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FederalDaily - May 26, 2006

Update on Military Suicides

Suicide rates within the military are about half those in the general military-aged population, according to the Department of Defense. The suicide rate for military members during 2005 was 11 per 100,000, Dr. David Tornberg, deputy assistant secretary of defense for clinical and program policy, said. That compares to about 19.5 per 100,000, the national average for Americans in the 20-year-old to 44-year-old age group. Tornberg said there is no indication that combat deployments increase the likelihood of suicide, but they do add a stressor. DoD said each of the services has its own suicide prevention program. With the availability of mental health services, DoD said one of its big challenges is getting people to take advantage of them.

NARFE Opposes Health Savings Accounts

The National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association (NARFE) said it is opposed to a proposal sent to Congress this week by the Office of Personnel Management for legislation to allow Blue Cross/Blue Shield to offer health savings accounts (HSAs) in the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program. “We have been saying since 1995 that these controversial plans are a bad deal for federal employees and retirees of any age who have moderate-to-high health care costs or who are living from paycheck-to-paycheck and cannot afford to pay a high deductible or adequately fund a health savings account,” said NARFE President Charles L. Fallis. He added that a Government Accountability Office report earlier this year found that HSAs tended to attract younger and wealthier enrollees.

Better Reporting Needed on DoD Domestic Violence

The Department of Defense’s (DoD) ability to report on domestic violence incidents and disciplinary actions taken by commanders is hampered, a new Government Accountability Office (GAO) report says. The problem is that the systems that the department uses to collect domestic violence information do not contain complete data. DoD and the services have not developed any plans to address the data limitations, which do not allow for visibility over domestic violence incidents, GAO said. Without complete information on reported incidents of domestic violence and the steps taken by commanders to address these incidents, DoD will not know the size and nature of the problems or be able to assess the effectiveness of its actions. GAO also found that more efforts are needed toward ensuring confidentiality for victims and training personnel on domestic violence issues. For the full report, go to www.gao.gov/new.items/d06540.pdf.

Protecting Military from Predatory Financial Products

The National Association of Federal Credit Unions (NAFCU) is urging passage of a bill, S.418, to ban the sale of high-cost mutual fund contracts on military bases and bring all on-base insurance sales under state law. NAFCU said S.418 would help combat predatory practices aimed at servicemembers by:

barring the issuance of periodic payment plan certificates (today largely offered only to military personnel);

subjecting all on-base insurance sales to state law, regulation or order; and

requiring the Department of Defense to keep a registry of insurance agents and financial advisors that have been barred or banned from doing business on-base.

Interior to Address Employee Health Problems

According to a nonprofit organization called Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER), the House is directing the Interior Department to address the health problems caused to employees by its headquarters building modernization. PEER says that Interior employees have been exposed to hazardous fumes, soot and smoke from major construction work taking place adjacent to office areas. PEER said the House action came as it approved the fiscal year 2007 budget for the Interior Department (H.R. 5386) and its accompanying Appropriations Committee Report, which contained language addressing the issue. Committee reports are not binding as law. The committee requested that the Interior Department submit a report by Sept. 1, 2006, to include an evaluation of the existence of any worker safety problems and a corrective plan for any problems that are documented. For more, go to: www.peer.org/news/snews_id.php?row_id=689.