FederalDaily - August 12, 2005

Anthem Settles in FEHBP Billing Charge

Anthem Insurance Companies will pay the U.S. $1.5 million to settle allegations that the company overcharged the Federal Employee Health Benefits Program (FEHBP), the Justice Department announced on August 8. The Indiana corporation served as an FEHBP contractor. The government alleged that Anthem included profit in the cost of certain services billed to the program by a company under common corporate control and improperly calculated the amount of drug rebates due the program. The allegations relate to the period from 1992 through 2002. The settlement resolves a qui tam, or whistleblower, suit brought against Anthem under the False Claims Act.

:: Back to Top ::

Jury Awards Disabled Fed $3 Million

A District of Columbia jury on August 10 awarded $3 million to Lisa Bremer, a disabled federal employee, who worked at the Department of Commerce until the agency revoked her right to telecommute. A statement by Bremer’s attorneys from the firm Passman & Kaplan said Bremer had multiple sclerosis (MS) and worked from home for eight years two days a week as a GS-15 lawyer for the Department of Commerce. Commerce hired Bremer before she was diagnosed with MS. The jury in the case found that the agency did not provide Bremer reasonable accommodation when it revoked her permission to telework from home. Although the jury awarded $3 million, the award will be reduced to $300,000 because of provisions of the Rehabilitation Act.

:: Back to Top ::

OSC Defends Reservist in Termination Dispute

The Office of Special Counsel (OSC) recently represented Lt. Col. Judithe Hanover Kaplan, who was in the Air Force Reserves, in a case that fell under the federal law that protects the civilian careers of persons who perform military service. Kaplan alleged that the Department of Veterans Affairs terminated her employment because of her reservist duties. She was a senior nurse and was terminated 2 1/2 months after her appointment started. During that time, Kaplan had been absent for 22 days due to military leave and illness connected with her prior military service during the Gulf War conflict. The law protects servicemembers from being denied initial employment, retention in employment, and any benefit of employment based on past, present or future military service. OSC announced it negotiated a full corrective action settlement for Kaplan, under which the agency paid Kaplan a lump sum amount for her pecuniary losses, removed all negative documentation relating to her termination and issued documentation reflecting that Kaplan resigned from duty.

:: Back to Top ::

Army Seeks Native Speakers

A new Army National Guard program focuses on recruiting native speakers in 20 languages and dialects, most spoken in the Middle East, into the Army's "translator aid" career field. The Guard program is currently a pilot in Michigan, Texas and California, areas of the United States with large Arab-American populations. To date it has recruited about 15 members, most of them with prior military experience and the hope is to recruit about 50 by the program's first anniversary, according to Army Capt. Bill Greer, national program manager. Native speakers bring an inherent understanding of local culture, customs, courtesies, taboos and body language that isn't readily absorbed in classroom settings, Greer said.

:: Back to Top ::