Federal Daily - May 21, 2009

NRC, GAO Rank as Best Places to Work

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) and the Government Accountability Office (GAO) rank as the two best agencies to work at in the federal government, according to new information released May 20 by the Partnership for Public Service (PPS). The “Best Places to Work” rankings, which are based on measures of employee satisfaction at 278 federal agencies and subcomponents, also indicate that government-wide, overall employee satisfaction was up slightly, with 71 percent of agencies improving their survey index score since the last rankings in 2007. Agencies also are ranked in 10 workplace categories, including leadership, work/life balance, and pay and benefits. The other large agencies that ranked in the top 10 were (in order of employee satisfaction): the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Intelligence Community, Department of State, Environmental Protection Agency, Department of Justice, General Services Administration, Social Security Administration and the Department of Commerce. “You can’t manage what you don’t measure,” said PPS President Max Stier. To see more, go to: http://ourpublicservice.org/OPS/pressroom/releases/
release_090520_bptw.shtml. See the rankings at http://bestplacestowork.org.

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Mediators Enter FAA, NATCA Contract Dispute

A panel of three mediators has joined the stalled negotiations between the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the National Air Traffic Controllers Association (NATCA) in an attempt to resolve the long-running contract dispute, according to a May 19 NATCA statement. Both parties have signed an agreement—which calls for extensive mediation sessions and for binding resolution of any unresolved issues—that will result in a new collective bargaining agreement at the end of mediation. The expedited mediation process is expected to continue through June. Details will remain confidential until the process reaches its conclusion, although the mediators will release updates to the parties during the process, NATCA said. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said in a recent announcement that Jane Garvey, former FAA administrator, would lead the mediation team. To see more, go to: www.natca.org/mediacenter/press-release-detail.aspx?id=608.

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TRICARE OPPS Projected to Save $458 Million

A new TRICARE Outpatient Prospective Payment System (OPPS) is projected to save about $458 million once fully phased in, TRICARE Management Activity (TMA) said on May 19. OPPS aligns TRICARE with current Medicare rates for hospital reimbursement. Under OPPS, which was launched May 1, hospitals will know in advance how their claims are going to be processed, TMA said. The ambulatory patient classification system for covered hospital-based outpatient services establishes standardized national payment rates adjusted for geographic wage differences. Under OPPS, TRICARE assigns each outpatient service an ambulatory patient classification, TMA said. “OPPS ensures consistency of hospital outpatient payments throughout the United States and reduce the denial and return of claims to providers for coding errors,” said Army Maj. General Elder Granger, TMA deputy director. To see more, go to: www.tricare.mil/Pressroom/News.aspx?fid=527.

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