Copyright 2000 The Washington Post
The Washington
Post
August 4, 2000, Friday, Final Edition
SECTION: METRO; Pg. B02; FEDERAL DIARY
LENGTH: 656 words
HEADLINE:
'Mental Health Parity' to Make Debut During This Year's Open
Season
BYLINE: Stephen Barr
BODY:
This year's open season for the
Federal Employees Health Benefits Program will be held from Nov. 13 through Dec.
11, the Office of Personnel Management has announced.
The open season
gives employees and retirees a chance to rethink their health care needs, assess
what their coverage costs and change insurance plans--although in most years
relatively few enrollees switch. OPM estimates that the average premium will
jump 8.7 percent in 2001, but the actual increase will not be calculated until
OPM's negotiations with the insurance companies end this month.
Next
year's health care plans, for the first time, will offer
"mental health parity," aimed at helping patients obtain
additional or more frequent treatment in an affordable way. OPM expects the
insurance companies to provide coverage for mental health and substance abuse
that is identical to traditional medical care in its deductibles, co-payments
and number of office visits allowed.
But federal employees will need to
carefully check out the coverage rules. Large carriers probably will offer
enhanced mental health benefits through their preferred provider networks of
doctors, hospitals and clinics. That means employees who go outside the network
could pay more or encounter coverage restrictions when they file claims.
Pretax Payments
Starting Oct. 1, federal agencies will offer
"premium conversion," a benefit that will allow federal employees to pay the
cost of their health insurance coverage with pretax dollars.
Shortly
after the July 20 Federal Diary discussed the tax break, which most companies
and state and local governments have made available to their workers for years,
several readers covered by the Federal Employees Retirement System said they
were worried that sheltering payroll dollars from taxes would lower their Social
Security income when they retired.
Like many benefit issues, the premium
conversion involves a trade-off.
In ballpark terms, an employee earning
$ 45,000 who takes advantage of the tax break will save $ 570 annually. The tax
savings translate into a boost in take-home pay.
At 62, that employee
will draw a lower Social Security benefit--about $ 168 less a year. At 66, the
tax break results in a $ 228 annual Social Security reduction.
OPM
officials believe that sheltering tax dollars offers greater advantages to
employees, especially if they have the discipline to use the extra take-home pay
to pay off loans or put into a savings account. The deduction for the premium
conversion will be automatic, unless an employee files a waiver form.
Before premium conversion begins, OPM plans to publish explanatory
material on its Internet site (www.opm.gov) and post examples of how the tax
break works. OPM hopes to create an online calculator so that each employee can
run the numbers and assess the pros and cons.
Personnel Moves
Frank P. Pugliese Jr., commissioner of the Federal Supply Service at the
General Services Administration, retired yesterday after 28 years with GSA.
Pugliese, who was appointed commissioner in 1994, is leaving to join a
private-sector firm, officials said.
FSS Deputy Commissioner Donna D.
Bennett will replace Pugliese, effective Sept. 4.
John C. Varrone was
named assistant commissioner for investigations at the U.S. Customs Service
yesterday. He will oversee Custom's probes into drug smuggling, illegal arms
exports, commercial fraud and other law enforcement activities.
Talk
Shows
Lynn Sylvester, a Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service
commissioner, and Kim Brown, the U.S. Postal Service's Redress program manager,
will discuss the future of mediation programs in the federal sector on "Fed
Talk" at 10 a.m. tomorrow on WUST radio (1120 AM).
OPM Director Janice
R. Lachance will be the guest on "The Business of Government Hour" at 8 p.m.
Sunday on WWRC radio (570 AM).
Stephen Barr's e-mail address is
barrs@washpost.com.
LOAD-DATE: August 04, 2000
