Health insurance is a must-have item for everybody. But there is more than health insurance at issue during the big benefits hunting season that kicks off No...
Health insurance is a must-have item for everybody. But there is more than health insurance at issue during the big benefits hunting season that kicks off Nov. 12 and runs through Dec. 10. Sleep through it at your peril.
Although the health insurance portion generates the most interest and action, there are other choices to make during the open-enrollment period. And some that you should review. One of the changes involves a reduced tax break in the Flexible Spending Account program.
So here’s what’s at issue:
The FEHBP covers nearly 9 million people from newborns to centenerians. Nobody can be rejected by a plan because of age, status, lifestyle or pre-existing conditions. Workers and retirees who are close to exhausting the catastrophic limits on one plan can, during the open season, switch to a new plan and start all over. During the open season, we will have a series of “best buy” columns for different groups of workers and retirees and a series of Your Turn radio shows (Wednesdays at 10 a.m.) featuring Consumer Checkbook’s health expert Walton Francis and David Snell director of benefits for the National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association (NARFE).
Today at 10 a.m. on our Your Turn radio show, John Montague, who runs the WAEPA program will talk about how it works and how it compares to FEGLI. Sean Reilly, a senior staff writer with The Federal Times, will provide the long view of the U.S. Postal Services ever-changing financial picture, the status of the 2013 federal-military-social security raise and the dangers — or not — of sequestration.
Listen if you can (1500 AM or online), and if you have questions email them to me at mcausey@federalnewsradio.com or call in during the show at (202) 465-3080. The show will be archived here.
NEARLY USELESS FACTOID
By Jack Moore
The terms and conditions for online payment site PayPal runs 36,275 words — longer than Shakespeare’s Hamlet. To read or not to read…
(Source: Daily Mail)
TSP mulls mutual-fund option
Just five months after the Thrift Savings Plan’s new Roth option launched, the Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board, which manages the TSP, is mulling whether to add a new offering to federal employees’ (401)k-style retirement plan: a mutual fund window.
TSP contribution limit increases in 2013
Federal employees can contribute a maximum of $17,500 annually to their Thrift Savings Plan next year — up from the $17,000 limit this year, according to the IRS.
Sequestration will not happen, Obama says in final presidential debate
During Monday night’s debate, President Barack Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney discussed their different approaches to cutting the budget, particularly in the area of military spending. Romney criticized the Obama administration for proposing cuts to the Pentagon’s budget, particularly through sequestration. Obama said sequestration would not happen, and he would maintain military spending based on the needs of the Defense Department.
Customer satisfaction with e-government down slightly
Satisfaction with federal e-government sites remained high throughout most of 2012, according to a quarterly report from ForeSee and the American Customer Satisfaction Index. On a 100-point scale, customer satisfaction with federal websites now sits at 75.3.
Copyright © 2024 Federal News Network. All rights reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area.
Mike Causey is senior correspondent for Federal News Network and writes his daily Federal Report column on federal employees’ pay, benefits and retirement.
Follow @mcauseyWFED