FederalDaily - September 21, 2006

FEHBP Premiums Rise 1.8 Percent

The Federal Employees Health Benefits Program (FEHBP) will increase premiums by an average of 1.8 percent next year, the lowest annual increase in the government's employee program since 1997, said the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Sept. 19. OPM said about 63 percent of FEHBP enrollees will not have a premium increase in 2007, and another 15 percent will see a premium increase of less than 5 percent. On average, OPM said, employees will contribute 2.3 percent more to their health care, while the government contribution of about 72 percent will increase by 1.6 percent. OPM said premiums in the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Service Benefit Plan will decline by up to $1.29 per bi-weekly pay period—or stay the same, depending on the enrollment option. According to OPM, Blue Cross and Blue Shield has more than 56 percent of FEHBP enrollments. At the same time, OPM also announced the availability of additional FEHBP options and providers, as well as the new Federal Employees Dental and Vision Insurance Program (FEDVIP), which is available for the first time to eligible federal employees and retirees. To see the OPM summary, go to:  www.opm.gov/news/opm-announces-18-percent-fehbp-premium-increase-for-2007-marks-fifth-consecutive-year-of-declining-rate-hikes,1090.aspx.

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Panel: Limit Social Security Number Access

Seeking to take a bite out of computer-based crime, a presidential task force recommended the government limit the use of Social Security numbers to help protect them from theft. The President’s Identity Theft Task Force on Sept. 19 issued interim recommendations on measures that can be implemented to help address the problem of ID theft. The task force was created following revelations in May that a computer with the records of millions of veterans had been stolen from the home of a Department of Veterans Affairs employee. The laptop was recovered in June, but other data breaches have cropped up since then. The task force said that both the Office of Personnel Management and the Office of Budget and Management should review their use of Social Security numbers in records, business processes and forms, and make efforts to restrict or mask their use. The panel also urged the government take steps to clarify procedures for dealing with data breaches, create a “universal police report” to track complaints and force identity thieves in the future to compensate victims for time spent clearing their identities. To see more, go to: www.usdoj.gov/opa/pr/2006/September/06_ag_635.html.

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AFGE Critical of New FMLoB Initiative

The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) criticized an Office of Management and Budget (OMB) guidance designed to help agencies assess whether they should turn over control of their financial-management systems to private providers. AFGE said Sept. 19 that OMB’s finalized guidance for its Financial Management Line of Business (FMLoB) initiative was anticompetitive. AFGE said the FMLoB guidance “forces all agencies to either compete or convert their financial management functions,” and in effect discourages public-private competition. AFGE said the guidance uses a discredited “best value” competition process that is vulnerable to abuse. Also, it imposes numerical privatization quotas on federal financial management services employees, AFGE said. To see more, go to: www.afge.org/Index.cfm?Page=PressReleases&PressReleaseID=663.

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