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Office of Personnel Management Says Dental and Vision Coverage Will Improve Next July

Excerpt: "Enhanced dental and vision benefits will be available to federal employees and retirees in July 2006, the Office of Personnel Management said yesterday in a letter to insurance companies. The letter, sent to companies that participate in the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program, said OPM plans to issue a request for proposals on how to design a new dental and vision package by year's end."

Federal Office of Personnel Management Letter to Health Insurance Companies Calls on Health Insurers to Focus on Illness Prevention

Excerpt: OPM sends 'carrier' or 'call letters' to FEHBP insurance plans each year. The letters tell the companies what OPM would like to see in the offerings made to employees during the fall open season, when they can shop among a broad variety of plans. This year's call letter provided no big changes or surprises. But it did place even greater emphasis on illness prevention. 'We expect you to provide benefits for preventive care, immunizations, and screenings with no enrollee cost sharing,' the letter said. 'We expect you to offer comprehensive smoking cessation benefits that include coverage for counseling, medications, multiple quit attempts, no annual or lifetime limitations and no enrollee cost sharing.'

GAO Report: Improvements Needed at Office of Personnel Management to Ensure Successful Retirement Systems Modernization

68 pages. "GAO was asked to [1] determine whether OPM is effectively managing the RSM program to ensure that system components perform as intended and [2] evaluate the risks, cost, and progress of the RSM program. To meet these objectives, GAO analyzed program documentation against relevant plans, policies, and practices." [GAO-08-345, Jan. 31, 2008]

Lawyer Sues Federal Office of Personnel Management over Same-Sex Benefits

Excerpt: Karen Golinski filed a lawsuit against the OPM on Wednesday for refusing to provide benefits to her wife, the Associated Press reported. The agency said it won't follow a court order to provide the benefits because it believes the order is in violation of the federal Defense of Marriage Act[.]

Text of OPM Final Regs: Coverage for Certain Firefighters and Intermittent Emergency Response Personnel under the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program

"This final rule provides eligibility for health insurance coverage under the Federal Employees Health Benefits (FEHB) Program to certain wildfire protection employees and certain intermittent emergency response personnel.... OPM recognizes that there may be other groups of employees not currently eligible for the FEHB Program because of the nature of their work schedules, but who are similarly situated to firefighting personnel in that they perform emergency response services. Accordingly, OPM has also added a new subsection (i) to its regulations that permits agencies to request that OPM extend FEHB coverage to such employees. OPM intends to construe this subsection narrowly, applying it only to employees engaged in emergency response services similar to the services being performed by those responding to the wildfires, and only when requested by their employing agencies."

Text of OPM Final Regs: Establishment of the Multi-State Plan Program for the Affordable Insurance Exchanges

69 pages. "The U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is issuing a final rule implementing modifications to the Multi-State Plan (MSP) Program based on the experience of the Program to date. OPM established the MSP Program pursuant to the [ACA]. This rule clarifies the approach used to enforce the applicable standards of the [ACA] with respect to health insurance issuers that contract with OPM to offer MSP options; amends MSP standards related to coverage area, benefits, and certain contracting provisions under section 1334 of the [ACA]; and makes non-substantive technical changes."

Text of Final OPM Regulation Allowing Health Coverage for Children of Same-Sex Domestic Partnerships But Only in States Not Allowing Same-Sex Marriages

"The United States Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is issuing a final rule to amend the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program (FEHB) regulations regarding coverage for children up to age 26. The regulations also allow children of same-sex domestic partners living in states that do not allow same-sex couples to marry to be covered family members under the FEHB and the Federal Employees Dental and Vision Insurance Program (FEDVIP).... OPM has decided to release this final regulation as proposed with several changes. The most significant change to this regulation is that eligibility for the children of same-sex domestic partners is limited to those states in which same-sex couples are unable to marry."

Text of OPM Notice: Present Value Factors for Use by Civil Service Retirement System

"The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is providing notice of adjusted present value factors applicable to retirees under the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) who elect to provide survivor annuity benefits to a spouse based on post-retirement marriage; to retiring employees who elect the alternative form of annuity, owe certain redeposits based on refunds of contributions for service ending before March 1, 1991, or elect to credit certain service with nonappropriated fund instrumentalities; or, for individuals with certain types of retirement coverage errors who can elect to receive credit for service by taking an actuarial reduction under the provisions of the Federal Erroneous Retirement Coverage Correction Act. This notice is necessary to conform the present value factors to changes in the economic and demographic assumptions adopted by the Board of Actuaries of the Civil Service Retirement System."

Text of OPM Notice: Present Value Factors for Use by Federal Employees' Retirement System

"The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is providing notice of adjusted present value factors applicable to retirees who elect to provide survivor annuity benefits to a spouse based on post-retirement marriage, and to retiring employees who elect the alternative form of annuity or elect to credit certain service with nonappropriated fund instrumentalities. This notice is necessary to conform the present value factors to changes in the economic and demographic assumptions adopted by the Board of Actuaries of the Civil Service Retirement System."

Text of OPM Proposed Regs for Federal Employees' Retirement System: Present Value Conversion Factors for Spouses of Deceased Separated Employees

"The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is issuing a proposed rule to revise the table of reduction factors for early commencing dates of survivor annuities for spouses of separated employees who die before the date on which they would be eligible for unreduced deferred annuities. This rule is necessary to ensure that the tables conform to demographic assumptions adopted by the Board of Actuaries and published in the Federal Register on March 20, 2015[.]"