save taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars annually,” Carper said about the bill. “I look forward to working with my colleagues and OPM to ensure they have the resources and tools needed to end improper payments and root out fraud in the FEHB.”

As part of its fiscal 2025 budget request, OPM is also proposing legislation to build a centralized enrollment system for FEHB — which could help relieve some of the challenges of ineligible members in the system. That system would be modeled after the centralized system OPM has just recently built for the upcoming Postal Service Health Benefits program.

“Current FEHB eligibility determination and enrollment is highly decentralized and requires cooperation between nearly 100 employing offices responsible for determining eligibility and enrolling more than 8 million members,” OPM said. “If funded, OPM could extend this same central enrollment system to all FEHB enrollments, which would allow OPM to manage and make consistent all FEHB enrollments and remove individuals who cease to be eligible for the program.”

The post Stricter FEHB requirements from OPM aim to root out ineligible members first appeared on Federal News Network.

One of the few remaining policies from a series of 2021 executive orders lets federal employees still take up to four hours of paid administrative leave to get COVID-19 vaccine booster shots, the Office of Personnel Management said in an April 12 memo.

“The administration strongly encourages federal employees to get recommended doses of updated COVID-19 vaccines even when receiving those vaccines is not a job requirement,” OPM Director Kiran Ahuja said in the memo addressed to agency heads. “Vaccines remain the best tool we have in our toolbox to combat COVID-19. They are safe, effective and free.”

For federal employees, the offered administrative leave will cover the time it takes to get the COVID-19 booster shot, as well as feds’ travel time to and from the vaccination site. As is standard, employees should get approval from their supervisors before taking leave for this purpose, OPM said. Four hours is the maximum OPM is allotting, but federal employees should only take off as much time as they actually need to get the shot.

In a departure from previous OPM guidance, federal employees can no longer take administrative leave when accompanying a family member who’s getting vaccinated, if they experience an adverse reaction to a vaccine, or if they’re experiencing COVID-19 symptoms and waiting to get tested. In these instances, OPM said employees should now use regular sick leave instead, or some other type of either paid or unpaid leave.

Alongside OPM’s new COVID-19 leave guidance, a memo from the Office of Management and Budget Friday officially brought the Safer Federal Workforce Task Force — and any related guidance from that task force — to an end. OMB initially stood up the task force in early 2021 as a way to ensure a safe and healthy federal workplace and pandemic preparedness.

The administration said although COVID-19 continues to pose health concerns, there’s no longer a real need for a full task force or larger leave policies for federal employees.

Even with the task force now ending, however, agencies should continue to maintain and implement their workplace safety plans, OMB said. Those safety plans were one of the initial requirements for agencies under the 2021 executive orders.

Moving forward, in the absence of the task force, OPM is now taking on the responsibility of considering any further personnel policy or leave changes related to the COVID-19 pandemic or any other public health emergencies.

The Safer Federal Workforce Task Force’s website will remain online, but it’ll no longer be updated, OMB said.

The administration’s sunsetting of the Safer Federal Workforce Task Force also comes almost a year after the White House officially ended the COVID-19 national public health emergency on May 11, 2023.

Around that same time last year, the administration officially lifted a COVID-19 vaccine requirement for federal employees. That mandate, though, was never fully enforced in the first place because it was tied up in various court cases, which blocked most of the requirements.

Regardless, by the start of 2022, 98% of federal employees had already either complied with the vaccine mandate or requested an exemption.

The post Feds can still take administrative leave to get COVID-19 booster shots first appeared on Federal News Network.

• Open Season is not until this fall, but some feds may want to start looking at their health care early. A special enrollment period starts today for Postal Service annuitants. USPS retirees who are eligible for Medicare Part B, but do not have it, can sign up between now and September 1 without having to pay a penalty. The USPS is covering the cost of the penalty for any annuitants who do choose to sign up. The special enrollment period comes ahead of the launch of the brand-new Postal Service Health Benefits program for plan year 2025. And for everyone else, Open Season will run Nov. 11 to Dec. 9.
  (Postal Service Health Benefits program - Office of Personnel Management)
• Nearly a two-year effort has concluded with agencies receiving their first update to the standards for collecting federal data on race and ethnicity in more than 25 years. The Office of Management and Budget's Chief Statistician Karin Orvis said the interagency working group made several significant changes to the standards, including adding Middle Eastern or North African as a new minimum category. Agencies are to begin updating their surveys and administrative forms as quickly as possible and must submit an agency action plan for complete compliance within 18 months. Orvis said the working group reviewed 20,000 comments and held almost 100 listening sessions as part of its effort to finalize the new standards.
  (OMB updates standards to collect federal data on race, ethnicity - White House)
• The Defense Department has established the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Cyber Policy. The new office, officially launched on March 20, will oversee all cyber-related policy issues at the Pentagon. That includes certifying the department's cyber operations budget and overlooking cyber workforce development programs. Ashley Manning will serve as the official performing the duties of the assistant secretary until the Senate confirms an official for the position. President Joe Biden nominated Michael Sulmeyer, who is currently serving as the principal cyber adviser to the Army Secretary, to serve in the new role.
  (Establishment of the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Cyber Policy - DoD)
• There is a new section to the FAR and it may be the most important change in decades. Get used to hearing about FAR Part 40. It's the new consolidated section of the Federal Acquisition Regulations for all things cybersecurity and supply chain security. The FAR Council issued the final rule today establishing this new section, bringing together clauses and regulations covering broad security requirements for most acquisitions. The new FAR part will provide contracting officers with a single, consolidated location to find these requirements. While the new FAR section does not create any new requirements or contract clauses, the council currently is reviewing three rules that would be added to Part 40 when finalized.
  (FAR Council formally established new cybersecurity section - Federal Register)
• Senate lawmakers are pushing to bring federal record-keeping practices into the 21st century. Agencies would need to make sure employees back up their texts and other digital chats used for official business under the Strengthening Federal Records Act of 2024. Sens. Gary Peters (D-Mich.) and John Cornyn (R-Texas) are co-sponsoring the bill. They say the Federal Records Act needs to keep with rapidly changing technology. The bill would also strengthen the role of the National Archives and Records Administration in holding agencies accountable to record-keeping rules.
  (Senate bill aims to bring federal records law into the age of ‘WhatsApp’ - Federal News Network)
• The Navy has created a sort of one-stop-shop of efficiency when it comes to Navy Culture. A new initiative dubbed Culture of Excellence 2.0 aligns several Navy programs and concepts, allowing the leadership to better understand the needs of its sailors. New materials released as part of the initiative include a playbook on mental health and a suicide-related behavior response guide. The women’s initiatives team and the new policy for the assignment of pregnant sailors also fall under the umbrella of Culture of Excellence 2.0. And there will be a new tool for commanders to better understand the risk of destructive behaviors within their commands.
  (Navy updates its culture campaign - U.S. Navy)
• A new leader has taken the reins at the National Security Agency’s Cybersecurity Directorate (CSD). Dave Luber formally took over as CSD Director on Friday, replacing Rob Joyce, who had led the directorate since 2021. Luber previously served as CSD’s deputy director. He is a longtime veteran of the intelligence community, having also served as executive director at U.S. Cyber Command and in various positions throughout the NSA. The Cybersecurity Directorate is responsible for helping to secure defense industrial base networks and issuing public advisories on cyber threats.
  (New NSA CSD director - X)
• When candidates go online to apply for a federal job, they will see a brand new look. USA jobs.gov has updated its homepage design and some key features of the website. There is now a "search tips" option for anyone who might need help narrowing down a search. A link at the top of the homepage will take users to a list of upcoming hiring events and information sessions. And there is info about what career fields are hiring right now, and how the federal hiring process works.
  (Website homepage update - USAJobs.gov)

The post Medicare Part B special enrollment period for USPS annuitants begins today first appeared on Federal News Network.

• Agencies continue to struggle with giving too much money to citizens when doling out benefits. New data from the Government Accountability Office shows 74% of all improper payments in fiscal 2023 resulted from overpayments. These are payments made to people who have died or who are no longer eligible for government programs. GAO found agencies reported about $236 billion in improper payments last year, down about $11 billion, as compared to 2022. The Medicaid program reduced the amount of improper payments it paid out by $30 billion, while the Labor Department's unemployment insurance program saw an increase of $44 billion in payment errors last year.
  (Improper payments dropped by $11B in 2022 - GAO)
• The Education Department is getting pushback over its latest return-to-office plans. All bargaining unit employees at the Education Department will soon be expected to report to work in person at least five days per pay period. Secretary Miguel Cardona made the announcement to employees in an all-staff email Thursday morning. Cardona noted that the changes are subject to bargaining obligations with the agency’s union, the American Federation of Government Employees. But AFGE local president Sheria Smith said the announcement came as a shock to some: “We received at least 100 messages from employees saying, ‘Hey, I want a reasonable accommodation — I moved — am I supposed to come back now?” The change for employees will take effect May 20.
  (Announcement on increasing in-person presence of agency employees - Education Department)
• Top officials at the Department of Veterans Affairs said the latest rollout of a new Electronic Health Record is a step in the right direction. Under Secretary for Health Shereef Elnahal said the VA’s recent go-live at the James A. Lovell Federal Health Care Center in North Chicago is the most successful rollout so far. “We’re going to watch this closely, and we’re going to be on top of it, not just in the next few weeks, but in the coming months," Elnahal said. A successful EHR rollout would give the VA the chance to move on from problems that have hampered the project since 2020. A recent inspector general report found a scheduling error with the Oracle-Cerner EHR in Columbus, Ohio, contributed to the death of a veteran in 2022.
  (Recent VA EHR rollout ‘most successful’ so far, but IG outlines recent problems - Federal News Network)
• A new roadmap to improve the cloud security authorization process is out. The first piece of the Federal Risk Authorization and Management Program’s overhaul is out. The program management office released a new roadmap for the cloud security program outlining four primary goals, six initiatives and 28 near-term priorities. FedRAMP will take on several pilots over the next 18 months to lower the cost and to speed up the authorization process. One pilot program will support machine-readable “digital authorization packages” through automation using the Open Security Controls Assessment Language framework. The new roadmap comes before the Office of Management and Budget finalized its updated FedRAMP guidance, released in draft in October. OMB is current reviewing more than 285 comments.
  (FedRAMP’s overhaul begins with 28-near term initiatives - Federal News Network)
• The Defense Department wants its vendors to be more cyber secure, and it already has a lot of tools to help them. But as of now, they are a bit of a scattered mess. That is one of the things DoD wants to fix via a new Defense Industrial Base Cyber Strategy. The Pentagon published the strategy yesterday. DoD also wants to significantly expand the number of companies that can take advantage of its free cyber defense services. That eligibility will expand under a new rule set to take effect in a few weeks.
  (DoD seeks single point of entry, new governance to boost vendors' cyber defenses - Federal News Network)
• Data analytics tools used to fight fraud in COVID-19 emergency programs might be redeployed to look at more government spending. The Government Spending Oversight Act would preserve analytics tools built by the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee (PRAC), and would require their use to uncover more fraud in federal spending. The bill would create a Government Spending Oversight Committee to manage those tools. PRAC said its tools have flagged nearly $2 billion dollars in pandemic fraud so far. Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Chairman Gary Peters (D-Mich.) and Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) introduced the bill.
  (Peters and Romney introduce bipartisan bill to strengthen oversight of government spending - Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee)
• The Army’s Innovation Exchange Lab is up and running. The new lab will allow companies to test their solutions within the Army’s Unified Data Reference Architecture (UDRA). The Army is particularly interested in solutions serving as data catalogs within the framework of UDRA. The lab is accessible to all industry partners. Companies can include a detailed description of their product during registration. The Army is in the midst of the implementation phase of UDRA, an effort that will allow the service to build out a data mesh across all of its programs.
  (Army implementing new data architecture, launching innovation exchange lab next month - Federal News Network)
• The Army has opened a central office to manage the relocation of military families with special needs. It is called the Exceptional Family Member Program, which provides support to soldiers whose family members require special medical or educational assistance. The program is mandatory for all active-duty families with special needs. The program staff works with military and civilian agencies to provide medical, housing and educational services to over 40,000 enrolled families.
  (New Army office will provide centralized support for families with special needs - U.S. Army)
• A bipartisan pair of senators is calling for more oversight of the Federal Employees Health Benefits program (FEHB). Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) and Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.) introduced the FEHB Protection Act, which would require the Office of Personnel Management to verify eligibility before adding new members to the health care program. If enacted, the bill would also require an audit of FEHB to remove any invalid members who are currently enrolled. The bill comes in response to a recent report showing that ineligible FEHB members are costing the government up to $1 billion each year.
  (FEHB Protection Act - Sens. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) and Tom Carper (D-Del.))

The post Agencies continue to struggle with overspending when doling out benefits first appeared on Federal News Network.

Join us for Federal News Network’s 2024 Open Season Exchange on Nov. 12. During this exclusive event, Federal News Network reporters and editors will sit down with agency and industry experts to share details about what to consider when making your 2025 FEHB selections during Open Season.

Our 2023 Open Season Exchange event featured speakers from the Office of Personnel Management, Defense Health Agency and Consumers’ Checkbook.

Register today to save the date on your calendar and receive updates!

The post Federal News Network’s Open Season Exchange 2024 first appeared on Federal News Network.

Starting in January 2025, about 1.9 million USPS employees, annuitants and their families are expected to be enrolled in a health plan within the upcoming Postal Service Health Benefits (PSHB) program.

Ahead of the new plan year, Postal employees and annuitants are getting a better idea of what options will be available to them. For 2025, Postal Service employees and annuitants will tentatively be able to select from 32 different carrier options.

OPM approved the couple dozen options this week — but their finalization is still contingent on upcoming negotiations of the specific benefits and rates each carrier will offer.

Similar to the FEHB options, offerings in the new PSHB will mostly be health maintenance organization (HMO) plans, with a couple fee-for-service plans mixed in as well. HMO plans use an existing network of medical providers and coordinate services for enrollees. Fee-for-service plans are more traditional — the carrier will either pay a medical provider directly, or reimburse an individual who has paid a provider and then filed an insurance claim.

Some PSHB plans will be specific to geographic areas, while others will be available to USPS employees and annuitants nationwide.

2025 PSHB carrier options

Information courtesy of the Office of Personnel Management. Chart created by Federal News Network.

The new health care program for USPS is a requirement stemming from the 2022 Postal Service Reform Act. The law mandated OPM to set up a health insurance program specifically for USPS with a tight timeline of launching in January 2025.

“I want to thank the carriers for their interest in supporting the health care needs of our federal workforce,” OPM Director Kiran Ahuja said in a statement. “This program improvement is only possible thanks to carrier participation and the tireless work of USPS and our OPM team.”

Postal employees and annuitants will have the opportunity to enroll in PSHB for the first time ever during the upcoming Open Season this November and December, OPM said. This year’s Open Season will offer both PSHB and FEHB enrollees the chance to adjust their health care options for the 2025 plan year.

In most cases, Postal employees and annuitants will be able to pick a health plan that’s comparable to their current plan in the FEHB. In cases where there isn’t an equivalent option available, OPM will automatically enroll individuals into the cheapest, no-fee, non-high-deductible plan that’s available in PSHB.

Ahead of implementation, certain Postal employees and annuitants will also be able to enroll in Medicare Part B during a special enrollment period between April 1 and September 1.

Additionally, for Postal annuitants, OPM will be requiring PSHB carriers to provide prescription drug coverage through Medicare Part D. Because of the upcoming requirement, it’s likely that most FEHB carriers will also offer Part D prescription drug coverage in 2025 as well.

Of course, launching such a large program comes with a price tag too. OPM initially received $70.5 million in appropriated funding to go toward the start-up costs for the PSHB program.

Now, for fiscal 2025, OPM is seeking another $24 million in funding for administering and maintaining the PSHB program over the next year.

“OPM is taking an enterprise approach to delivering this ambitious and modernized approach to providing health benefits under extremely tight deadlines,” OPM said in its 2025 congressional budget justification. “In addition to bringing together program offices across the agency, OPM is working collaboratively with USPS on communicating to employees about the changes and partnering with agencies across government to provide the necessary data integration to determine eligibility.”

OPM said solid funding for the agency’s inspector general office is also crucial to effective oversight of the new program — with the goal of ensuring it’s secure, effective and efficient. OPM is requesting $2.6 million for oversight of the PSHB program for 2025.

“The PSHB program risks annual losses of millions of taxpayer dollars due to fraud, waste or abuse as the program begins enrollment and disbursing benefits,” OPM said. “It faces similar risks as the FEHB program of health care fraud schemes and improper payments.”

A 2023 report from the Government Accountability Office showed that OPM spends up to $1 billion each year on ineligible enrollees in FEHB.

OPM said it is planning to use the PSHB’s launch as a litmus test for possible changes to the FEHB program moving forward. It’ll be especially important as the agency works on ways to better identify and remove ineligible members from the program.

This year’s Open Season will run from Nov. 11 to Dec. 9. During that time, both FEHB as well as new PSHB enrollees can view and make changes to their health care options for plan year 2025.

The post USPS health care program will have 32 carrier options in 2025 first appeared on Federal News Network.

After months of negotiations, the Transportation Security Administration has reached a milestone agreement with its union, the American Federation of Government Employees.

Now with a newly ratified seven-year collective bargaining agreement, TSA and AFGE are aiming to expand employee rights and workplace conditions for transportation security officers at airports across the country.

Coming after a pay increase TSA employees received in July 2023, the new contract will replace the previous agreement between TSA and AFGE.

The contract itself has significantly expanded as well. There were just 14 articles in the previous agreement — now, there are 37.

TSA employees will see a streamlined process for grievance and arbitration, expanded official time, fewer restrictions on their sick leave policy, and collective bargaining options at the local level — as just a few examples of what’s included in the new agreement.

Even seemingly smaller items in the contract — like letting TSA employees wear polo shirts and shorts on hot summer days — can make a significant impact for the workforce.

“It’s more flexible for the employees, their work-life balance, and the ability for them to make their shifts work well for them,” Johnny Jones, secretary-treasurer of AFGE Council 100 representing TSA employees, said in an interview. “There will be better communication, hopefully, between the union and management to resolve issues in the workplace.”

The union ratified the new collective bargaining agreement Monday. It now heads to agency leaders for a final review and sign-off before implementation begins.

“TSA is eager to partner with AFGE on the new collective bargaining agreement,” a TSA spokesperson said in a statement. “The agency has and continues to work closely with AFGE in support of our Transportation Security Officers around the country.”

The spokesperson said TSA could not comment on any specifics of the agreement until the agency head review is complete.

House Homeland Security Committee Ranking Member Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) said he’s “pleased” with the new agreement between TSA and AFGE.

“The improvements in this agreement, along with the boost in pay TSA’s frontline workforce began receiving last year, represent the most significant advancement for the workforce ever,” Thompson said in a statement.

Streamlined processes for grievances, arbitration

Under one notable provision of the new collective bargaining agreement, TSA officers can now file a grievance with TSA management for more types of adverse actions — including removals, involuntary demotions, and suspensions over two weeks, AFGE said in a press release Monday.

An employee can file a grievance, for example, when they take issue with a performance-based or adverse action that an agency manager has taken. And if an employee’s case doesn’t get resolved in the grievance process, AFGE can now move into the arbitration process to try to reach an agreement using a third-party arbitrator.

It’s a relatively complex part of the new contract, but Jones said it’s extremely important — it can protect TSA employees who may face challenges with management while on the job.

“Most people don’t understand the arbitration component until you’re actually in a situation like this,” Jones said. “It helps enhance the employee’s ability for the job protection because it becomes a fairer process, whereas it was so one-sided in the past. Now, it’s going to open up that ability for employees to check the balance of management’s powers.”

The future of the TSA pay raise

The new bargaining agreement dovetails with another recent, major change for TSA employees. The workforce received a major pay increase in July 2023, which brought their salaries on par with the rest of the federal civilian workforce. The TSA pay scale now mirrors the General Schedule.

The pay increases were first funded through the fiscal 2023 Homeland Security appropriations bill, which cleared Congress in late 2022. After the change, some TSA employees received as much as a 31% pay boost.

Since then, TSA attrition has declined by 11%, as the agency makes gains in retention and begins mitigating what has historically been high staff turnover. But because it was appropriations that made the pay raise possible, there’s always a chance the funding could be reversed in the future.

“Under the continuing resolution, the agency is having to rob Peter to pay Paul to keep everybody getting paid, because that’s the way the bill was set up,” Jones said. “It’s important to get the pay set up right, so we can get the full funding for it. We haven’t had that yet.”

At least for the next couple years, the pay equity initiative appears to be here to stay. The minibus appropriations package for fiscal 2024, signed into law last week, maintained the higher pay rates for agency employees.

And in the White House’s 2025 budget request, TSA would receive an additional $1.5 billion to continue funding the pay equity initiative.

“The TSA workforce deserves to be fairly compensated at rates comparable with their peers in the federal workforce,” the budget request said.

A push for Title 5 at TSA

For AFGE, there is more work ahead to fully solidify changes for TSA employees. For instance, Jones said, there are still concerns around overtime scheduling for TSA employees, who are often told to work overtime hours with little to no advance notice.

Currently, there’s no process in the bargaining agreement for managing or scheduling those extra hours.

“That was one of the biggest issues for employees, and that process is deemed non-negotiable by the agency,” Jones said. “There’s a lack of planning, which has an impact on the workforce. It’s last minute. The employees are tired of mandatory overtime. There has to be a better way.”

Additionally, AFGE is continuing to push for TSA to be moved into Title 5, the personnel system that sets pay, benefits and performance standards for the vast majority of federal employees. When Congress first created TSA in 2002, it specifically excluded agency employees from the General Schedule pay scale and the Title 5 personnel system.

Improvements to the arbitration process, for instance, could be taken another step further, Jones said, if TSA moved into Title 5.

“The way our arbitration process works, it’s a lot better than it was, but it’s not exactly 100% like other agencies would have,” Jones said. “It’s a great contract — we got a lot of what we would like to achieve. But we still have other issues that are a long ways from being resolved. We have to get what we can, when we can, and lock it in for as long as we can — until we can get Title 5. That’s the most important part.”

Federal News Network’s Justin Doubleday contributed to this report.

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