Health Plan Open Season Extended

Open Season for the Federal Employees Health Benefit Program (FEHBP) will be extended, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) announced Dec. 8. OPM took this action in response to concerns over a change in coverage in the Blue Cross Blue Shield reimbursement that would have established a $7,500 co-pay for out-of-network surgeries. 

Although OPM instructed agencies in the federal program to extend the enrollment period through January, the Postal Service announced that “the new deadline to make employee self service FEHB elections using PostalEASE is Dec. 28, 2008, at 5 p.m. CT.” The USPS did not offer an explanation for its decision to close the enrollment period a month before the deadline established by OPM.

The extension of open enrollment and the request for changes were the result of a Dec. 3 hearing on the subject by the House Subcommittee on the Federal Workforce, Postal Service and the District of Columbia. At the hearing, witnesses testified that the changes to Blue Cross Blue Shield’s benefits were not adequately publicized, and Subcommittee Chairman Danny K. Davis (D-IL) and others called on OPM to extend Open Season to give Blue Cross Blue Shield enrollees adequate time to change plans in response to the increased co-pay.

Following the hearing, OPM asked insurance carriers in the federal program to re-evaluate their benefits for non-emergency services and to propose any changes by Dec. 8, the day Open Season was initially scheduled to conclude. Changes to premiums or other benefits were not permitted.

For more information, visit the APWU Health Plan Web site, www.apwuhp.com/openseason/index.html.