Federal Daily - January 22, 2010
FEHBP Beneficiaries Gain Postponement in New Tax Scheme
Feds spoke out loud and strong against a Democratic agreement that would have left beneficiaries of the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program subject to a proposed tax on high-cost health insurance plans five years sooner than many other groups with high-cost plans.
Labor’s original deal with Democrats—announced Jan. 14—postponed the tax’s effective date to 2018 only for beneficiaries of state and local employee plans and those in plans that are negotiated through collective bargaining agreements, which the FEHBP is not.
But pressure from federal employee unions and other organizations representing feds this week pushed lawmakers to give rank-and-file federal employees the same deal. Democratic leadership revealed the change on Jan. 20.
Dan Adcock, of the National Association of Active and Retired Federal Employees, credited the turnaround to a swift response from a broad coalition of federal employee groups. Adcock told FederalDaily that NARFE President Margaret Baptiste, for example, began pressing the White House and congressional leadership to give FEHBP beneficiaries parity the same day the deal was announced, and immediately mobilized a grassroots effort to rally its members.
In a statement, National Treasury Employees Union President Colleen Kelley extended particular thanks to a number of D.C.-area lawmakers—including House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md.; Rep. Gerald Connolly, D-Va.; Rep. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md.; and Sen. Barbara Mikulski, D-Md.—for “ensuring that the people who serve our country each and every day were included in the exemption.”
The altered agreement still must be reviewed, and could be changed by lawmakers as Congress continues to work on a final version of the health care bill. In addition—with this week’s Republican gain of a Senate seat in the special Jan. 19 election to fill the vacant seat left by the late Sen. Edward Kennedy—even larger changes could be in store now that Democrats have lost their filibuster-proof majority.
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OIG Says USPS Overpaid $75 Billion into Pension Fund
Is the U.S Postal Service about to experience a miracle? Maybe.
According to a study released by the USPS Office of Inspector General on Jan. 20, USPS is owed $75 billion in overcharges that it paid as contributions to the Civil Service Retirement System pension fund.
The report said that the method used to determine pension costs from 1972 to 2009 for some postal employees, which are split between the USPS and the federal government, is inequitable. The report, which was released Jan. 20, suggested the $75 billion be returned to USPS’s pension fund.
USPS and the federal government share responsibility for the CSRS pension payments of postal employees who were hired prior to the establishment of the Postal Service on July 1, 1971, and continued working after 1971. The current method of allocating these obligations, developed by the Office of Personnel Management, places far too big a burden on the Postal Service, the OIG said.
Under the current methodology, the federal government’s portion of the liability is calculated using employees’ salary levels as of June 30, 1971, the report said. The methodology results in a significantly higher proportion of the liability being placed upon the Postal Service than would be the case if other, more equitable approaches were to be used, the report said.
If the CSRS overpayments were refunded, it would more than offset the Postal Service’s deficit from Fiscal Year 2009 and the expected shortfalls in FY 2010 and 2011, said American Postal Workers Union President William Burrus.
“This report is good news for a beleaguered government service. USPS service standards and productivity have remained at high levels; the economy is recovering, and the black cloud of fiscal insolvency could be removed,” Burrus said. “The doomsday predictors of the imminent demise of the Postal Service must now find a new rationale for their efforts to dismantle postal services.”
To see more, go to: www.apwu.org/news/burrus/2010/update03-2010-100120.htm
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HHS Sends Medical Response Teams to Haiti
As part of the international recovery effort in Haiti, the Department of Health and Human Services has sent medical response teams to provide health care to Haitians struggling to recover from last week’s massive earthquake.
Members of HHS’s Disaster Medical Assistance Team and its International Medical Surgical Response Team will see patients at a few locations, including a clinic in the capital city of Port-au-Prince, and the Haitian Coast Guard base in Killick, Haiti, the department said Jan. 18.
HHS teams also are supplying aid at several other locations, including an orphanage where they are treating more than 300 patients—most with acute medical problems. There are now 265 HHS medical personnel in Haiti assisting with emergency medical care.
“With more medical teams in place, we will be able to significantly increase the numbers of people getting medical attention,” said HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius.
To see more, go to: www.dhhs.gov/news/press/2010pres/01/20100118a.html.
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VA Expediting Efforts to Deliver GI Bill Benefit Payments
The Department of Veterans Affairs announced Jan. 20 that it was accelerating efforts to process claims for veterans who apply for post 9/11 GI Bill education benefits by Feb. 1.
VA is attempting to process as many applications as possible before Feb. 1, when the first spring payments are due. So far, the agency has processed more than 72,000 of the approximately 103,000 applications for spring benefits.
To help address the high volume of claims coming in, VA has hired 530 employees, bringing the total number of education claims processors to 1,200. Employees have been working mandatory overtime since August 2009. Also, the department awarded a temporary contract for assistance with the processing.
As part of its effort, VA also sent letters to university presidents, schools’ certifying officials and state veterans affairs directors to emphasize the importance of timely submission of school enrollment information.
“Only by VA and all of our partners working together will students be better served,” said VA’s acting Under Secretary for Benefits Mike Walcoff. “We are making a concerted effort to reach out to everyone.”
To see more, go to: http://www1.va.gov/opa/pressrel/pressrelease.cfm?id=1842.
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