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FederalDaily - February 6, 2006

TRICARE Costs Increase for Retirees

According to Department of Defense (DoD) officials, the department is making adjustments to the TRICARE program. The changes—revealed as part of the Quadrennial Defense Review—do not affect the benefits given to military beneficiaries, and will have no affect on active duty personnel and dependents. However, military retirees served by TRICARE will see increases in enrollment costs and other fees. Dr. William Winkenwerder Jr., assistant secretary of defense for health affairs, said that the increases are controversial but necessary. Winkenwerder noted that health care costs have doubled in the past five years, between health care inflation, expanded benefits and a rising under-65 population. “There’s agreement that this is the right approach, and the leadership is very much in agreement that what the department is putting forward is appropriate, prudent, fair, equitable and necessary,” he said.

Analysis of HDHP Health Plans

Federal Employees Health Benefits Program (FEHBP) participants that signed up for high-deductible health plans (HDHPs)—first offered in Jan. 2005—were younger, earned higher salaries and more frequently enrolled in Self-Only plans compared with other FEHBP plan participants, according to a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report submitted to Congress last week. Enrollees in HDHPs were on average age 46, versus an average age of 47 for other new plan participants and 59 for all FEHBP participants. Also, 43 percent of HDHP enrollees earned a federal salary greater than $75,000 per year, compared with 23 percent for all FEHBP enrollees. GAO also found that HDHP participants were more likely than other plan members to be male. The full report can be found at www.gao.gov/new.items/d06271.pdf.

OSC Backs DOE Whistleblower

The Office of Special Counsel (OSC) announced last week that the security and safety of class “A” nuclear facilities (facilities handling nuclear research, disassembly of nuclear weapons stockpiles and storage of nuclear components materials) may be inadequate to protect such facilities from theft, terrorism or sabotage. A Department of Energy (DOE) whistleblower, Richard Levernier, alleged the following:

failure of DOE class “A” nuclear facilities to employ explosives detection equipment as required by DOE;

deficiencies in DOE’s force-on-force performance tests at its nuclear facilities;

deficiencies in DOE’s Safeguards and Security process; and

security risks at the Los Alamos National Laboratory.

According to OSC, DOE admitted that some of the accusations were accurate, but also said Levernier’s claims were outdated and that he lacked total understanding of agency security programs. OSC found that DOE’s justification and response did not fully alleviate the concerns, and further investigation was necessary.

New Safety Rules for DOE

Sen. Jim Bunning, R-Ky., announced last week that Department of Energy (DOE) workers would now be offered safer work environments because of the new Health and Safety Rule released by DOE. Bunning said the new rule would establish a formal enforcement process—similar to the nuclear industry enforcement process—that provides a uniform level of protection against safety and health violations. Contractors that violate the rule may be assessed penalties up to $70,000 for each violation. Contractors would also be required to improve health information technology and adopt electronic medical records under the new rule. “…for the first time, DOE sites will now have comparable enforceable safety standards to those already in place for the commercial sector,” Bunning said.