Benefits
-
Today's announcement that President Barack Obama would not be including a proposal to calculate cost-of-living changes to federal retirement rates in his 2015 budget should be welcome news to federal employees, legislators and federal-employee support groups who opposed it.
February 20, 2014 -
More than 100 members of the House and a dozen outside groups have signed on to a letter to President Barack Obama from Rep. Allyson Schwartz (D-Pa.) requesting that the upcoming White House budget not include a proposal to alter the way retirees' cost-of-living adjustments are calculated. The National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association, the American Federation of Government Employees and the Military Officers Association of American have signed on in support of the letter.
February 19, 2014 -
Host Mike Causey will talk professional liability insurance with attorneys John P. Mahoney and David Cavanaugh. Later Andy Medici will discuss potential buyouts at the Social Security Administration and the Environmental Protection Agency. February 5, 2014
February 05, 2014 -
The early-out offer at the Social Security Administration is one of the first this year in government. Senior Correspondent Mike Causey says it could open up the promotion pipeline for younger, mid-career employees and jump-start early retirement offers in other agencies too. So how are things in your office?
January 31, 2014 -
The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee debated an updated version of postal reform legislation Wednesday that would allow the cash-strapped U.S. Postal Service to restructure its health benefits program. Included in the revised postal reform bill from Sens. Tom Carper (D-Del.) and Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) is a proposal that would create a new postal-only health plan within the broader Federal Employees Health Benefits Program (FEHBP).
January 29, 2014 -
Pentagon leaders expressed disappointment on Tuesday at the retiree cost of living cuts under the Ryan-Murray budget deal and urged Congress to repeal them. But officials also pressed lawmakers to wait for an independent study group's conclusions before making more piecemeal changes to the military compensation system.
January 29, 2014 -
Sen. Bernie Sanders introduced the measure that includes dozens of provisions that expand benefits and hiring programs and grants advance appropriations to most of the Veterans Affairs' accounts. Senate Veterans Affairs chairman suggested paying for the changes by reducing DoD's wartime budget.
January 23, 2014 -
Financial planner Arthur Stein will answer your questions about the TSP, and Federal Times writers Andy Medici and Nicole Blake Johnson will discuss what's ahead for feds in 2014. January 22, 2014 (This show originally aired Jan. 8, 2013)
January 22, 2014 -
TRICARE, the military family health care provider, is set to close 189 of its U.S. customer service centers. Customers will be able to access all of the same services online or by telephone.
January 21, 2014 -
Lots of people inside government are excited about the pending self-plus-one health plan option, Senior Correspondent Mike Causey says. It will cost more than self-only, but less than the standard family plan. So who are the winners and losers?
January 16, 2014 -
Thanks to some surgical budget-cutting by Congress and the White House, Uncle Sam now has a three-tiered retirement plan: First-, second- and third-class where the service is the same but the price tag is higher for some than others.
January 14, 2014 -
Thanks to a portion of the media and many politicians, a lot of federal and postal workers have a low opinion of themselves. But when you crunch the numbers, feds are significant players in the stock market and in the net worth department, Senior Correspondent Mike Causey says. Crunch your own numbers.
January 13, 2014 -
Financial planner Arthur Stein will answer your questions about the TSP, and Federal Times writers Andy Medici and Nicole Blake Johnson will discuss what's ahead for feds in 2014. January 8, 2014
January 07, 2014 -
Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) has filed a lawsuit against Katherine Archuleta, the head of the Office of Personnel Management, seeking to overturn an OPM regulation that allows lawmakers and their staffs to continue receiving government contribution toward their health insurance premiums. Under the 2010 Affordable Care Act, lawmakers and their staffs were booted from the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program (FEHBP), under which the government typically kicks in about three-fourths of the cost of federal employees' premiums, and required to purchase health insurance on the federal exchange.
January 06, 2014 -
A new bill would repeal reductions in military pensions approved by Congress late last month as part of the bipartisan budget deal and allow the U.S. Postal Service to reduce regular mail delivery to five days a week. Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), the chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, introduced the legislation Dec. 19, shortly before Congress decamped for the holidays.
January 02, 2014