February 2014 NARFE Magazine by NARFE

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disability disaster: ‘You’ve been Overpaid’ COVER STORY

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training will be Convention Highlight

the hatch act

Compliance Is Harder Than Ever in Age of Social Media

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Volume 90 • Number 2

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WashingTon Watch

Budget Deal Reached; Sequestration Avoided

Debt-Limit Deadline Approaches, Again

Bill Would Eliminate Annuity for New Feds

House and Senate Release 2014 Schedules

Top Lobbying Victory

10 NARFE Bill Tracker 12 Postal Reform Stalls in Congress

Columns

Cover Story the hatch act. Although a few limitations have been lifted, it’s easier than ever to run afoul of the law that limits federal employee partisan political activities. Blame email and social media.

4 From the President 36 Managing Money 38 The Informed Citizen DEPARTMENTS

14 Questions & Answers 40 For the Record: TSP

Investments, COLA Chart

Disability overpayments. Some federal retirees get a shock when the Social Security Administration demands thousands of dollars in repayments.

42 NARFE News: 2014

Scholarship Application

52 The Way We Worked FEB

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On the Web

special section

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visit us online at:

www.narfe.org

DISABILITY DISASTER: ‘YOU’VE BEEN OVERPAID’ COVER STORY

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TRAINING WILL BE CONVENTION HIGHLIGHT

THE HATCH ACT

Compliance Is Harder Than Ever in Age of Social Media

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like us on facebook:

NARFE National Headquarters follow us on twitter:

@narfehq

45 Training Opportunities Abound at the 2014 NARFE Convention

Volume 90 • Number 2

ON THE COVER

Illustration by Bill Pragluski, Critical Stages, LLC

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february 2014 | Volume 90 | Number 02

Editor Margaret M. Carter Assistant Editor Ken Fanelli Editorial Administrator Toni Vallario Graphic Design Charlene Gridley Editorial Board Joseph A. Beaudoin, Paul H. Carew, Elaine C. Hughes, Richard G. Thissen Editorial Office: narfe magazine, 606 North Washington St., Alexandria, VA 22314-1914; Phone: 703-838-7760; Fax: 703-838-7781; Email: communications@narfe.org Advertising Sales: Warren Berger, Media People Inc., 122 East 42nd St., Suite 725, New York, NY 10168; Phone: 212-779-7172, ext. 223; Email: wberger@mediapeople.com NARFE for the Visually Impaired On the Telephone: This publication can be heard on the telephone by persons who have trouble seeing or reading the print edition. For more information, contact the National Federation of the Blind NFB-NEWSLINE® service at 866-5047300 or go to www.nfbnewsline.org. On digital audio: Issues of narfe magazine are also available in audio format through the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped (NLS). For availability, call 202-727-2142 or your local NLS service provider. The Association, since July 1970, has been classified by the IRS as a tax-exempt labor organization [not a union]; however, dues and gifts or contributions to the Association are not deductible as charitable contributions for income tax purposes.

National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association NATIONAL OFFICERS JOSEPH A. BEAUDOIN, President; natpres@narfe.org PAUL H. CAREW, Vice President; natvp@narfe.org ELAINE C. HUGHES, Secretary; natsec@narfe.org RICHARD G. THISSEN, Treasurer; nattreas@narfe.org

REGIONAL VICE PRESIDENTS

REGION I Arthur Pike (Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Rhode Island and Vermont) Tel: 207-764-4468 Email: artpike1937@aol.com REGION II Evelyn Kirby (Delaware, District of Columbia, Maryland, New Jersey and Pennsylvania) Tel: 410-604-1141 Email: ekirby@atlanticbb.net REGION III Donald Stewart (Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, Puerto Rico, South Carolina and Virgin Islands) Tel: 305-442-6388 Email: dejs33149@aol.com REGION IV Paul E. Johnson (Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio and Wisconsin) Tel: 812-306-5137 Email: pejohnson@tds.net REGION V Carol R. Ek (Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota and South Dakota) Tel: 620-241-1131 Email: ek617@att.net

Here’s How to Contact Us… If you want to:

Join NARFE Call (toll-free): 800-627-3394 or go to: www.narfe.org Change or update your membership record Call (toll-free): 800-456-8410 Email: memberrecords@narfe.org

REGION VI Jerome S. Smith (Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Republic of Panama and Texas) Tel: 903-534-5849 Email: retiredjer@aol.com REGION VII Frank Impinna (Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming) Tel: 303-482-1747 Email: impinna@gmail.com REGION VIII Helen L. Zajac (California, Guam, Hawaii, Nevada and Republic of Philippines) Tel: 707-644-7565 Email: hlz17@aol.com REGION IX Lanny G. Ross (Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon and Washington) Tel: 360-692-9741 Email: lannyjean@comcast.net REGION X William F. Martin (Kentucky, North Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia) Tel: 540-872-3345 Email: billmartin@narferx.org

For any other NARFE matter:

Call NARFE Headquarters: 703-838-7760 Email: hq@narfe.org Fax: 703-838-7785 Write: NARFE 606 N. Washington St. Alexandria, VA 22314

www.narfe.org

narfe (ISSN 1948-4453) is published monthly by the National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association (NARFE), 606 N. Washington St., Alexandria, VA 22314. Periodicals postage paid at Alexandria, VA, and additional mailing offices. Members: Annual dues includes subscription. Nonmember subscription rate $45. Postmaster: Send address change to: NARFE Attn: Member Records, 606 N. Washington St., Alexandria, VA 22314. To ensure prompt delivery, members should also forward changes of address without delay. Because of the volume involved, NARFE cannot acknowledge nor be responsible for unsolicited pictures and manuscripts, although every reasonable precaution is taken. All submissions become the property of NARFE. Copyright © 2014, NARFE. Advertisements in the magazine are not endorsements of products and/or services by NARFE, unless officially stated in the ad. We shall accept advertising on the same basis as other reputable publications: that is, we shall not knowingly permit a dishonest advertisement to appear in narfe, but at the same time we will not undertake to guarantee the reliability of our advertisers.

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From the President

A break in the action

ow that the bipartisan budget is passed and signed by the president, we can catch our breath – for now.

Though NARFE and its coalition partners are not happy with some of the budget’s provisions, it has no impact on current federal employees or retirees. None of the cutbacks in the two-year deal affect NARFE members.

While we regret that under this new budget future federal employees will need to tighten their belts by putting more of their salaries toward retirement, at least those civil servants who have already contributed over $113 billion to deficit reduction, as well as endured furloughs and a calamitous government shutdown, will get a break. Let’s recognize our “wins” in this new budget.

We will have a “self plus one” option in the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program, something for which the Association and its members have advocated. It is also important that we appreciate what is not in this budget deal: • The Chained Consumer Price Index (CPI) is not included. If it had been, the reduced cost-ofliving adjustments for retired federal workers would have cut thousands of dollars in benefits for each recipient over the course of a retirement; • The supplemental annuity that Federal Employees Retirement System workers enjoy if they retire before being eligible for Social Security benefits remains intact; and • There will be no change in how federal retirement benefits are computed. Annuities will still be based on the current “high-three” formula. These victories prove that our dual strategy of lobbying and grass-roots mobilization works. In fact, The Hill, an influential Capitol Hill newspaper, listed NARFE as having achieved one of the “Top 10 Lobbying Victories for 2013.” We thank our hard-working legislative staff and our many member-advocates in the field for this success. We must not let this temporary budget solution make us complacent, though. It is only a matter of time before our hard-earned benefits are back on the congressional chopping block.

Joseph A. Beaudoin NARFE national President natpres@narfe.org

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Washington Watch

Budget deal reached; sequestration avoided

ARFE’s “Enough Is Enough” message seems to have resonated on Capitol Hill. In late December, the House and Senate reached a budget deal for fiscal years (FY) 2014

and 2015 that spares current federal employees and retirees from harmful pay and benefits cuts. Unfortunately, future federal employees weren’t as lucky. The deal requires that beginning in 2014, new federal employees pay an additional 1.3 percent toward their retirement. In a positive development, the deal also creates a “self plus one” option within the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program (FEHBP). The measure passed the House by a vote of 332-94 and the Senate by 64-36. It was swiftly signed into law by President Obama. This process began in a conference committee led by House Budget Committee Chair Paul D. Ryan, R-WI, and Senate Budget Committee Chair Patty Murray, D-WA. Early in the discussions, the two agreed that reforms to Social Security and Medicare, as well as tax reform, would be off the table. They also agreed

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to work toward a deal to offset the across-the-board budget cuts known as sequestration in the near term, rather than try to achieve a grand bargain covering the next nine years of sequestration. NARFE’s lobbyists, leaders and grass-roots activists put considerable pressure on members of the conference committee, as well as their own members of Congress, urging them to leave the federal community out of any budget deal. Over the past three years, federal employees have contributed more than $113 billion toward deficit reduction and other congressional priorities. This does not include the loss in take-home pay from sequestration-related furloughs in 2013. NARFE pointed out that no other group of American workers has been asked to give financially

Rep. Paul D. Ryan, R-WI, and Sen. Patty Murray, D-WA, budget conference committee cochairs, walk to a press conference announcing the agreement. AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite

to their country the way federal employees have. Here are the particulars of the new budget law: The legislation sets funding levels for FY 2014 and FY 2015 above the sequestration levels passed in 2011 as part of the Budget Control Act, but lower than those in the budget passed earlier in the year by the Senate. It will be up to the appropriations committees in the House and the Senate to determine how to implement those funding levels, but it is unlikely federal employees will see furloughs in 2014 and 2015. To offset this increase, new federal employees (those hired starting 2014) will pay an additional 1.3 percent toward their retirement, without any corresponding benefit increase. While saving $6 billion, this creates a third tier of Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS) employees. Those hired before 2013 pay .8 percent into their retirement; those hired in 2013 pay 3.1 percent; and now those hired in 2014 and beyond will pay 4.4 percent. This follows a very dangerous precedent set

DEBT-LIMIT DEADLINE APPROACHES, AGAIN in February 2012 of taking from future feds to pay for current priorities. In other provisions: • The FEHBP will add a self plus one option, something that NARFE members have long sought. • Military retirees who draw military retirement pay no longer will receive the full annual cost-ofliving adjustment (COLA) before age 62. Until they turn 62, their COLAs will be the CPI-W minus 1 percent. This change will take effect in December 2015. • The cap on federal contractor pay, previously above $950,000, was lowered to $487,000. It will increase each year by the Employment Cost Index (ECI), the figure used to calculate federal employee pay raises each year, instead of private-sector CEO pay. Rep. Chris Van Hollen, D-MD, a member of the conference committee, was a prominent advocate for leaving current federal employees and retirees out of the bill. Van Hollen said one of the reasons he ultimately voted for the bill, despite his opposition to the provision affecting future employees, was that he was assured by President Obama that an increase in retirement contributions by current employees would not be included in the president’s FY 2015 budget. Given the bill’s drawbacks as well as its advantages, NARFE will not score the bill in its 113th Congress scorecard. —By Jessica Klement, Legislative Director

ongressional debate over a budget deal has distracted almost everyone from another impending deadline: the looming need to raise the public debt limit. Under the terms of the law that ended the October 2013 government shutdown, on February 7 the Treasury Department no longer will be able to borrow money to pay the federal government’s obligations. Absent legislation to extend borrowing authority, Treasury Secretary Jack Lew will, once again, have to resort to “extraordinary measures” (including tapping the Civil Service Retirement and Disability Fund) to pay the bills. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that those extraordinary measures could be exhausted by early March, threatening, once again, to lead to the first default in the nation’s history. Independent forecasters have projected that, with tax day on April 15, tax receipts potentially could keep the ship of state afloat without a debtlimit increase until June. With 2014 being an election year, the politics of raising the debt limit are fraught with peril. Will voters penalize members of Congress who vote in favor of a debt-limit increase for what they perceive to be ignoring fiscal restraint, especially considering a funding deal already has been reached? Or will voters condemn a vote against an increase for what they perceive to be obstructionist tactics that could trigger a worldwide economic catastrophe?

Sound familiar? The scenario is reminiscent of fiscal cliffhangers of not-so-long-ago. Then again, check your calendars. Five days before the February 7 deadline is Groundhog Day! —By Alan Lopatin, legislative Counsel

ADVOCACY ACTION Letters to the editor are important advocacy tools. Congratulations to the more than 125 NARFE members who had letters to the editor published in 2013! During the budget conference committee’s deliberations, NARFE encouraged members to submit letters to their local newspapers, where they could be read by legislators and the public. Members in 22 states had their letters published, some in papers with national or regional circulations. Most of the letters during the recent push, as well as in previous letter campaigns, were submitted using the Legislative Action Center on the NARFE website. Members can submit original letters via email or use sample letters that are available for modification.

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Washington Watch

BILL WOULD ELIMINATE ANNUITY FOR NEW EMPLOYEES

bill to eliminate the Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS) defined-benefit annuity for all newly hired federal employees has been reintroduced by Sen. Richard Burr, R-NC. “The cost to taxpayers for [federal retiree] benefits is unsustainable, and we simply cannot afford it,” Burr claimed. The Public-Private Employee Retirement Parity Act of 2013, S. 1678, is identical to a bill Burr introduced in the last Congress that failed to make it out of committee. S. 1678 is cosponsored by Sens. Tom Coburn, R-OK, and Saxby Chambliss, R-GA. FERS employees’ retirement benefits consist of the “threelegged stool” of a defined-benefit annuity, the Thrift Savings Plan and Social Security. Under the bill, new employees hired six months after its enactment would no longer receive the defined-benefit annuity part of FERS. Current federal employees and retirees

would not be affected. NARFE President Joseph A. Beaudoin was critical of the bill. “This bill is another unfair and unwise attack on federal employees at a time when the country desperately needs a high-quality and vigilant workforce,” Beaudoin said. “Some politicians claim that these pensions are unsustainable, but, in reality, the federal pension program is fully funded and actuarially sound.” The legislation could potentially prohibit future retirees and survivors from participating in the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program (FEHBP). Under current law, retirees and survivors pay for their FEHBP premiums out of their FERS annuity. In addition, without a FERS annuity for future retirees, there would be no FERS survivor benefit. NARFE does not expect S. 1678 to move forward in the Senate but will continue to monitor the bill. —By Jason Freeman, Legislative Staff Assistant

HOUSE, SENATE 2014 SCHEDULES

The House and Senate have released their 2014 schedules, including the dates on which district/state work weeks are planned. NARFE members should take this time to meet with their legislators on Association issues. In the House, district work weeks are planned to begin on the following Mondays: 1/20, 2/17, 3/17, 4/14, 4/21, 5/12, 6/2, 6/30 and 9/22. The summer recess is all of August through September 7. For more information, go to www. majorityleader.gov/calendar/. In the Senate, state work periods are planned to begin on the following Mondays: 1/20, 2/17, 3/17, 4/14, 4/21, 5/26 and 6/30. The Senate summer recess runs from 8/4 through 9/5. For more information, visit www.senate.gov. 8

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MYTH vs. REALITY Myth: The Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W), which the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) uses to calculate cost-of-living adjustments, does not take into account gas, housing and medical care. Reality: The BLS divides the several hundred items it analyzes into eight major groups to calculate the CPI-W. These groups are: food and beverages, housing, apparel, transportation, medical care, recreation, education and communication, and other goods and services. Within these groups, the prices of gas, housing and medical care are all considered. Households included in the CPI-W meet two requirements: more than half of the household’s income must come from clerical or wage occupations, and at least one of the household’s earners must have been employed for at least 37 weeks during the previous 12 months. NARFE contends that this population is not appropriate to determine seniors’ spending. For example, seniors spend 12 percent of their income on health care, compared to only 5 percent by those under age 62. A switch to the Chained CPI would be an even less accurate reflection, while the CPI-E, which NARFE supports, would provide the most accurate calculation.

A TOP LOBBYING VICTORY

Legislative Resources

he Hill, a widely distributed back pay after the government Capitol Hill newspaper and shutdown. a staple in every congres“And while retirement benefits sional office, has listed NARFE as for new federal workers are cut in having achieved one of the “Top 10 the budget deal, the groups won a Lobbying Victories for 2013.” lower cap on contractor pay and Here is what The Hill wrote the addition of a lower-cost opabout NARFE in its December 18, tion for their workers’ healthcare 2013, edition: benefits. “The budget pact also leaves “American Federation of Govthe retirement benefits of the ernment Employees, National current government workforce Treasury Employees Union, Nauntouched. In addition, Rep. Chris tional Active and Retired Van Hollen (D-Md.) secured a Federal Employees Associapromise from President Obama tion that he wouldn’t propose new cuts “Federal workers took a hit to federal workers’ retirement in from furloughs this year but his budget nextPage year.” flexed their lobbying might to win 2013-14_PAC_Coupon:2013 Coupon 3/26/13 3:42 PM 1

• Legislative Hotline: A weekly update of legislative news, compiled by the NARFE Legislative Department staff, distributed via email and available by phone (toll-free) at 877-217-8234 and online at www.narfe.org. • Legislative Action Center: A one-stop site to send a letter to Congress, and more, at www.narfe.org.

NARFE-PAC CONTRIBUTION FORM Name:______________________________________ NARFE Member Number: _______________________ I would like to make a one-time contribution of: $100 Gold (qualifies for Gold 2013-14 NARFE-PAC lapel pin and a blue NARFE-PAC LEADER hat)

$50 Silver (qualifies for Silver 2013-2014 NARFE-PAC lapel pin) $20 Basic (qualifies for Basic 2013-2014 NARFE-PAC lapel pin) Other: ______ -orI would like to be a Sustainer and make a monthly credit card contribution to NARFE-PAC of: $25/month $10/month

Please find my check or money order enclosed payable to NARFE-PAC Please charge to my credit card (required for monthly contribution) Credit Card Information Type: MasterCard Visa Discover AMEX Card #: ________________________________ Expiration Date: ____ / ____ Name on Card:__________________________ Signature: ______________________________ Date: __________________________________

Other: ______/month (minimum of $10) Monthly contributions qualify you to receive a NARFE-PAC Sustainer lapel pin along with a blue NARFE-PAC LEADER hat.

I do not want to receive any gifts for my contribution marked above.

Mail to: National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association Attn: NARFE-PAC 606 North Washington St. | Alexandria, VA 22314

Only members of the National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association may contribute to NARFE-PAC. NARFE will neither favor nor disadvantage anyone based on the amount of a contribution or the failure to make a voluntary contribution to this political action fund. NARFE-PAC contributions are not deductible for federal income tax purposes.

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Washington Watch

narfe bill tracker The NARFE bill TRACKER is your monthly guide to the congressional legislation that NARFE is following. Check back each issue for updates. ISSUE

Bill Number / Name / Sponsor H.R. 26: Deferred Benefits Adjustment Act of 2013 / Rep. Nydia M. Velázquez, D-NY Cosponsors: None

DEFERRED ANNUITIES

supporting federal employees

H.Res. 388: Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives supporting federal employees / Rep. Marcia L. Fudge, D-OH

Latest Action(s)

Provides for the indexation of deferred annuities, including survivor annuities, and for individuals becoming subject to the Federal Employees Retirement System by election. Terminates the entitlement of a survivor who remarries before age 55 to an annuity based on the service of a deferred annuitant who dies before establishing a valid claim for a Civil Service Retirement System annuity.

Referred to the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform

Recognizes that the work that federal employees perform should be honored and respected. Outlines several ways Congress should not target federal employees.

Referred to House Committees on Oversight and Government Reform, and Ways and Means

Makes any person who has a “seriously delinquent tax debt” ineligible for federal employment or to continue serving as a federal employee.

Approved by the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform on 3/20/13 Failed to pass the House on 4/15/13

narfe, April 2013, p. 9

narfe, January 2014, p. 10

Cosponsors: 42 (D)

H.R. 249: Federal Employee Tax Accountability Act of 2013 / Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-UT Tax Delinquency

What Bill Would Do

Cosponsors: None

narfe, July 2013, p. 11

Paid Parental Leave

H.R. 517: To provide that four of the 12 weeks of parental leave made available to a federal employee shall be paid leave / Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney, D-NY Cosponsors: 19 (D)

Pension scam protection

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H.R. 3310: Annuity Safety and Security Under Reasonable Enforcement Act of 2013 / Rep. Matt Cartwright, D-PA Cosponsors: 50 (D)

Allows federal employees to substitute, for four weeks, any available paid leave for any leave without pay available for either the birth of a child or placement of a child for either adoption or foster care.

Referred to the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform

Requires appropriate disReferred to four House closures regarding “pension committees advance” schemes and caps the interest rates on these narfe, January 2014, p. 11 advances. Also creates a private right of action to allow individuals to enforce these laws in court.

ISSUE

Bill Number / Name / Sponsor H.R. 1367: FEHBP Prescription Drug Integrity, Transparency, and Cost Savings Act / Rep. Stephen F. Lynch, D-MA Cosponsors: 3 (D)

Health Care

H.R. 1780: To provide that the only health plans available to the president, vice president, members of Congress and federal employees are those created under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act or offered through a health insurance exchange / Rep. Dave Camp, R-MI

What Bill Would Do

Latest Action(s)

Provides the Office of Personnel Management greater oversight authority over the prescription drug contracting and pricing methods of the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program (FEHBP). It requires that pharmacy benefit managers return 99 percent of all rebates, market share incentives and other monies received from pharmaceutical manufacturers for FEHBP business and caps prescription drug prices.

Referred to the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform

Removes federal employees from the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program (FEHBP) and places them in the health exchanges created under the Affordable Care Act.

Referred to the House Committees on Oversight and Government Reform, Energy and Commerce, and Administration

narfe, June 2013, p. 9

narfe, July 2013, p. 15

Cosponsors: 30 (R) H.R. 3319: Equal Healthcare Access Act / Rep. Darrell Issa, R-CA Cosponsors: 1 (D), 8 (R)

Requires the Office of Personnel Management to administer a health insurance plan for nonfederal employees under the existing Federal Employees Health Benefits Program.

Referred to House Committees on Oversight and Government Reform, Energy and Commerce, and Ways and Means narfe, January 2014, p. 9

H.R. 1795: Social Security Fairness Act of 2013 / Rep. Rodney Davis, R-IL GPO/WEP

FEDERAL PENSIONS

Cosponsors: 75 (D), 29 (R)

Repeals both the Government Referred to the Pension Offset (GPO) and the House Committee on Windfall Elimination Provision Ways and Means (WEP).

S. 896: Social Security Fairness Act of 2013 / Sen. Mark Begich, D-AK

Referred to the Senate Finance Committee

Cosponsors: 11 (D), 3 (R), 1 (I)

narfe, July 2013, p. 16

S. 1678: Public-Private EmEliminates the defined-benefit ployee Retirement Parity Act portion of the Federal Em/ Sen. Richard Burr, R-NC ployees Retirement System (FERS), leaving only Social Cosponsors: 2 (R) Security and the Thrift Savings Plan for FERS employees in retirement.

Referred to the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs See story, p. 8

(Continued on p. 12) w w w. n a r f e . o r g

Washington Watch

narfe bill tracker (Continued from p. 11) ISSUE

Bill Number / Name / Sponsor H.R. 630: The Postal Service Protection Act / Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-OR Cosponsors: 165 (D), 7 (R)

What Bill Would Do Eliminates the future retiree health benefit prefunding requirement, protects six-day mail delivery and prevents the closure of rural post offices.

S. 316: The Postal Service Protection Act / Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-VT

Cosponsors: 2 (R)

S. 1486: Postal Reform Act / Sen. Tom Carper, D-DE Cosponsors: 1 (R)

Referred to House Committees on Oversight and Government Reform and Judiciary Referred to the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs

Cosponsors: 28 (D) H.R. 2748: Postal Reform Act / Rep. Darrell Issa, postal reform R-CA

Latest action(s)

Moves the U.S. Postal Service to five-day mail delivery, removes protections for injured workers and eliminates tothe-door delivery in favor of cluster boxes.

Approved by the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform on 7/24/13

Threatens integrity of the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program by removing postal workers and retirees, cuts workers’ compensation benefits and eliminates Federal Employees Retirement System pension for new hires.

Referred to Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs See story, below, on postal reform bills

POSTAL REFORM STALLS IN BOTH HOUSES

t press time, postal reform bills have stalled. NARFE is following the legislation closely because the bills could include provisions affecting federal employee and retiree health benefits, as well as federal workers’ compensation. In the upper chamber, Sen. Tom Carper, D-DE, has sought to move forward his bill, S. 1486. As chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, Carper scheduled formal committee meetings (also known as markups) to consider the bill on three occasions in November and December, only to postpone the markup at the last 12

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minute when it became clear that he did not have enough support to approve the bill. Attempts to craft a revised bill accommodating objections also have fallen short. On December 18, Carper’s committee held a closed-door meeting to try to negotiate a solution. As of press time, it was unclear whether any solution was imminent. From NARFE’s perspective, this is good news. Unless substantial changes are made to S. 1486, Carper’s troubles mean that enough senators are unwilling to sign on to a bad bill. Meanwhile, in the House, it does not appear there is enough support to pass H.R. 2748, the

postal reform bill authored by Rep. Darrell Issa, R-CA. That bill was approved in July by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, which Issa chairs, but it has not been placed on the calendar for consideration by the full House. NARFE does not support H.R. 2748, so this, too, is good news. While NARFE supports two postal reform measures, H.R. 630 and S. 316, introduced by Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-OR, and Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-VT, respectively, those bills are unlikely to receive sufficient support to pass either the House or Senate. —By John Hatton, deputy legislative director

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Questions & Answers

The following Questions & Answers were compiled by NARFE’s Federal Benefits Service Department staff. NARFE does not provide legal, financial planning or tax advice or assistance.

employees Five-year rule for FEHBP

If I am covered under my spouse’s TRICARE Standard plan, would I be eligible for Federal Employees Health Benefits Program (FEHBP) health insurance in retirement? Do I still need to get FEHBP health insurance during the last five years before retirement?

Here is what the Office of Personnel Management says about the five-year rule and coverage under TRICARE, the medical insurance program for active duty and retired military personnel: You are not required to have been an enrollee continuously, but you must have been continuously covered by an FEHBP enrollment. This includes: • Time you are covered as a family member under another person’s FEHBP enrollment; • Time you are covered under the Uniformed Services Health Benefits Program (also known as TRICARE or CHAMPUS), as

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long as you were covered under an FEHBP enrollment at the time of your retirement. (You must enroll in FEHBP within 60 days after you lose coverage under the Uniformed Services Health Benefits Program for that time to be considered as part of continuous FEHBP coverage.) If you enroll in the FEHBP before you retire, your coverage as a dependent under your spouse’s TRICARE counts toward the fiveyear continuous coverage rule; and assuming you had continuous coverage as a dependent under TRICARE, you will have met the requirement to continue FEHBP into retirement. It is doubtful you

will “lose” coverage as a dependent under your spouse’s TRICARE, so you should enroll in the FEHBP during the Open Season prior to your retirement.

Is Shift Differential Included in high-three?

I’m a nurse with the Department of Veterans Affairs, and I have received conflicting information regarding the inclusion of shift differential in my high-three average salary for retirement purposes. Is shift differential included or not?

According to the Office of Personnel Management’s CSRS and FERS Handbook, the answer depends on whether you are paid under the Federal Wage System (bluecollar employees) or the General Schedule (GS). Here is what we have found in the Handbook

(www.opm.gov; click on “Retirement,” then on “Publications & Forms”): The high-three average pay is the largest annual rate resulting from averaging an employee’s rates of basic pay in effect over any period of three consecutive years of creditable civilian service, with each rate weighted by the length of time it was in effect. The basic pay rate is the rate fixed by applicable law or regulation. The following special types of pay are included in basic pay: • Night differential pay for wage employees (prevailing rate); • Environmental differential pay for employees exposed to various degrees of hazard, physical hardship and working conditions of an unusual nature; • Additional remuneration pay (also known as Panama Area differential pay) and tropical differential pay for citizen employees of any agency on the Isthmus of Panama; • Premium pay for standby time under 5 U.S.C. 5545(c)(1), limited to a maximum of 25 percent of the minimum rate of pay for GS 10 (primarily affects firefighters); and irregular, unscheduled overtime authorized under 5 U.S.C. 5545 (c)(2) for law enforcement officers, limited to a maximum of 25 percent of the rate of basic pay for the position (administratively uncontrollable overtime). NOTE: Public Law 101-173, enacted November 27, 1989, amended the previous method by which premium pay is determined for irregular, unscheduled overtime duty performed by federal employees.

The amended computation for premium pay affects overtime duty performed on or after the first day of the first applicable pay period beginning after September 30, 1990. • Special pay established for recruiting and retention purposes under 5 U.S.C. 5. The following are excluded from basic pay: • Foreign post differential pay for wage employees as provided by Public Law 86-707 (approved September 6, 1960) and implementing regulations; • Night differential pay and foreign or nonforeign post differential pay of GS and GM employees; • Bonuses, allowances, overtime, holiday and military pay. As you can see, it depends on whether you are a wage grade employee (differential counts) or under the GS or GM pay schedule (differential does not count).

as the full-time employee contribution to the FEHBP premium. According to the Office of Personnel Management, the amount of the government contribution to your premium is determined by dividing the number of hours you are scheduled to work during the pay period by the number of hours worked by a full-time employee serving in the same or comparable position. That percentage is then applied to the government contribution made for full-time employees enrolled in that plan. The amount of the government contribution is then deducted from the total premium (government plus employee shares), and the remaining amount is withheld from your pay.

retirees FEHBP and ‘obamacare’

Premiums for Part-Time Workers

There is a lot of confusion and misinformation about the Affordable Care Act (ACA) – also known as “Obamacare.” The ACA does not affect individuals who have coverage under the FEHBP. There are no provisions in the law that adversely affect the FEHBP, Medicare or TRICARE. The law was intended to provide greater opportunity for individu-

I’m a part-time federal employee and am enrolled in the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program (FEHBP). When looking at the biweekly employee share of the premiums for my plan, I seem to be paying more than what is in the printed material. My human resources office just tells me it is because I am a part-timer. Please explain.

Under the FEHBP, parttime employees pay a prorated share of the government contribution as well

As I understand it, federal retirees in the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program (FEHBP) currently have a reprieve from “Obamacare,” but what happens when we’re next?

w w w. n a r f e . o r g

Questions & Answers

als without employer-sponsored plans and small businesses to obtain health insurance by providing lower-cost insurance through state exchanges while eliminating barriers such as pre-existing conditions. That is not to say that Congress or the administration won’t introduce legislation in the future that will try to reduce or eliminate benefits for federal employees and retirees. If that happens, NARFE will do everything it can to fight it.

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Re-enrolling in FEHBP after suspension

If I want to “unsuspend” my enrollment in the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program (FEHBP), how do I do it without falling through the cracks? I suspended my FEHBP family coverage and original Medicare to go with Medicare Advantage coverage. Now, I’d like to re-enroll in the FEHBP. Also, I noted that the Open Season Report in the December 2013 issue of narfe magazine cited a Medicare Advantage HMO as

qualifying for suspension. How about fee-for-service and PPO Advantage plans?

First, enrollment in any Medicare Advantage plan allows you to suspend your FEHBP enrollment. You don’t need to limit your enrollment to an HMO Advantage plan. Also, you can re-enroll in an FEHBP plan during a Federal Benefits Open Season simply by contacting the Office of Personnel Management’s Open Season Express toll-free number,

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Questions & Answers

NARFE at Your Service 800-332-9798. You can re-enroll even if you still are enrolled in a Medicare Advantage plan. However, to cancel your enrollment in a Medicare Advantage plan, you must do so during Medicare’s open enrollment period. In 2014, the Federal Benefits Open Season will be November 10-December 8. The Medicare open enrollment period usually runs from mid-October until early December.

Tax Form 1099-R

Many retirees are concerned they will not receive their 1099-R tax form for 2013 via regular postal

mail. Would you please let them know that the form for 2013 will be received as usual?

Federal retirees’ form 1099-R for tax year 2013 will be mailed by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) to their home address unless they contacted OPM and asked to receive that information electronically. To obtain an answer to a federal benefits question, NARFE members should call 703838-7760 and ask for the Federal Benefits Service Department; send your question by postal mail to NARFE Headquarters, ATTN: Federal Benefits; or submit it by email to fedbenefits@narfe.org.

NARFE service officers are available to answer questions and to assist in helping with a variety of benefit matters. Check your chapter newsletter for the name and phone number of your service officer. For the nearest service officer, call NARFE (toll-free) at:

800-456-8410. NARFE Service Centers also are available in some areas. Use the Service Center listings on the NARFE website,

www. narfe.org.

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Cover Story 20

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Illustration by Bill Pragluski, Critical Stages, LLC

THE H C T A H ACT

By David Tobenkin

It’s confusing and can end a career. Email and social media make it easier than ever to violate the law that limits feds’ partisan political activities.

ll-advised political communications in the workplace can cost a federal employee dearly, as Theresa Taddeo found out the hard way. In January 2008, Taddeo was a New York-based Department of Homeland Security senior intelligence research specialist. She says she had received a variety of disparaging emails about President Barack Obama sent to her personal email account and that she mistakenly forwarded, rather than deleted, one such email, captioned “Fwd: What Oprah forgot to tell you … about Obama,” to about 85 people, including a few coworkers, on a personal email account but using a government computer during work hours. The result was an investigation leading to a settlement between Taddeo and the Office of Special Counsel (OSC), the federal agency that polices impermissible partisan speech and activities by federal employees, in which Taddeo admitted that she had violated the Hatch Act. That federal statute limits certain partisan political activities of federal executive branch employees in order to protect the federal workforce from partisan political influence and ensure the nonpartisan administration of laws. The consequences for Taddeo were stiff: a six-week suspension without pay, which she says amounted to $10,000, not to mention the $3,500 she paid to retain

w w w. n a r f e . o r g

The hatch act an attorney. The attorney helped Taddeo negotiate a settlement with the OSC, which she said was initially pursuing a four-month suspension. “The monetary aspect didn’t hit me so hard as the fact that I was just hurt,” says Taddeo, who retired in 2012. “I was in reputable positions, and I hadn’t done anything in my 37 years in federal government that merited this. This was a firsttime, accidental offense.”

A Perfect Storm

With no raises for three years, the federal government shutdown, sequester days and ongoing denigration of federal workers in many quarters, many federal employees are steaming mad. And, conveniently, the 2014 political season is upon them, promising outraged federal workers an opportunity to vent their frustrations. But active federal employees – the Hatch Act does not apply to retirees – had best do so with caution, because a single ill-advised partisan political email at work or solicitation of money for a partisan election campaign could result in severe penalties. While some recent Hatch Act-related developments will allow expanded political activities by some federal workers and will give the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB), which hears and decides OSC Hatch Act prosecutions, discretion to impose less severe Hatch Act penalties than in the past, the basic, considerable challenges of complying with the complicated Act remain. The Hatch Act limits federal employee partisan political activities and communications in two primary ways: First, it limits many partisan political activities to outside the workplace, outside duty hours, out of uniform and outside of government vehicles. Second, it places absolute bars against certain forms of partisan political activities, whether an employee is on duty or off duty, at the workplace or away from it. The communications revolution of the past two decades has ensured that it is easier than ever to engage in actionable violations of the Act. Two decades of email communications have greatly expanded the scope of potential violations by providing, first, tangible, long-lived and irrefutable evidence of violations and, second, easy dissemination to multiple message recipients, any 22

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one of whom can report violations to agency ethics officers or the OSC, leading to enforcement action. The past decade’s development of social media vehicles such as Facebook, MySpace and Twitter have continued the trend by increasing the number and extent of communications and blurring the distinction between federal employees’ private and public lives. The increasing prevalence of federal employee teleworking, where employees are “on duty” while they are working electronically from home, further blurs the line. “Because the Internet and social media have made solicitations [to make partisan political financial contributions] easier to effectuate, we are likely to see an increase in the number of cases involving solicitation of political contributions, such as taking an email that includes a solicitation and forwarding it to others,” says Ana GalindoMarrone, chief of the OSC’s Hatch Act Unit. “Also, because there is so much discussion of federal benefits and salaries and furloughs, we expect there is likely to be some confusion between activities directed at legislative efforts, which are acceptable, versus activity directed at electing a specific partisan candidate or candidates [which, during duty hours, at the government workplace and in some other circumstances, violate the Act].” New Hatch Act complaints received by the OSC increased in fiscal year 2012 by 11 percent compared to fiscal year 2011, from 451 to 502, while total advisory opinions issued in fiscal year 2012 increased 10.8 percent, from 3,110 to 3,448 compared to fiscal year 2011, according to the OSC’s fiscal year 2012 annual report to Congress. Still, disciplinary actions like Taddeo’s, whether obtained by negotiation or ordered by the MSPB, remain fairly rare, with only four in fiscal year 2012.

The Devil in the Details

The Hatch Act was designed to carefully balance federal employees’ First Amendment right to free speech and participation in political life with their interest, and that of the public, in a depoliticized federal work environment. But finding the right balance, clearly explaining what is and is not permissible under the Act, and administering the appropriate level of penalties have not proven easy. Speech and actions relating to certain political activities are restricted under the Hatch Act.

etermining what is permissible under the

Act and what is a violation can be maddeningly detail-specific.

The definition of political activity may be wider than anticipated, as it includes activity directed toward the success or failure of a political party, candidate for partisan political office or partisan political group, even after a particular campaign concludes. (See 5 C.F.R. § 734.101.) An OSC advisory document notes that, therefore, even after Election Day, the Hatch Act still prohibits federal employees, while they are on duty or in the federal workplace, from wearing or displaying items that show support for, or opposition to, a political party or a partisan political group. Another complicating factor is that, pursuant to the Hatch Act, there are two levels of scrutiny and limitations applied by the statute: a general rule for most federal employees; and more restrictive provisions that limit the activities of employees at certain agencies, and offices within agencies, clustered in enforcement, intelligence, elections, as well as certain federal worker categories, such as Senior Executive Service members and administrative law judges. (See 5 U.S.C. § 7323(b).) Unless otherwise indicated, advice and analysis below refer to the less restricted category of employees. Finally, determining what is permissible under the Act and what is a violation can be maddeningly detail-specific. It took a lengthy OSC notice to federal employees in April 2011 to communicate which types of photos of President Obama

they could display in the workplace while he was a candidate for re-election and which would constitute Hatch Act violations. Can federal employees be blamed for their confusion when even a cabinet-level department secretary runs afoul of the statute? In 2012, the OSC concluded that Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius violated the Hatch Act when she made extemporaneous partisan remarks in a speech delivered in her official capacity on February 25, 2012.

How to Comply with the Act

Many federal agencies include Hatch Act components in their regular ethics training. The statute’s provisions concerning federal employees are found at 5 U.S.C. § 7321-7326, and implementing regulations can be found at 5 C.F.R. § 733 through § 734. In addition, the OSC has a wealth of information on its website regarding how to comply with the Act, including a helpful summary of do’s and don’ts. To access this information, go to www.osc. gov, click on “Political Activity (Hatch Act),” then on “Other Helpful Information,” then select “The Hatch Act and Federal Employee (poster).” Five major prohibitions for less-restricted federal employees are detailed in that summary and capture the breadth of the law: Federal employees may not use their official authority or influence to interfere with or affect the result of an election, by, for example, using their official titles or positions while engaged in political activity. (5 U.S.C. § 7323(a)(1)) This rule applies on or off duty, at home or at the office. Federal employees may not solicit, accept or receive a donation or contribution for a partisan political party, candidate for partisan political office or partisan political group. (5 U.S.C. § 7323(a)(2)) This rule applies on or off duty, at home or at the office. For example, they may not host a political fundraiser. While they may not collect or solicit money, they may contribute money to political campaigns, parties and groups provided they are not on duty or in the workplace. There is a narrow exception to the no-solicitation rule: when the person solicited for a political contribution belongs to the same federal labor organiza-

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The hatch act

4 24

tion, or federal employee organization, as the employee who solicits, accepts or receives the contribution; and the person solicited is not a subordinate employee; and the request is for a contribution to the multicandidate political committee of a federal labor organization or federal employee organization. Federal employees may not be candidates for public office in partisan political elections, though they may be candidates for public office in nonpartisan elections. (5 U.S.C. § 7323(a)(3)) There have been some new developments in this area. In December 2012, Congress passed legislation amending the Hatch Act, the Hatch Act Modernization Act of 2012, which contains the most significant changes to the law in nearly two decades. For public employees at the state and local levels, but not the federal level, the changes were dramatic: The Hatch Act Modernization Act allows most state and local government employees to run for partisan political office by eliminating a previous Hatch Act prohibition on state and local government employees from running for partisan office if they worked in connection with programs financed in whole or in part by federal loans or grants, so long as an employee’s salary is not paid for completely by federal loans or grants. In November, the Office of Personnel Management amended its regulations to grant federal employees residing in the District of Columbia a partial exemption from the Hatch Act’s political activity restrictions by making the District of Columbia a designated locality under the Hatch Act. The ruling permits federal employees who live in the District of Columbia to run for partisan political office in local elections as independents. Federal employees in 75 Maryland and Virginia cities and towns near Washington, DC, already had this right. The purpose of the regulations is to avoid limiting citizen participation in local governments in jurisdictions with large numbers of federal employees. The final rule became effective December 9, 2013. Federal employees may not knowingly solicit or discourage the participation in any political

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egislative activism by NARFE members, whether

writing letters or attending fundraisers, is not prohibited by the Act.

activity of anyone who has business pending before their employing office. (5 U.S.C. § 7323(a)(4)) This rule applies on or off duty, at home or at the office. Federal employees may not engage in political activity – that is, activity directed at the success or failure of a political party, candidate for partisan political office or partisan political group – while the employee is on duty, in any federal room or building, while wearing a uniform or official insignia, or using any federally owned or leased vehicle, by, for example, distributing campaign materials or items. (5 U.S.C. § 7324(a)) Elsewhere on the OSC’s website (www.osc. gov/haFederalfaq.htm), an OSC Hatch Act Q&A document provides answers to some of the most frequently asked questions that the OSC receives from federal employees concerning political activity. It provides case-specific examples that can better help employees understand exactly what conduct is and is not permitted. Still, John Mahoney, a lawyer who represents federal employees facing agency enforcement actions, including Hatch Act violations, notes that federal employees may wish to consult agency ethics officers and possibly outside counsel if they intend to engage in certain activities. “For example, a federal employee in DC wanting to run for

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The hatch act local office would be tricky under the new amendments to the Hatch Act, and such an employee should consult with an attorney before launching any campaign,” says Mahoney, a partner at the law firm Tully Rinckey PLLC.

A Kinder, Gentler Hatch Act?

The Hatch Act Modernization Act also resulted in some significant changes for federal employees concerning penalties by giving the MSPB discretion to mete out less severe penalties for violations than in the past. While the OSC had discretion to resolve cases with warning letters or settlements, for cases that the OSC determined were serious enough to prosecute and that the MSPB determined were violations, the Hatch Act allowed the MSPB only a handful of disciplinary options. The presumed penalty was removal from federal service for a violation of the Act, unless the MSPB found, by unanimous vote, that the violation did not warrant removal, in which case the MSPB could impose a penalty of not less than a 30-day suspension without pay. Under the modified penalty structure, an employee the MSPB finds violated the Hatch Act is subject to a range of disciplinary actions. This includes removal from federal service, reduction in grade, debarment from federal employment for a period not to exceed five years, suspension, reprimand or a civil penalty not to exceed $1,000. The modified penalty structure applies to violations that occurred before, on or after January 27, 2013, except in some circumstances.

Enforcement

Certain patterns of conduct are more likely to result in OSC enforcement action. “In terms of what cases would cause us to pursue enforcement action, they are usually more serious,” Galindo-Marrone says. “In many cases where we investigate and find a violation, we issue a warning letter. More serious cases [that may warrant prosecution] involve officials using their authority to interfere with an election, such as a supervisor advising subordinates to vote a certain way, solicitation of other federal employees, or continued violations after an employee has been warned.” With respect to Taddeo’s penalty, “prior to the Hatch Act Modernization Act of 2012, the 26

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presumptive penalty for Hatch Act violations was termination,” says OSC Press and Public Affairs Liaison Ann O’Hanlon. “In light of this, OSC typically asked for stiffer penalties than we do today. More typical cases in recent years include an Army Corps of Engineers employee who sent an email to 76 recipients, advocating for the success of a political party, while she was on duty and in the federal workplace. The majority of the recipients were federal employees. The employee who sent the email received a one-day suspension.” “The current Special Counsel has been very fair trying to handle complaints in an appropriate way based on what the law says,” observes J. Ward Morrow, assistant general counsel-legislation for the American Federation of Government Employees.

NARFE Activism Does Not Violate the Act

In response to a narfe magazine survey, several NARFE members asked whether activism on legislative issues violates the Act. It does not. As noted previously, advocating for or against legislation, rather than for or against candidates or parties, is not limited or prohibited by the Act. “Legislative activism by NARFE members, whether writing letters or calling congressional offices to express an opinion, is not prohibited by the Hatch Act,” says NARFE Legislative Director Jessica Klement. “The Act deals exclusively with electoral politics, not with legislative advocacy or lobbying activities. However, employees still should not engage in such advocacy activities on government time or using government equipment or resources. “Some agency officials maintain that a federal provision against using appropriated funds to influence members of Congress on legislation, at 18 U.S.C. § 1913, prohibits federal employees from participating in grass-roots lobbying campaigns on government time or using government resources. “In addition, use of duty time or government equipment or resources for such activities could violate other federal rules. And there also is the danger of unintentionally veering into partisan political activities, which would violate the Act.” —David Tobenkin is a freelance writer based in the greater Washington, DC, area.

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Special Section

Some disab led a nnui Social S tant ecurity s ge dema ta nds t sho hey ck repa wh y fu en nds By William Matthews

ddie Campbell was proud of her job as secretary to the director of the Yakima Agricultural Research Laboratory. For almost a decade, she typed research manuscripts for scientists who battled a destructive moth that threatens Washington state’s $2 billion annual apple crop. “It was an honor” to work for the Agriculture Department lab, Campbell says, and she continued to do so “until I could no longer do the work.” That happened after neck surgery limited the use of her right arm. With 20 years of federal employment – she had also worked for the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food and Nutrition Service and earlier for the Navy – Campbell applied for disability benefits through the Federal Employees Retirement System in 1989. Then, in 2001, she says she began receiving Social Security disability payments as well. Those monthly allotments of about $440 provided a modicum of financial security. Until February 2012, that is, when Campbell received a letter from the Social

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Security Administration (SSA) demanding that she repay $30,000 that the agency said it had overpaid her during the previous 11 years. At the same time, SSA reduced her monthly payments to $198. Thus began a stressful legal struggle that continues today. Campbell says that Social Security officials claim she checked a box on an application form indicating that she was not covered by a pension, when, in fact, she was. But Campbell insists that she neither filled out the form in question – nor even saw it – because she applied for Social Security benefits over the telephone. If the box was checked, it was done by a Social Security caseworker, she says. “And they knew I had a federal pension” because they had records of her employment, she says. “It was their mistake, and I feel like they’re accusing me of fraud.” Campbell and her attorney filed for a waiver of repayment in April 2012, arguing that the overpayment was Social Security’s fault, not Campbell’s. The matter languished for more than a year but finally went before an administrative law judge in October 2013. “This has caused so much stress,” Campbell says.

In December, she received a disappointing ruling: “The judge said Social Security made a mistake and it wasn’t my fault, but I still have to repay” the $30,000, Campbell says. She plans to appeal that decision. Campbell’s situation is far from unique. The Government Accountability Office reported last summer that SSA had overpaid 36,000 disability beneficiaries a total of $1.3 billion between 2010 and 2013. In an earlier report, GAO estimated that 1,500 federal employees had received disability overpayments. When SSA discovers that it has made overpayments, it wants the money back – often within 30 days. If the overpayment numbers sound enormous, consider this: SSA’s disability insurance program is the nation’s largest cash assistance program for workers with disabilities. Each year, more than 10 million beneficiaries receive over $128 billion. Looked at that way, 99.3 percent of the time the agency does not overpay beneficiaries, Carolyn Colvin told the House Ways and Means subcommittee on Social Security in 2012. Colvin was deputy Social Security commissioner then; now she’s the acting SSA commissioner. “Our disability programs are challenging to administer,” Colvin told the subcommittee. Determining workers’ eligibility for disability benefits is complicated and time-consuming; then keeping track of eligibility – such as whether improvements in health enable some beneficiaries to return to work – is daunting. Disability overpayments occur for a number of reasons, according to disability experts and an SSA spokesman. In some cases, recipients earn more income from work than allowed, or they fail to report earnings on time; changes in a recipient’s living situation or marital status can affect eligibility; health may improve and recipients are no longer considered disabled; SSA may have inaccurate employment information; and sometimes the SSA just makes mistakes. The leading cause for overpayments “is error in the application of substantial gainful activity,” or SGA, Colvin said. SGA is Social Security’s term for income from work. Disability recipients are allowed to earn up 30

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to $1,070 a month in 2014 without affecting their disability payments. Earn more than that, and benefits may be cut off. But SGA is “subject to modifications and exceptions,” Colvin said. For example, impairment-related work expenses can be deducted from earnings, and subsidies to encourage work might not be counted as SGA. How those and other exceptions are included in SGA calculations can lead to errors. Mistakes also can occur when beneficiaries test their ability to return to work. During a nine-month “trial work period,” beneficiaries can return to work and still receive full disability benefits. The months when they earn more than $770 are counted as part of their nine-month trial; months when they earn less are not. The nine months need not be consecutive, but can stretch out over a period of five years. During the trial period, beneficiaries must scrupulously report their earnings to Social Security. Failure to do so may result in benefits being terminated, benefits lawyers warn. After the trial work period, beneficiaries enter an “extended period of eligibility,” which lasts for 36 months. During that time, they continue to collect full benefits as long as their monthly income is less than $1,070. In months when their income exceeds $1,070, beneficiaries are ineligible for disability benefits. Inaccurate reporting of monthly income is a cause for Social Security disability overpayments. “In many cases, beneficiaries fail to report that they have begun a trial work period or have continued to work into the extended period of eligibility,” Colvin said. “The statutory rules for return to work are complicated,” so “beneficiaries are often unsure when they have to report work to us,” she conceded. For federal employees, overpayments can occur when a worker receives disability payments through the Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS) and later becomes eligible for disability payments from Social Security. (In rare instances, employees who retired under Civil Service Retirement System [CSRS] Offset and are eligible for Social Security disability payments may incur overpayments.) Although disabled workers are

allowed to receive payments from FERS and Social Security, federal law requires that FERS disability payments be reduced by the amount Social Security provides. Beneficiaries must report the payments they receive from SSA to the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), and OPM is supposed to make the appropriate reductions to benefits payments. But that doesn’t always happen. Indeed, OPM warns that FERS disability benefits usually begin before Social Security benefits are processed, and the delay by Social Security then can lead to overpayments. OPM suggests Social Security checks “should not be negotiated” until FERS payments have been reduced. “You will need the SSA payments to reimburse OPM for the reduction which should have been made” to the FERS payments, OPM warns in benefits literature. Joseph Lachance knows the problem firsthand. Despite back injuries and other health problems related to military service that left him a “100 percent permanent and total disabled veteran,” Lachance worked for the Postal Service for 14 years, rising to the position of maintenance manager. But in 2012, his injuries caught up with him. “I couldn’t climb ladders or crawl under machinery anymore,” he says. So he applied for and soon began receiving FERS disability payments. As required by law, Lachance says he also applied for Social Security disability payments, but was turned down – twice. Lachance appealed the SSA decision, and after deliberating for a year, SSA approved disability payments and sent him a retroactive payment of about $15,000 for the months he had missed. “The minute I got approved, I faxed the SSA award notification to OPM, as required,” Lachance says. And to make sure OPM received word of the approval, he sent a copy of the notice by trackable priority mail. And then – nothing. “OPM sat on it for five or six months,” Lachance says. Then, in November, he received a notice saying he owed Social Security $15,262 for overpayments. “One could say you should be saving

that money” in anticipation of an overpayment notice, Lachance says. “But when you’re a disabled vet, you don’t have a lot of income coming in.” In addition to reducing his FERS payments to offset his Social Security disability payments, “they want another $314 from my reduced annuity over 48 months” to pay back the overpayments. After insurance and other expenses, Lachance says his monthly income will be reduced to a few hundred dollars. He has filed for his case to be reconsidered by Social Security and also requested a lower monthly deduction for repayment. “It’s still pending. I’m praying for a reduction, forgiveness or better payment plan,” Lachance says. “I firmly believe that if you owe money, you’ve got to pay it back.” But to delay decisions for more than a year, as Social Security did, and not act on an award notification, as OPM did for months, “you’re setting people up for failure,” he says. “The way they did it was wrong.”

Federal law requires that FERS disability payments be reduced by the amount Social Security provides.

Lachance says he incurred $7,000 in lawyer’s fees battling SSA. Complaints about inaction on the part of SSA and OPM are not uncommon. Even when beneficiaries provide Social Security with required information about changes in work, health or living situations, the agency sometimes “doesn’t do anything about it,” says Elliott Andalman, a Maryland-based attorney who specializes in disability law and disability benefits. Consider the case of Susan Brown, who received notice last April that she owes SSA $12,000. Brown, who worked for years as a personnel security specialist for the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) in Albuquerque, NM, says she began receiving Social Security disability payments in August 2011 while undergoing debilitating treatments for cancer. After five months, she returned to work on a nine-month trial work period. And during that time, Brown says she sent SSA monthly accountings of her income, doctors’ bills, prescription costs and living expenses, laying bare her financial situation. Brown says she suffered from “chemo brain” – foggy thinking caused by chemotherapy and radiation treatments. She says she explained this to her SSA caseworker in an email, and asked specifically, “Please make sure I don’t have any problems because I don’t want to be overpaid.” Problems arrived, nonetheless, in the mail last April 16. Brown says she was notified that since October 2012 she had been overpaid. “They took six months to let me know. I had constant communication with my caseworker, but she never said a word.” Instead, during the time Social Security now says she was being overpaid, Brown says she received several notices that her benefits were being increased. With the overpayment notice in hand, “I asked them why they had not stopped the payments,” she says. “They never gave me an answer.” For Brown, SSA’s demand for repayment threatens financial disaster. She says she applied for Social Security disability in the first 32

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Waivers are for people who acknowledge that there has been an overpayment, but it wasn’t their fault and they cannot afford to repay it. place because, “I was trying to survive. I could barely work.” “I’ve had numerous surgeries this past year, a heart attack scare, spinal injections, heart catheterizations, you name it.” There have been “treatments, tests, MRIs, CT and PET scans,” and recently a diagnosis of multiple sclerosis, which Brown attributes to stress caused by her struggle with Social Security. Yet she continues to work. “Because I have a house,” she says through tears. “I am struggling to work to pay my bills” to avoid foreclosure while she prepares the house for sale. And after that? “I don’t know. I’ll move to a shacky little apartment somewhere, I guess.” Brown says she has worked for NNSA for 30 years, but for 24 of them she was a contractor. With just six years as a FERS employee, she says she expects to be eligible for a pension of only $118 a month. “My medical bills are outrageous,” she says. “God, please help me.” Attorneys who specialize in disability law say the first step for many who receive overpayment notices from SSA is to apply for a waiver. That should be done within 30 days of receiving an overpayment notice, says Richard Renaud, a former Social Security executive, now a Florida-based lawyer who handles disability overpayment cases nationwide. Essentially, waivers are for people who acknowledge that there has been an overpay-

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ment, but the overpayment was not their fault and they cannot afford to repay it, says SSA spokesman William Jarrett. “People can get waivers if they meet certain criteria,” Renaud says, but the criteria are fairly stringent. In an eight-page waver form, SSA asks for detailed information about the recipient’s household income, bank accounts, investments, retirement funds, monthly expenses and assets such as vehicles, boats, real estate and other property. “It’s a very comprehensive financial statement,” says disability attorney Andalman. The form also asks beneficiaries to explain why they think they are not at fault for the overpayments. Renaud says waivers may be granted if a beneficiary’s income and resources are so small that returning the overpayment would go “beyond equity and good conscience.” That is, if returning the money would leave the beneficiary unable to afford basic necessities such as food, shelter, medicine and other essential living expenses. If repaying would make beneficiaries’ financial resources fall below $3,000 for an individual or $5,000 for an individual with a dependent, Social Security may waive the requirement to repay, says SSA’s Jarrett. Between questions of finances and fault, “many do not qualify” to have overpayments waived, Andalman says. Waiver decisions can be appealed, Jarrett says. But in the end, “the debtor typically repays the overpayment,” he says. Brown says she applied for a waiver and was turned down. Another option is to file for reconsideration of the overpayment. That’s for beneficiaries who dispute that they were overpaid or that the overpayment was as much as Social Security claims, Jarrett explains. “The debtor may file an appeal [for reconsideration] within 60 days of the date of the initial notice,” Jarrett says. During the reconsideration process, benefi-

ciaries can ask to present their case in person to a Social Security representative, or they can have their case reviewed at a higher level by an SSA examiner. For those not satisfied with the outcome of waiver or reconsideration proceedings, the next step is to request a hearing before an administrative law judge. “At this point, you should hire a representative or an attorney,” Renaud says. “Be ready to testify and provide documentation that you meet the tests required in the waiver form.” Those dissatisfied with the judge’s decision can appeal to the Social Security Appeals Council. And if the council’s decision is unsatisfactory, it can be appealed to the U.S. District Court. In the end, if SSA and the courts determine that the overpayment must be returned, “you can request a repayment plan,” Andalman says. “Often you can go in and work out a repayment plan that is not as painful as simply handing over $20,000.” Renaud says it is also possible to negotiate for a reduced repayment or for making low monthly repayments. At this point, though, not returning at least some of the overpayment is usually not an option. SSA warns on its website that it can withhold federal income tax returns, future Social Security payments and disability payments to recover overpayments. SSA also can garnish the wages of those who have gone back to work, the lawyers caution. —William matthews is a freelance writer based in virginia.

CORRECTION: In the December 2013 issue (p. 27), we erroneously said that federal employees and retirees over age 70 1/2 must take required miniminum distributions (RMDs) from the Thrift Savings Plan or face big tax penalties. We should have said that individuals who are still working and are age 70 1/2 or older have until April 1 of the year after their separation from service to take RMDs. narfe magazine regrets the error.

Attention NARFE Retirees

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Managing Money

tax comparison key to roth conversion

s discussed in January’s column, if recent proposals requiring nonspouse beneficiaries to liquidate an inherited individual retirement

account (IRA) within five years become law, converting a tax-deferred retirement plan to a Roth IRA might be beneficial. This month, we’ll take a look at why, even if the recent proposals never become law, a Roth conversion may work in your favor. The purpose of a Roth conversion is to minimize taxes over the entire life cycle of the retirement plan. Therefore, to determine whether or not a Roth conversion makes sense, you need to compare the tax liability that would be incurred over the entire life cycle of the tax-deferred retirement account with any tax liability due if it were converted to a Roth IRA. Potentially playing a large role in the analysis are required minimum distributions (RMDs), which affect holders of tax-deferred retirement plans beginning with the year the owner turns age 70½. The RMDs may not only push the distributions into a higher tax bracket, but they also may increase an owner’s total tax liability in other ways. For example, recall from January’s column that tax liability includes federal and state income taxes, as well as the cost of any ancillary expenses – such as 36

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Medicare Part B premiums, various itemized deductions and taxable Social Security benefits. The additional income from the RMDs may reduce the amount of medical expenses you may deduct, or require that you pay a higher Medicare Part B premium. It’s also important to consider how the death of one spouse might impact the surviving spouse’s tax liability. The tax brackets for single filers have lower income thresholds than the brackets for joint filers, so it’s possible for a surviving spouse to end up in a higher tax bracket. For example, in 2014, the 15 percent bracket for a couple filing jointly starts at $18,151 and ends at $73,800. However, for a single filer, the 15 percent bracket starts at $9,076; then at $36,900, the rate jumps to 25 percent until income reaches $89,350, where the 28 percent rate kicks in. Let’s look at how a surviving

By Mark A. Keen,

CFP®

spouse may end up paying a higher tax rate on tax-deferred retirement plan distributions as a widower or widow than when he or she was married filing jointly. We’ll assume the couple, both turning 70½ in 2014, have $500,000 in tax-deferred retirement plan assets and live on the husband’s $65,000 Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) pension. Since the couple turns 70½ in 2014, they must begin taking RMDs from their tax-deferred retirement accounts, which will total $18,250. Adding this to the CSRS income, the couple’s total income for 2014 is $83,250. After taking into consideration personal exemptions and the standard deduction for a couple older than 65, their taxable income is $60,850. Based on the tax bracket information above, we can see the entire RMD is taxed at 15 percent. Now, let’s assume the husband died in 2013, and the widow receives a full CSRS survivor’s annuity of $35,750. Since the widow turns 70½ in 2014, she is still required to take the same RMD of $18,250 in 2014, giving her a gross income of $54,000. After deducting the personal exemption and the standard deduction, the widow’s taxable income for 2014 is $42,500. As you can see, $5,600 of the widow’s

FINANCIAL TOOLS NARFE offers an online retirement calculator and other financial planning tools. Find out more at www.narfe.org/ federalbenefits.

RMD is now taxed at the 25 percent rate. Granted, this is only an additional tax liability of $560, but over a decade or two, this adds up. Moreover, if the wife were the first to die, the husband would continue to receive his full CSRS annuity and the entire RMD would then be taxed at the 25 percent rate. If the couple had converted their tax-deferred

retirement plan assets to a Roth IRA, the surviving spouse would not have been required to take minimum distributions. However, it’s likely the surviving wife would need to take distributions to supplement the reduced survivor’s annuity, but the distributions coming from the Roth IRA would be tax-free. Projecting the future distributions from taxdeferred retirement plans, and understanding the impact they would have on tax liability, will shed light on whether or not a Roth IRA conversion would help you retain more of your hard-earned retirement savings. Mark A. Keen, CFP®, is partner, Keen & Pocock, 10300 Eaton place, Fairfax, VA, and an investment adviser representative and registered principal of The Strategic Financial Alliance, Inc. (SFA). Securities and advisory services are offered through SFA. Email: mkeen@keenpocock.com.

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The Informed Citizen

Turnover in congress

ongressional incumbents usually win re-election. However, three recent elections – 2006, 2008 and 2010 — have been “wave” elections. That is, they have been elections in which at least 20 House seats swung from one party to the other. That phenomenon, as well as retirements and redistricting, have produced a House of Representatives with 196 members (45.1 percent) serving their third or fewer term. In the Senate, a majority (54) have served six years or less in the Senate. This is the highest number since there were 55 in 1981. Most general elections have at least two candidates, but many contests are not financially competitive. In 2012, winning House incumbents spent $1.65 million on average. The mean Senate incumbent spent $10.7 million while seeking re-election in 2012. Challengers spent, on average, $.58 million (House) and $7.22 million (Senate). In

the 2012 election cycle, NARFEPAC supported 11 successful challengers while supporting 15 challengers who lost. Looking in the rearview mirror is useful if it helps us predict what may happen in 2014. Public approval of Congress is at an all-time low. This creates the possibility of higher turnover. Partisan gerrymandering means

1978 1996 1978 2008 1984 2002 1984

NOT SEEKING RE-ELECTION – HOUSE Name, Party-State (District) 1st Elected Tom Lathan, R-IA (3) Jim Matheson, D-UT (4) Frank R. Wolf, R-VA (10) Howard Coble, R-NC (6) Jon Runyan, R-NJ (3) Tim Griffin, R-AR (2) Spencer Bachus, R-AL (6) John Campbell, R-CA (45) Michele Bachmann, R-MN (6)

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primary elections are, for many incumbents, more problematic than the general. NARFE members should use the filing deadlines, listed in the January column, and campaign finance information to handicap their own House and Senate elections. And, most importantly, don’t just watch from the sidelines. Plan now to conduct multichapter candidate forums requiring all candidates to speak to NARFE issues. Federation conventions are the ideal setting for statewide candidate forums. Listed below are the “open” seats certain to have a new member in 2014 due to retirement or ambition for other office. This listing, from Congressional Quarterly, will be updated with notices in the Legislative Hotline.

MEMBERS VOLUNTARILY LEAVING HOUSE AND SENATE REPRESENTATIVES RUNNING FOR OTHER OFFICE Name, Party-State (District) 1st Elected

NOT SEEKING RE-ELECTION – SENATE 1st Elected (or Nomin. by Gov.) Name, Party-State Max Baucus, D-MT Tim Johnson, D-SD Carl Levin, D-MI Mike Johanns, R-NE Tom Harkin, D-IA Saxby Chambliss, R-GA Jay Rockefeller, D-WV

By Christopher Farrell, Legislative Representative

1994 2000 1980 1984 2010 2005 2006 2005 2006

Steve Stockman, R-TX (36) Steve Daines, R-MT (AL) Michael H. Michaud, D-ME (2) Tom Cotton, R-AR (4) Jack Kingston, R-GA (1) Colleen Hanabusa, D-HI (1) Gary Peters, D-MI (14) Allyson Y. Schwartz, D-PA (13) Bill Cassidy, R-LA (6) Phil Gingrey, R-GA (11) Bruce Braley, D-IA (1) Paul Broun, R-GA (10) Shelley Moore Capito, R-WV (2)

2012 2012 2002 2012 1992 2010 2008 2014 2008 2002 2006 2007 2000

Key: Red = Running for Senate, challenging an incumbent Blue = Running for Senate in an open Senate seat Green = Running for governor

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2013

For the Record

Thrift Savings Plan Monthly Returns G FUND

F FUND

C FUND

S FUND

I FUND

JANUARY

0.13%

(0.56%)

5.18%

6.96%

4.45%

FEBRUARY

0.13%

0.51%

1.36%

1.00%

(0.99%)

March

0.13%

0.07%

3.75%

4.69%

0.88%

APRIL

0.12%

1.02%

1.93%

0.65%

5.32%

MAY

0.12%

(1.78%)

2.34%

2.71%

(3.12%)

June

0.14%

(1.53%)

(1.34%)

(0.99%)

(2.77%)

JULY

0.18%

0.13%

5.10%

6.88%

5.29%

AUGUST

0.18%

(0.48%)

(2.89%)

(2.76%)

(1.31%)

SEPTEMBER

0.19%

0.99%

3.14%

5.89%

7.41%

OCTOBER

0.19%

0.89%

4.60%

2.94%

3.38%

NOVEMBER

0.18%

(0.35%)

3.05%

2.49%

0.75%

DECEMBER

0.19%

(0.56%)

2.54%

2.94%

1.51%

YTD

1.89%

(1.68%)

32.45%

38.35%

22.13%

LAST 12 MO

1.89%

(1.68%)

32.45%

38.35%

22.13%

10 yr

3.61%

5.25%

7.12%

10.79%

8.39%

L INCOME

L 2020

L 2030

L 2040

L 2050

JANUARY

1.10%

2.83%

3.56%

4.11%

4.63%

FEBRUARY

0.27%

0.41%

0.49%

0.54%

0.56%

MARCH

0.73%

1.69%

2.12%

2.44%

2.71%

APRIL

0.67%

1.58%

1.91%

2.13%

2.41%

MAY

0.19%

0.33%

0.43%

0.51%

0.53%

JUNE

(0.30%)

(0.94%)

(1.20%)

(1.40%)

(1.59%)

JULY

1.21%

2.95%

3.72%

4.29%

4.83%

(0.39%)

(1.22%)

(1.60%)

(1.87%)

(2.11%)

SEPTEMBER

1.12%

2.71%

3.40%

3.90%

4.42%

OCTOBER

1.01%

2.23%

2.75%

3.11%

3.47%

NOVEMBER

0.58%

1.24%

1.54%

1.74%

1.93%

DECEMBER

0.58%

1.25%

1.56%

1.77%

1.98%

YTD

6.97%

16.03%

20.16%

23.23%

26.20%

LAST 12 MO

6.97%

16.03%

20.16%

23.23%

26.20%

AUGUST

THIS CHART is provided as a service to NARFE members who enrolled in the Thrift Savings Plan while employed by the federal government. Retirees are not eligible for enrollment. These returns are net of the effect of accrued administrative expenses and investment expenses/costs. Percentages in () are negative. Source: TSP G Fund: Government securities (specially issued to the TSP) F Fund: Government, corporate and mortgage-backed bonds C Fund: Stocks of large- and medium-size U.S. companies S Fund: Stocks of small- to medium-size U.S. companies (not included in the C Fund) I Fund: International stocks of 21 developed countries L Fund: Invested in the G, F, C, S and I Funds (The proportion of L Fund balance invested in each of the individual TSP funds depends on the L Fund chosen.) 40

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2013 was record year for stocks Global equity markets continued their gains in December, finishing 2013 at record levels. Equity prices were supported by growth in third-quarter gross domestic product, which increased at an annualized rate of 4.1 percent, and investors shrugged off the Fed’s plans to scale back monetary stimulus. The C Fund posted a return of 32.45 percent, the largest calendaryear return since 1997. The 2013 annual rates of return for the S Fund and I Fund were 38.35 percent and 22.13 percent, respectively. —BY william H. Jacobson, Deputy Chief investment officer of the Thrift Savings Plan

Countdown to COLA

he Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) decreased 0.26 percent in November 2013. To calculate the amount of the 2015 cost-of-living adjustment (COLA), the indices of July, August and September 2014 will be averaged and compared with the 2013 third-quarter average of 230.327. That percentage increase, if any, determines the COLA. The November index of 229.133 is down 0.52 percent from the base. Benefits awarded under the Federal Employees’ Compensation Act (FECA) to individuals suffering work-related injuries or illnesses are adjusted according to each calendar year’s percentage change in the CPI-W. November’s index is 1.44 percent higher than the December 2012 base index of 225.889. The CPI represents purchases of food and beverages, housing, apparel, transportation, medical care, recreation, education and communication, and other goods and services. Included are various government fees, such as water charges, auto registration fees, and sales and excise taxes. Month

CPI-W

Monthly % Change

% Change from 230.327

October 2013

229.735

-0.3

-0.26

November

229.133

-0.26

-0.52

December January 2014 February March April May June July August September

Donate to NARFE Programs Support Alzheimer’s Research

Your charitable contribution is tax-deductible to the fullest extent allowed by law.

Write your chapter number on check; make it payable to: NARFE-Alzheimer’s Research

Enclosed is my NARFE-Alzheimer’s contribution: $ Every cent that is contributed is used for research. Please circle: Mr. Mrs. Miss Ms. and mail to: Name: Alzheimer’s Association Address: 225 N. Michigan Ave., 17th Floor City: State: ZIP: Chicago, IL 60601-7633 Chapter Number: Credit Card Information: MasterCard Visa NARFE members contributed for If you have any questions, write to: Discover AMEX Alzheimer’s research: $11 Million Fund National Committee Chair Card Number: Jane Rodgers, P.O. Box 234 Expiration Date: (mm)/ (yy) Wadesville, IN 47638-0234 *Total as of November 30, 2013 3-Digit Security Code: 100% of all contributed funds go to Name: (please print) Email: ajrodgers@tds.net

$10,586,185* Alzheimer’s research.

Signature

Join the Silver CIrcle Clip this contribution form and mail to: NARFE Silver Circle, 606 N. Washington St. Alexandria, VA 22314

•For a contribution of $25 or more, you will receive a Silver Circle pin, and your name will be listed in narfe magazine with other contributors. •For a contribution of $1,000 or more, your name will be placed on the “Wall of Fame” at NARFE Headquarters.

YOUR CHARITABLE CONTRIBUTION IS TAX-DEDUCTIBLE TO THE FULLEST EXTENT ALLOWED BY LAW.

Enclosed is my Silver Circle contribution: $ ID # (ID # may be found on your narfe magazine label or your NARFE membership card)

Name: Address: City: Silver Circle contributions are NOT deductible for federal income tax purposes.

Installment Plan Wall of Fame 12-month installment plan

Give to the Scholarship and Disaster Funds

Please mail coupon and check to: FEEA 3333 S. Wadsworth Blvd., Suite 300 Lakewood, CO 80227

All donations go to the NARFE General Fund to support NARFE programs and operations.

State:

ZIP:

My check is enclosed

(Please make check payable to NARFE Silver Circle.)

Please charge my credit card Card type MasterCard Visa Discover AMEX Card Number: Expiration Date: (mm)/ (yy) Name: (please print)

Signature

Make check payable to: NARFE-FEEA Disaster Fund or NARFE-FEEA Scholarship Fund.

Date

YES!

Date

I would like to help with my contribution.

Please check appropriate box(es). To make credit-card contributions, call 800-338-0755. Scholarships are available to children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren of federal civilian retirees and current federal employees who are NARFE members. NARFE-FEEA Disaster Fund

Amount: $

NARFE-FEEA Scholarship Fund

Amount: $

Name: Address: City:

State:

ZIP:

NARFE News

fundraising helps Narfe support you

ARFE membership dues provide less than 70 percent of the operating funds necessary to carry out the Association’s mission. Consequently, NARFE must generate funds through other means: gifts, bequests, affinity partner contributions, and donations and fundraising. As your National Treasurer, I want to assure all members that absolutely no dues monies are used to support our fundraising programs. Our notepads, note cards, calendars and holiday cards (produced and mailed by professional vendors with great track records of success) generate positive net income for the NARFE treasury. In 2012, we raised $2.2 million

Silver circle Donors Update As of December 15, 2013, NARFE’s Silver Circle donation program stands at $130,891. The program gives members a vehicle to donate to the Association beyond the norm. Donors of $25 or more are listed in narfe magazine and receive a Silver Circle pin. Donors of $1,000 or more have their names engraved on the Wall of Fame at NARFE Headquarters. Donors from August 16-December 15 are listed here with their chapter num-

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gross from our fundraising efforts and netted $1.5 million after expenses; in 2013, we are on track to generate even more income. As of November, we had raised almost $2.5 million. These programs are important for the efficient and effective conduct of the NARFE mission. We thank all of you for your generous contributions. NARFE is envied by many associations for our fundraising success, which is made possible by our members’ generosity.

2014 scholarship competition opens The 2014 NARFE Scholarship Program will run February 1 through April 25. A copy of the application appears on the facing page (p. 43). As of February 1, members and nonmembers also can access the application on the NARFE website, www.narfe.org, by clicking on the Scholarship Program graphic in the carousel on the Home Page. (If you are already logged in, click on “Special Programs” in the left panel.) Applicants must be high school seniors who plan to attend an accredited college in the fall/ winter of the award year and who are the children, grandchildren or great grandchildren of current (living) NARFE members. Sixty scholarships of $1,000 each will be awarded in August. The Scholarship Program relies on the generosity of donors. To make a tax-deductible contribution, see p. 41 of this issue.

—By Richard G. Thissen, National treasurer Above, NARFE mailed notepads and bookmarks to members in January in its most recent fundraising program.

bers. Two qualify for the Wall of Fame with contributions of $1,000. They are Thomas Bosserman, Chapter 0065, California; and Eleanor H. Johnson, Chapter 1913, Vermont. Other donors are: Arizona: Mary E. Bailey, 1395; Dianna D. Dimick, 1400. California: Philip Calabrese, 0004; Louis J. Jurus, 0004; Ruben Garcia, 0065; Nancy Kay Morgan, 0352; Lucina Siguenza, 0482; Lawrence Lancaster, 0511. eNARFE: Norman B. Hedrick, 2363. Florida: John R. Ledman, 1137; R. Wayne Startup, 1428. Kansas: Wesley

For chapter photos, see our Out and About Photo Gallery at www.narfe.org/narfemagazine.

A. Hogan, 1763. Maryland: William G. Elsen, 0409. Massachusetts: Robert Jacobs, 0360. Michigan: Mary M. Lee, 1515. Minnesota: Freda M. Ricks, 2243. New Jersey: Joanne Brice, 0501. North Carolina: Bill R. Austin, 0105; Carolyn S. Hunsucker, 0692. Ohio: Albert D. Vanatta, 1927. Rhode Island: Joseph A. Dirobbio, 0116. South Dakota: Harlan L. Niedermyer, 0810. Texas: Frederick E. Stribling, 0229; Rex H. Hudson, 1139. Virginia: Elizabeth K. Cassidy, 0401. Washington: John Cornette, 0236. Wisconsin: Kenneth L. Smith, 0094; Tom A. Boyd, 0403.

NARFE 2014

SCHOLARSHIP APPLICATION Applicants: • Must be high school seniors planning to attend an accredited college full-time in the fall/winter of 2014. • Must have a grade point average of at least 3.0 on an unweighted 4.0 scale. • Must be sponsored by a parent, grandparent or great-grandparent who is a current NARFE member. (Step-parents, stepgrandparents, etc., can also sponsor.) Sponsor must be living at the time application is submitted. • Must provide your email address on the application. Your application receipt will be sent to this email address; please add “confirmation@feea.org” to your address book. • Must provide the following materials in your packet: r Official 2014 NARFE scholarship application. Photocopies are acceptable. r Full transcript, including fall/winter 2013 grades. Report cards and photocopies are acceptable. If mailed separately by the school, must arrive by program deadline. r Copies of American College Testing (ACT) or Scholastic Aptitude Testing (SAT), or other entrance examination scores. (Home-schooled students must provide equivalent of transcript and test scores as applicable.) r List and brief description of any awards or volunteer/ community service activities (not to exceed two pages). r Written recommendation from a teacher or counselor, on school or other official letterhead. r One stamped, self-addressed #10 envelope r Essay

ESSAY TOPIC INFORMATION The essay must be typed, double-spaced, not more than two pages on the following topic: Federal employees have built bridges and roads, walked on the moon, developed vaccines, saved lives and made many other invaluable contributions to our country. What can be done to improve the public’s perception of civil service, and ensure that federal employees are recognized and appreciated for the work they do every day? All of the above materials (except transcript, if necessary) must be mailed in the same 9”x12” (or larger) envelope, postmarked no later than April 25, 2014, to: NARFE Scholarship Awards, c/o FEEA, 3333 S. Wadsworth Blvd., Suite 300, Lakewood, CO 80227. DO NOT FOLD MATERIALS. DO NOT USE STAPLES OR PAPER CLIPS. Please note: All materials submitted with the application will become the property of FEEA and will not be returned under any circumstances. If needed, make a copy of the information for yourself before mailing. A total of 60 scholarships of $1,000 each will be awarded. Applicants will be notified of the judges’ decision by the end of August. A list of winners and their sponsors will appear on the NARFE website at www.narfe.org, and will be published in the December issue of narfe magazine. The NARFE Scholarship Program is administered by the Federal Employee Education & Assistance Fund (FEEA) and is made possible by your tax-deductible contributions to the NARFEFEEA Scholarship Fund, 3333 S. Wadsworth Blvd., Suite 300, Lakewood, CO 80227. For more information, obtain a copy of NARFE publication F-105, A Guide to NARFE’S Annual Scholarship Awards Program. To get your copy, send an email to natvp@narfe.org; download it from the NARFE website, www.narfe.org; or call Headquarters and ask for the Office of the National Vice President.

Please complete the following. Incomplete applications and applications sent to NARFE Headquarters will not be considered. Student’s Name:______________________________________

I am taking college courses in high school: o Yes

Complete Home Address:

NARFE Member’s Name: ______________________________

____________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________

Relationship to Applicant: o Father o Mother o Grandfather o Grandmother

Home Telephone: _____________________________________

NARFE Member No.: __________________________________

Email Address: _______________________________________

Chapter No.: ________________________________________

Applicant’s Grade Point Average (GPA): __________________ (Applicants must have a cumulative GPA of at least 3.0 on an unweighted 4.0 scale)

Member’s Complete Home Address:

College or University (planning to attend): ________________ ____________________________________________________ (Must be a college freshman by fall/winter 2014)

o No

____________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________ Member’s Telephone: _________________________________ Member’s Email Address: ______________________________

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NARFE National Convention August 24-28

rlando Deadlines

Candidate Statements: March 1 for publication in the May issue of narfe magazine Committee Assignment Requests: March 1 Resolutions: No later than May 13 Delegate Forms: June 28 Registration: August 1 Proxy Forms: August 9

Maximize Your Time: Lunch and Learn! Building on its successful “Lunch and Learn” programs at the 2012 National Convention, NARFE will offer additional training sessions in Orlando. Delegates will be able to purchase food at pay-as-you-go stations and attend a series of breakfast and lunch seminars. On Monday, August 25, early risers can attend a breakfast session on a membership marketing topic. The same seminar will be repeated at lunch. On Tuesday, August 26, another membership marketing topic will be presented at breakfast and repeated at lunch. On Wednesday, Convention Website

NARFE’s 2014 National Convention website, www.narfe.org/ convention2014, features “responsive design,” which enables it to be viewed easily using a computer, tablet or smartphone. Using the website, chapter officers can, for the first time, request to receive information via email on the number of voting reps for which the chapter qualifies, and designate delegates, voting reps and proxies. NARFE members can register for the convention, make banquet reservations and request to be on a convention committee.

August 27, NARFE’s legislative team will lead a lunch session on the Association’s top legislative priorities and grass-roots best practices. And on Thursday, August 28, a lunch session will provide training on the Online Activities Module. In addition to these events, on Wednesday morning, a special NARFE-PAC Breakfast will thank

qualifying NARFE-PAC donors (those providing monthly contributions of $10 or more, those who have contributed more than $100 during the 2013-14 election cycle and those who provide a contribution in connection with the breakfast). And on Tuesday evening, NARFE will offer its popular service officer training program.

Travel Arrangements

Hotel Registration

Rosen Centre Hotel 9840 International Dr. Orlando, FL 32819 800-204-7234 www.RosenCentre.com NARFE Rate: $95 + 13.1% tax =$107.45 single/double occupancy per night. Additional person: $20 For NARFE group rate, please use Group Code 50485. Reservation Cutoff Date: Monday, July 21

Airline Discounts Delta Airlines, www.delta.com. When booking online, select Meeting Events Code and enter the meeting ID: NMGND in the box provided on the Search Flight page. A direct ticket charge of $25 will apply if booking by phone (800-328-1111). United Airlines, www.united.com. When booking online, enter the Z Code: ZCQJH, then the Agreement Code: 825302. A $25 service fee will be collected per ticket for all tickets issued by phone through United Meetings reservations, 800-426-1122.

w w w. n a r f e . o r g

NARFE 2014 National Convention Orlando, Florida August 24-28

PREREGISTRATION FORM NARFE ID #:_ _________________________________ Name:______________________________________ Address:_____________________________________ ___________________________________________ Name for badge:_______________________________ Chapter #:___________________________________ Location:_ ___________________________________

Please check: o (Guest) Member o (Guest) Nonmember

o Delegate* o Delegate-at-Large* o Alternate*

*NOTE: This is NOT a voter registration form. Voter registration is confirmed by your chapter on Form C/14-2. n n n n

A nonrefundable fee of $75 (payable to NARFE) must accompany this form. Onsite registration fee will be $90. Each attendee must complete a separate registration form. Form must be postmarked by August 1, 2014.

Notify in case of emergency: Name:______________________________________ Phone Number:_ ______________________________ Form C/14-4

o Charge to my credit card: o MasterCard o VISA o Discover o AMEX Card#:_ ____________________________________ Expiration Date:_________ /_ ______

Make check payable to NARFE and send to: NARFE, Treasurer’s Office 606 N. Washington St. Alexandria, VA 22314-1914

BANQUET REGISTRATION FORM

August 28, 2014 NARFE ID #:_ _________________________________ Name:______________________________________ Address:_____________________________________ ___________________________________________ Chapter #:___________________________________ Nonmember Guest:_____________________________

(mm)

(yy)

Name on card (print):___________________________ Signature:_ _________________________________

NARFE 2014 National Convention Orlando, Florida August 24-28

n n n n n n

Tables will be assigned on a first-come, first-served basis. Tables seat 10 people. RESERVATIONS LIMITED TO 2,000 PEOPLE. Groups wishing to sit together should submit only one request specifying number of seats desired. Please attach name list. A receipt will be mailed to you by August 1 acknowledging payment and showing your table assignment. All banquet tickets will be held for pickup at the convention registration area at Junior Ballroom F, 1st Floor. BANQUET REFUNDS AVAILABLE ONLY IF RESERVATIONS ARE CANCELLED 72 HOURS PRIOR TO THE BANQUET.

Please reserve _ _____ tickets at $65 each, total $_______ Form C/14-16

Make check payable to NARFE and send to: NARFE, Treasurer’s Office 606 N. Washington St. Alexandria, VA 22314-1914

o Charge to my credit card: o MasterCard o VISA o Discover o AMEX Card#:_ ____________________________________ Expiration Date:_________ /_ ______ (mm)

(yy)

Name on card (print):___________________________ Signature:_ _________________________________

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Actual size is 6” x 2 ½”

ADVANCE STRIKE DISCOUNT The price for the 2014 $100 Silver Proof will be set at $129 per proof. However, if you place your order now, you can acquire this giant silver proof at the special advance strike discount price— only $99. NOTE TO COLLECTORS: When you place your order for the $100 silver proof, it will be processed immediately, and the earliest orders will receive the coveted lowest registration numbers.

ADDITIONAL DISCOUNTS Substantial additional discounts are available for serious collectors who wish to acquire more than one of these exquisite silver proofs. You can order: ONE Year 2014 $100 Silver Proofs for just $99 each + s/h FIVE Year 2014 $100 Silver Proofs for just $95 each + s/h TEN Year 2014 $100 Silver Proofs for just $89 each + s/h There is a limit of twenty $100 Silver Proofs per order, and all orders are subject to acceptance by GovMint.com.

ONLY 9999 AVAILABLE GovMint.com will limit striking to only 9999 One Troy Ounce Silver Proofs for the year 2014. Once the edition is sold out, no more 2014 silver proofs can ever be struck. Orders only will be accepted on a strict first-come, first-served basis according to the time and date of the order. Call today for fastest order processing.

Call Today to Order Your $100 Silver Proof!

1-888-835-8806 Offer Code: SFP143-02

Please mention this code when you call.

• Is Individually Registered and Comes With a Numbered Certificate of Authenticity. • Is Fully Encapsulated to Protect Its Mirror-Finish. • Includes a Deluxe Presentation Case.

A major credit card is necessary to secure your reservation, and GovMint.com guarantees satisfaction with a money-back policy for a full 30 days.

Prices and availability subject to change without notice. Past performance is not a predictor of future performance. NOTE: GovMint.com® is a private distributor of worldwide government coin and currency issues and privately issued licensed collectibles and is not affiliated with the United States government. Facts and figures deemed accurate as of November 2013. ©2013 GovMint.com.

Visit our web site at www.GovMint.com

Active and Retired Federal Employees ...

JOIN NARFE TODAY!

National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association The only organization dedicated solely to protecting and preserving the benefits of all federal workers and retirees, NARFE informs you of any developments and proposals that affect your compensation, retirement and health benefits, AND provides clear answers to your benefit questions.

Who Should Join?

Three Easy Ways To Join 1. 2. 3.

N A R F E M E M B E R S H I P A P P L I C AT I O N n YES. I want to join NARFE. n Mr. n Mrs. n Miss n Ms. Full Name ________________________________________ Street Address ____________________________________ Apt./Unit ________________________________________

I am a (check all that apply) n n n n n

Active Federal Employee Active Federal Employee Spouse Annuitant Annuitant Spouse Survivor Annuitant

n Please enroll my spouse

City _______________________ State _____ zIp ________

Spouse’s Full Name ________________________________

phone (__________) _______________________________

Spouse’s Email ____________________________________

Email____________________________________________

NARFE respects the privacy of our members. Personal information is used to provide content and relevant communications to our members, and will not be sold or rented to third parties without your express permission.

Choose Your Membership Type o eNARFE Chapter Online Membership – $40 NARFE’s electronic chapter. Receive narfe magazine by mail each month, and all other communications by email and on eNARFE.org. Get important updates and legislative action alerts, and have access to the eNARFE blog.

o Local Chapter Close-to-Home Membership – $40*

PAYMENT OPTIONS n Check, Money Order or Bill pay (payable to NARFE) n Bill me (NARFE membership will start when payment is received.) n Charge my: n MasterCard n VISA n Discover n American Express Card No. _____________________________________ Expiration Date _________ /_________

Aﬃliation with the NARFE chapter closest to your home. Receive narfe magazine each month; attend meetings, often with invited speakers; network; and get involved in grass-roots lobbying eﬀorts.

Name on Card _________________________________

Chapter Aﬃliation: Chapter # __ __ __ __(if known, otherwise enroll me in the chapter closest to my zIp code).

Date _________________________________________

*First-year dues. Subsequent years, $40 plus local chapter dues.

Total Dues $40 First-Year Dues X __________ = __________ per person # Enrolling Total Dues

yyyy

Signature _____________________________________

MAY WE THANK SOMEONE? If applicable, please provide the name, membership and chapter number of the member who introduced you to NARFE: Recruiter’s Name __________________________________ Recruiter’s Membership ID __________________________ Recruiter’s Chapter Number _________________________

MAIL THIS APPLICATION TO NARFE Member Records / 606 N. Washington St. / Alexandria, VA 22314-1914

NARFE’s Dues Withholding Program What is dues withholding? It is a dues-payment method that gives NARFE members (retirees) the option of having their annual NARFE membership dues deducted from their annuities on a monthly basis. How does it work? One-twelfth of your total dues is automatically deducted from your monthly annuity. Your monthly deduction is determined by the following formula: (National dues ÷ 12) + (Chapter dues ÷ 12) = Total Monthly Deduction

Advantages • Save 15% off your annual membership dues! • Sign up your spouse and double your savings! • You’ll never get another dues reminder from us! • Your monthly payment is affordable and convenient! • You may cancel your dues withholding at any time! Application process It takes 60-90 days to process your application. Once the process is complete, you will receive a special membership card distinguishing you as a NARFE dues-withholding member.

To learn more about dues withholding, call 800-627-3394. Retirees, spouses of retirees and annuitant survivors are eligible for dues withholding.

NARFE Dues Withholding Application for Retirees n YES. I want to enroll in NARFE’s Dues Withholding Program (Annual dues of $34 plus Chapter dues of record to be withheld annually.) Social Security Number (9-digit number)

–

Civil Service Annuity Number

–

C S

–

(Include prefix, CSA or CSF) (Include any applicable suffix)

n Mr. n Mrs. n Miss n Ms. Full Name _______________________________________

NARFE MEMBERSHIP INFORMATION

Street Address ___________________________________

NARFE Membership ID ____________________________________

Apt./Unit________________________________________

NARFE Chapter Number____________________________________

City _________________________ State _____ ZIP _____

n YES. I Also Authorize My (NARFE Member) Spouse’s Dues To Be

Phone (__________) ______________________________ Email ___________________________________________ Date of Birth _________ /_________ / ____________________ dd

yyyy

Withheld From My Annuity. (Additional annual dues of $34 plus Chapter dues of record to be withheld annually.) If YES, enter spouse’s information below. Spouse’s Name ___________________________________________ Spouse’s Membership ID ___________________________________

AUTHORIZATION (Withholding will begin in 60-90 days). No payment should be forwarded with application. I authorize the United States Office of Personnel Management to make appropriate deductions from my annuity payments, not to exceed the amount certified by the National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association as the amount of dues for which I am annually obligated, in accordance with elections I make below, and to pay the deducted sum to the National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association (NARFE). This authorization shall also apply to any and all dues changes certified by NARFE membership in accordance with elections I make below: Please allow 60-90 days for processing.

I understand that this authorization shall be valid until NARFE receives and processes my written notice of cancellation in accordance with its agreement with the Office of Personnel Management and that any disputes regarding this authorization shall be a matter between NARFE and myself. I hold the Office of Personnel Management harmless for any erroneous allotment deduction made pursuant to this authorization. ___________________________________________________________________________ _______________________________

Signature of Annuitant or Survivor-Annuitant

Date

Dues payments and gifts or contributions to NARFE are not deductible as charitable contributions for federal income tax purposes. MAIL THIS FORM TO: NARFE, ATTN: Member Records, 606 N. Washington St., Alexandria, VA 22314-1914 www.narfe.org 800-627-3394 rr@narfe.org Do not send money with this form

DW-2 (08/12)

Member Perks

NARFE Member Perks

are designed to provide NARFE members with a quality option in their search for commonly used products and services. NARFE makes no guarantee on any products and services listed, and encourages its members to shop and compare before making a decision on any financial matter.

Credit Union

NARFE Premier Federal Credit Union 800-328-1500 www.NARFEpremierfcu.org As a member of NARFE, you have the privilege of joining NARFE Premier Federal Credit Union, which has been serving members since 1935. We offer extensive services at competitive rates to members nationwide. Your savings are federally insured to at least $250,000 and backed by the full faith and credit of the United States Government. For more information, call the number above, email jparish@narfepremierfcu.org or visit the website.

insurance

NARFE Insurance Services 800-233-5764 www.narfeinsurance.com Designed and administered by Marsh U.S. Consumer, a service of Seabury & Smith, Inc., exclusively for NARFE members: Senior Whole Life, Term Life, Medicare Supplements, Hospital Income Plan, Short Term Recovery Insurance, Pet Insurance, Accidental Death & Dismemberment, Cancer Care, Enhanced Dental Insurance and Long Term Care. Go to the website for more information on these programs.

GEICO 800-368-2734 NARFE members with good driving records may be eligible for quality automobile insurance from GEICO. Ask about the NARFE discount available to members in many states. Call to50

| f e b

2 0 14

day for your free, no-obligation rate quote. Be sure to mention that you’re a NARFE member! • Discount amount varies in some states • Discount not available in all states or in all GEICO companies • One group discount applicable per policy.

Federal Long Term Care Insurance Program 800-LTC FEDS www.LTCFEDS.com Make long-term care insurance part of your retirement plan. With benefits designed specifically for the federal family, the Federal Long Term Care Insurance Program offers a smart way to help protect savings and assets, and remain independent should you need long-term care services someday. Start planning for the future. Visit www.LTCFEDS.com today.

Vacation rentals

Government Employees Travel Opportunities® 877-867-3639 www.getravelop.com/narfe Offers government employees, retirees and their families 7-night stays for only $349 on accommodations at popular destinations worldwide. Book online and save on your next vacation stay.

hotels

Choice Hotels International 800-258-2847 www.choicehotels.com With 6,000 hotels in the United States and throughout the world, Choice Hotels® offers something for everyone. Join the Choice Privileges® rewards program and earn points with every qualifying stay toward free nights, Airline Rewards, gift cards and more. As a NARFE member, receive 20% off your next stay at participating hotels when you use Special Rate ID 00801967. This offer is subject to availability and cannot be combined with any other offer. Advance reservations required.

Wyndham Hotel Group 877-670-7088 As a member of NARFE, you will receive up to 20% off the “Best Available Rate” at participating locations. Call and give the agent your special discount ID number, 8000002694, at time of booking to receive discount. Whether you are looking for an upscale hotel, an all-inclusive resort or something more cost-effective, we have the right hotel for you... and at the right price. So start saving now. Call our special member-benefits hotline 877-670-7088 and reserve your room today at one of these fine hotels: Wyndham Hotels and Resorts®, Days Inn®, Ramada Worldwide®, Super 8®, Wingate By Wyndham®, Baymont Inns and Suites®, Hawthorn Suites® By Wyndham, Microtel Inns and Suites®, Howard Johnson®, Travelodge® and Knights Inn®.

car rentals

National You Drive A Hard Bargain. Receive up to 20% off rentals at National Car Rental. To make a reservation call National Car Rental at 1-800-CAR-

RENT® and reference Contract ID 5282909.

Alamo Drive Happy® with Alamo® where NARFE members receive year-round discounts. Call 1-800-462-5266 and reference Contract ID 262544.

Avis The employees/owners of Avis offer guaranteed low rates and quality services to members of NARFE. Call 800-331-1441 and mention ID# A991900.

*State restrictions apply. Call or visit website for details.

Bekins Van Lines 800-248-4810 www. narfe@bekins.com All NARFE members will receive discounted pricing for all interstate shipments. Discount will apply to packing and moving services and valuation protection. All intrastate shipments, local moves and international moves will be competitive based on your geographical location. Please mention you are a NARFE member and ask for Traci.

emergency services

narfe merchandise

NARFE General Store 855-99NARFE (855-996-2733) www.narfegeneralstore.com Official NARFE name badges, customizable logo products and plaques.

MASA 800-423-3226 Medical Air Services Association has been the industry leader in prepaid emergency assistance services for more than 30 years. NARFE members have experienced MASA’s “peace of mind” services since 2001. Now NARFE members are entitled to even more: air ambulance transportation, helicopter transportation, ground ambulance, vehicle return, mortal remains transport, and much more! Call MASA Today. It Could Save Your Life!

3. Atrial Fibrillation 4. Peripheral Arterial Disease. You will receive a confidential written report within 21 days. Life Line Screening and NARFE encourage you to share these test results with your doctor. All four screenings cost just $135. To schedule an appointment, please call the number above and give the operator code number BKHN075 or visit the website. Coverage may vary and may not be available in all states.

education

Ivy Bridge College 877-615-9246 http://ivybridge.tiffin.edu/ narfe Want to earn your associate’s degree before you transfer to a four-year school? Ivy Bridge College offers a variety of degree programs that will help put you on the right track. No matter which program you choose, an education with Ivy Bridge will provide you with a solid foundation for a rewarding future. NARFE members and their families can enjoy an exclusive 5 percent savings on tuition at Ivy Bridge, a unique online institution that provides a highly supported pathway to a bachelor’s degree. To learn more, call or visit the website.

Moving services

NARFE Member HomeBenefits 800-666-9203 http://narfe. myhomebenefits.com • Earn thousands in cash-back rewards when you buy or sell a home* • Shop competitive mortgage rates, receive discounts on closing costs, plus take advantage of your VA Loan Benefits • Receive preferred pricing on interstate moving services with the nation’s most trusted moving company – Allied Van Lines!

health screening

Life Line Screening 800-324-9906 www.lifelinescreening.com/ NARFE

NOT A MEMBER?

Life Line Screening, America’s leading provider of community-based preventive health screenings, will conduct the following screenings using state-of-the-art ultrasound technology in your neighborhood:

TURN TO PAGE 48: Fill out the Membership Application and mail it to NARFE to receive all the perks of being a NARFE member.

1. Stroke/Carotid Artery 2. Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm

GO ONLINE: It’s easy to join online at www.narfe.org. Click “Join NARFE.”

Call (Toll-Free) 800-627-3394.

w w w. n a r f e . o r g

The Way We Worked

Did you know? The Bureau of Printing and Engraving prints billions of Federal Reserve Notes for delivery to the Federal Reserve System each year. In addition, according to its website, www.moneyfactory.gov, it produces military commissions and award certificates; invitations and admission cards; and identification cards, forms and other security documents for a variety of government agencies.

Taking a Count of currency In this 1907 photo, a Treasury Department employee is surrounded by packages of newly minted paper currency. He is counting and wrapping dollar bills for distribution. Today, the Bureau of Engraving and Printing uses stateof-the-art manufacturing to produce paper currency. The process involves highly trained and skilled craftspeople, specialized equipment and traditional printing techniques merged with sophisticated, cutting-edge technology. Photo courtesy of Trevor Plante, chief, Research Support Branch, National Archives Building Records of the Public Buildings Service, National Archives; in collaboration with the Society for History in the Federal Government (SHFG), bringing together government professionals, academics, consultants, students and citizens interested in understanding federal history work and the historical development of the federal government. Website: http://shfg.org/shfg/.

Breakthrough technology converts phone calls to captions.

New amplified phone lets you hear AND see the conversation. The Captioning Telephone converts phone conversations to easy-to-read captions for individuals with hearing loss.

A simple idea… made possible with sophisticated technology. If you have trouble understanding a call, the Captioning Telephone can change your life. During a phone call the words spoken to you appear on the phone’s screen – similar to closed captioning on TV. So when you make or receive a call, the words spoken to you are not only amplified by the phone, but scroll across the phone so you can listen while reading everything that’s said to you. Each call is routed through a call center, where computer technology – aided by a live representative – generates immediate voice-to-text translations. The captioning is real-time, accurate and readable. Your conversation is private and the captioning service doesn’t cost you a penny. Captioned Telephone Service (CTS) is regulated and funded by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and is designed exclusively for individuals with hearing loss. In order to use CTS in your home, you must have standard telephone

service and high-speed Internet connectivity where the phone will be used. Federal law prohibits anyone but registered users with hearing loss from using IP Captioned Telephones with the captions turned on. Callers do not need special equipment or a captioning phone in order to speak with you.

SEE what you’ve been missing! Finally… a phone you can use again. The Captioning Telephone is also packed with features to help make phone calls easier. The keypad has large, easy to use buttons. You get adjustable volume amplification along with the ability to save captions for review later. It even has an answering machine that provides you with the captions of each message.

Hello grandm a this is kaitlynn ho w are you today I wan ted to tell you than k you for the birthd ay card

See for yourself with our exclusive home trial. Try the Captioning Telephone in your own home and if you are not completely amazed, simply return it within 60-days for a refund of the product purchase price. It even comes with a 5-year warranty.

Captioning Telephone Call now for our special introductory price! Call now Toll-Free

1-888-697-6516

Please mention promotion code 47582.

The Captioning Telephone is intended for use by people with hearing loss. In purchasing a Captioning Telephone, you acknowledge that it will be used by someone who cannot hear well over a traditional phone.

81102

Do you get discouraged when you hear your telephone ring? Do you avoid using your phone because hearing difficulties make it hard to understand the person on the other end of the line? For many Americans the telephone conversation – once an important part of everyday life – has become a thing of the past. Because they can’t understand what is said to them on the phone, they’re often cut off from friends, family, doctors and caregivers. Now, thanks to innovative technology there is finally a better way.

If you are a BlueCross and BlueShield member you can pay as little as $0 for the newest hearing aids through TruHearing® Product Example (per pair)

Retail Cost

ReSound Verso 7 Wireless

Service Benefit Plan hearing benefit (up to $2,500)

2,500

4,820

2,500

–$

OUT -OF-POCKET COST PER PAIR

TruHearing

2,320

2,500

$ *

Call TruHearing to schedule your appointment For a full list of products

www.truhearing.com TruHearing is an independent company providing discounts on hearing aids. All appointments must be scheduled through TruHearing. * Price shown does not include cost of comprehensive hearing exam. Examination and testing for prescribing of hearing aids is covered under the Service Benefit Plan. The Insured may need to submit for reimbursement. Must be a Service Benefit Plan member to access TruHearing MemberPlus discounted pricing. State and local taxes and/or fees may apply. Prices and products subject to change. § The Service Benefit Plan will pay a hearing aid benefit up to $2,500 total every 3 calendar years for adults age 22 and over, and up to $2,500 total per calendar year for members up to age 22. Do not rely on this communication piece alone for complete benefit information. All benefits are subject to the definitions, limitations, and exclusions in your Service Benefit Plan brochure. The Blue365® Discount Program offers access to savings on items that you may purchase directly from independent vendors, which may be different from items covered under your Service Benefit Plan or any other applicable federal healthcare

program. For hearing aids, acupuncture, chiropractic and vision services, you must exhaust your Service Benefit Plan benefits first. To find out what is covered under your policy, contact the Service Benefit Plan. The products and services described herein are neither offered nor guaranteed under any local Blue company’s contract with the Medicare program. In addition, these items are not subject to the Medicare appeal process. Any disputes regarding these products and services are not subject to the Service Benefit Plan’s Disputed Claims process. Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association (BCBSA) may receive payments from Blue365 vendors. Neither the Service Benefit Plan, BCBSA, nor any local Blue company recommends, endorses, warrants or guarantees any specific Blue365 vendor or item. The Service Benefit Plan reserves the right to change, modify, or terminate any item and vendors made available through Blue365, at any time.

BLUE CROSS AND BLUE SHIELD ASSOCIATION IS AN ASSOCIATION OF INDEPENDENT, LOCALLY OPERATED BLUE CROSS AND BLUE SHIELD PLANS.