December 2015 NARFE Magazine

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COVER STORY

superfeds Ordinary mortals doing

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extraordinary work for you!

How to be a Federal Volunteer

P.24

P.38

FEHBP Plan changes

Volume 91 • Number 12

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ly e e t th h h t G on or wit m f .

0 es 0 0 K 40 nut of 2 TAL i m ice EM pr W

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WashingTon Watch

6 7

Budget Deal Prevents Big Medicare Cost Increase for Federal Retirees

Sick Leave for Disabled Vets Bill Passes House

7

NARFE Secures Second Victory in Budget Deal

8

No 2016 COLA; Highlights Need for New Method

9

NARFE Publishes CDL Guidance

10 NARFE Bill Tracker Columns

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Cover Story SUPERFEDS. Among federal employees, we found ordinary mortals doing extraordinary things to improve lives, advance technology, spur job growth and more!

4 From the President 58 Managing Money 60 The Informed Citizen 62 Alzheimer’s Update DEPARTMENTS

14 Questions & Answers 64 For the Record: TSP

Returns, Retirement Claims Status, Countdown to COLA

VOLUNTEERING IN THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT. After a career in public service, many federal retirees return to the workplace – as volunteers.

32

66 NARFE News 72 The Way We Worked special section

38 Open Season Report:

On the Web

Plan Changes

visit us online at:

www.narfe.org like us on facebook:

NARFE National Headquarters follow us on twitter:

@narfehq

ON THE COVER

Illustration by Bill Pragluski, Critical Stages, LLC

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DECember 2015 | Volume 91 | Number 12

Editor Margaret M. Carter Assistant Editor Ken Fanelli Editorial Administrator Toni Vallario

National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association NATIONAL OFFICERS RICHARD G. THISSEN, President; natpres@narfe.org JON DOWIE, Secretary/Treasurer; natsectreas@narfe.org

Graphic Design Charlene Gridley Editorial Board Richard G. Thissen, Jon Dowie

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 1622 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.

REGIONAL VICE PRESIDENTS

REGION I James P. Crawford (Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Rhode Island and Vermont) Tel: 603-630-5191 Email: crawfordjim62@gmail.com REGION II Evelyn Kirby (Delaware, District of Columbia, Maryland, New Jersey and Pennsylvania) Tel: 410-604-1141 Email: ekirby@atlanticbb.net REGION III Jerry Janci (Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, Puerto Rico, South Carolina and Virgin Islands) Tel: 662-412-2029 Email: lettermanj@aol.com REGION IV Edward J. Konys (Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio and Wisconsin) Tel: 937-470-0566 Email: region4vp@gmail.com REGION V Carol R. Ek (Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota and South Dakota) Tel: 620-241-1131, CELL: 620-504-2202 Email: ek617@att.net

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Call (toll-free) 800-627-3394 OR GO TO www.narfe.org To change your mailing address, phone number or email address:

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For any other NARFE matter:

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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 © 2015, 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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Brazil Expedition Uncovers Thousands of Carats of Exquisite Natural Emeralds Brandish a whopping 50 carats of genuine South American emeralds in a handcrafted new necklace design for less than $100!

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alfway into our ambitious trek through the rain forest I had to remind myself that “Nothing good comes easy.”

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From the President

To Your Good Health

F

ederal Benefits Open Season is going on now and will end December 14.

This year, we are required to do more

review and take more action than most of us have done in the past.

In light of the increase in premiums in the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program, the lack of a cost-of-living adjustment in annuities for federal retirees and only a 1.3 percent increase in salary for most federal employees, and the addition of the Self Plus One enrollment option, we urge members to sharpen their pencils and review all available plans to see if similar coverage is available at a lower rate.

The addition of Self Plus One will allow most enrollees with only one other covered family member to save, compared to a Self and Family option. But there is a caveat: 2016 premiums for Self Plus One almost always will be higher than

what we are paying this year for Self and Family, reflecting the overall increase in premiums; and for about 5 percent of enrollees, the employee portion of the Self Plus One premium will be higher than that for Self and Family in their current plan because of the formula used to compute the government’s share of the total premium. In this case, remember that you can always opt to stay in Self and Family coverage.

This month’s issue has information that will start you on your way to making the best possible decision. And the Office of Personnel Management has tools available on its website, www. opm.gov, that allow you to compare plans, an exercise that is well worth the effort. If you have additional questions, NARFE’s Federal Benefits Service Department stands ready to assist you.

Finally, I am very pleased to report that just as this issue was going to press, NARFE achieved two significant legislative victories. Both came about as part of a bipartisan budget deal. First, the budget pact does not contain any cuts to the federal community. Second, the agreement limits the increase in Medicare Part B premiums for enrollees whose premiums are not taken out of Social Security benefits – including nearly a million federal retirees – who had been facing an unprecedented 52 percent increase in Part B premiums in 2016. See p. 6 for the whole story.

Richard G. Thissen NARFE national President natpres@narfe.org

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Washington Watch

deal prevents big medicare cost increase for federal retirees

T

he White House and congressional leaders struck a deal in late October to prevent a disproportionate, 52 percent increase in Medicare Part B premiums for

some seniors in 2016. The compromise was included as part of a larger budget deal that lifted sequestration caps for the next two fiscal years and raised the national debt limit. The deal passed both chambers in October and was signed by the president November 2.

“NARFE has been sounding the alarm on the Medicare premium issue since July, and as a result of the Association’s hard work, Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) retirees and others who get no or limited Social Security benefits will not be facing a disproportionate increase in their Medicare premiums next year,” said NARFE President Richard G. Thissen.

“This fix may not be perfect, but it is a major victory,” Thissen said.

“I want to thank the thousands of NARFE members who wrote or called their members of Congress to push them to address this issue.

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you made a difference.”

Under the so-called “hold harmless” provision of the Social Security Act, the dollar increase in Medicare Part B premiums is limited to the dollar increase in an individual’s Social Security benefit. Without a cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) for Social Security benefits in 2016 – made official on October 15 (see story, p. 8) – about 70 percent of beneficiaries are held harmless from any increase in their Medicare Part B premiums, so the premiums will remain stable at $104.90 per month for most beneficiaries.

However, the remaining 30 percent of Part B beneficiaries who

NARFE President Richard G. Thissen, back right, listens as Rep. Joseph Crowley, D-NY, speaks at a press conference to rally support for a solution to the big increase in Medicare premiums for some seniors.

Photo by Jessica Klement

are not held harmless, including CSRS federal retirees who do not receive Social Security benefits, were on track to shoulder the full cost of the 2016 premium increase. As projected by the Medicare Trustees, these individuals would have seen their premiums rise 52 percent, from $104.90 to $159.30 per month. If the hold harmless provision did not exist, all beneficiaries would see a much smaller increase of 15 percent, to $120.70 per month.

Under the the budget agreement, the standard Medicare Part B premium (for those not held harmless) is projected to be $123.70 per month for 2016. This represents the projected premium without the effect of the hold harmless provision ($120.70), plus a $3 surcharge, which will make up for the lost revenue to the Medicare Trust Fund as a result of lower premiums. Premiums for those held harmless will not change, remaining stable at $104.90 in 2016. Medicare beneficiaries who pay higher premiums because of their income level still

will see their premiums adjusted, but from the lower baseline of $120.70 instead of $159.30, plus a surcharge.

The $3 surcharge will not apply to those held harmless this year, but it will apply to those individuals in future years in which they are not held harmless. It will be charged monthly until the lost revenue is paid, which is expected to be five years.

Since the issue arose, NARFE has worked continuously to prevent the unprecedented premium increase. NARFE helped lead a coalition of 70 organizations that called on Congress to enact a solution. On October 7, (Continued on p. 8)

Legislative Resources • 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.

SICK LEAVE FOR DISABLED VETS BILL PASSES HOUSE

F

ollowing Senate action earlier this year, the House recently unanimously passed legislation to provide sick leave immediately upon employment to first-year federal employees who are disabled veterans.

The Wounded Warriors Federal Leave Act of 2015, H.R. 313, passed the House September 28. On October 27, the Senate, which had passed a slightly different bill in late July, took up the House bill and easily passed it. By the time you receive this issue, the president will have signed the bill into law.

Currently, federal employees begin their service with no sick

leave and accumulate four hours of sick leave each pay period for a yearly total of 104 hours. The legislation would make available 104 hours of “Wounded Warrior leave” up front to first-year employees who are rated by the Department of Veterans Affairs as 30 percent disabled or more. All Wounded Warrior leave would have to be certified as used toward the employee’s service-related injuries, and unused time could not be carried over to the employee’s second year. Veterans would still earn traditional sick leave each pay period that would carry over.

—BY Jason Freeman, POLITICAL AND LEGISLATIVE SPECIALIST

NARFE Secures 2nd victory in budget deal

For the past five years, NARFE has been forced to play defense on Capitol Hill. With both Congress and the administration willing to take from federal employees and retirees to offset other spending priorities, NARFE’s legislative efforts have been focused on ensuring that doesn’t happen.

For example, the two-year budget deal passed in December 2013 increased retirement contributions for future federal employees to offset sequestration. Federal employees also suffered under a three-year pay freeze. All told, federal employees have contributed more than $120 billion over the past five years.

When talk of another budget deal emerged this fall, NARFE was justifiably concerned. Over the past few years, NARFE has been saying, ‘Enough is enough.’ It appears this message has finally resonated with lawmakers, as the two-year budget deal struck in late October does not use the federal community to offset lifting sequestration caps.

—By Jessica Klement, Legislative Director

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Washington Watch

NO 2016 COLA; HIGHLIGHTS NEED FOR NEW METHOD

F

ederal retirees received a double whammy of bad news October 15 when the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) announced there will be no cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) to federal civilian and military retirement annuities and Social Security benefits in 2016. The lack of a COLA has big implications for Medicare Part B premiums (see story p. 6).

The COLA is determined by comparing the change in the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) from year to year, based on the average of the thirdquarter months of July, August and September. To trigger a COLA for the upcoming year, the average CPI-W for the third quarter must be greater than the highest previous third-quarter average.

The September CPI-W was 232.661. Combined with the results for July (233.806) and August (233.366), the 2015 thirdquarter average was 233.278, or 0.41 percent lower than the average CPI-W for the third quarter of 2014, which was 234.242.

Going forward, the 2014 thirdquarter average will continue to be the reference for determining whether there will be a COLA in 2017. If prices stay relatively the

same in 2016, seniors could be without a COLA in 2017, as well.

The CPI-W is calculated by BLS economists and statisticians using reports on the prices of a wide range of consumer goods, including food and beverages, housing, clothing, transportation, medical care, recreation, education, communication and more. However, NARFE argues that the CPI-W fails to accurately reflect changes in consumer prices experienced by seniors, particularly those related to health care. NARFE supports a switch to the Consumer Price Index for the Elderly (CPIE), which would result in higher COLAs, and opposes changing to the Chained CPI, which would result in lower COLAs. In 2014, health care inflation was 2.5 percent, while the CPIW indicated the average price of consumer goods increased only 1.6 percent. It is no surprise that seniors spend more on health care; health care accounted for 12 percent of spending for those ages 62 and older, while it accounted for only 5 percent of spending by the general population.

“In a year in which health insurance costs are increasing substantially, we can clearly see a need for a new formula to calculate COLAs, one that accurately

Medicare Cost Increase (Continued from p. 7)

were: H.R. 3696, the Medicare Premium Fairness Act, introduced

by Rep. Dina Titus, D-NV, and S. 2148, the Protecting Medicare Beneficiaries Act of 2015, introduced by Sen. Ron Wyden, D-OR. These bills would have extended

NARFE President Thissen joined congressional leaders at a press conference to rally support for a fix. Bills introduced later that day 8

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MYTH vs.

REALITY Myth: Members of Congress continue to vote themselves large pay raises, while federal retirees receive small or nonexistent cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs) and federal employees receive small raises.

Reality: Members of Congress have not received a pay raise since 2009, having repeatedly voted to freeze their pay. The Ethics Reform Act of 1989 established an automatic annual adjustment formula for congressional raises based on the Employment Cost Index, which measures changes in private-sector wages. Any increase may not exceed the percentage base pay increase for General Schedule (GS) employees. However, Congress can choose to vote to freeze its pay, separate from the raises for other federal employees, which it has done since 2009.

reflects the health care costs of our nation’s seniors,” commented NARFE President Richard G. Thissen. (See story, p. 38, on Federal Employees Health Benefits Program premiums and plans.)

—By Jessica Klement, Legislative Director

the hold harmless protection to all Medicare beneficiaries. While the final deal did not incorporate the solution these bills represented, support for them helped drive congressional action.

—By John Hatton, Deputy Legislative Director

NARFE PUBLISHES GUIDANCE on CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT Leaders

T

he NARFE Legislative Department recently published guidance for federation presidents and federation legislative chairs who are interested in establishing Congressional District Leaders (CDLs) and Senatorial Leaders (SLs) within their federations.

CDLs and SLs serve as liaisons between a member of Congress’ office and the NARFE chapters within that congressional district (or federation for senators). They can be elected or appointed, and they help facilitate meetings and

provide training to chapters in their district. “CDL Guidance for Federations” answers frequently asked questions and provides the responsibilities of the CDL. It is important that federation officers and CDLs are on the same page, and the guidance will help federations write their own ground rules for this new position.

CDLs are not meant to replace chapter legislative officers, but rather to streamline and professionalize NARFE’s grass-roots activities. CDLs and chapter legislative officers should work together

to make sure that NARFE’s voice is heard in congressional offices.

The “CDL Guidance for Federations” was emailed to federation presidents and legislative chairs.

It also is available at www.narfe. org/legislation/. The Legislative Department now is working on guidance for CDLs to help them be as effective as possible. Meanwhile, advocates can use the Protect America’s Heartbeat Toolkits (www.narfe.org/legislation) or contact staff at leg@narfe.org.

—By Sarah Weissmann, grass-roots program manager

NARFE-PAC CONTRIBUTION FORM I would like to be a SUSTAINER and make a monthly credit card contribution to NARFE-PAC of: q $25/month q $10/month

Monthly contributors of $10 or more will receive the NARFE-PAC Sustainer lapel pin and a NARFE duffle bag.

q Other: ______/month (minimum of $10) OR

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Card No.: _____________________________________ Expiration Date: _____ /_________ mm

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Or make check payable to NARFE-PAC. Mail to: National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association Attn: Budget & Finance 606 North Washington St. | Alexandria, VA 22314

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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. 138: Access to Insurance for All Americans Act / Rep. Darrell Issa, R-CA Cosponsors: 0

HEALTH CARE H.R. 2175: FEHBP Prescription Drug Oversight and Cost Savings Act / Rep. Stephen F. Lynch, D-MA Cosponsors: 2 (D) H.R. 313: Wounded Warriors Federal Leave Act / Rep. Stephen F. Lynch, D-MA SICK LEAVE FOR WOUNDED VETERANS

Cosponsors: 27 (D), 6 (R) S. 242: Wounded Warriors Federal Leave Act / Sen. Jon Tester, D-MT Cosponsors: 2 (R)

H.R. 3351: CPI-E Act of 2015 / Rep. Mike Honda, D-CA COLA Measurement

Cosponsors: 21 (D)

What Bill Would Do

Latest Action(s)

Repeals the Affordable Care Act; Referred to nine establishes a national health pro- House committees gram administered by the Office of Personnel Management to offer Federal Employees Health Benefits Program plans to individuals who are not federal employees or retirees; creates separate risk pools for federal and non-federal participants.

Provides the Office of Personnel Management greater oversight authority over the prescription drug contracting and pricing methods of the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program.

Referred to the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform

Entitles any federal employee who is a veteran with a serviceconnected disability rated at 30 percent or more, during the 12-month period beginning on the first day of employment, up to 104 hours of leave, without loss or reduction in pay, for purposes of undergoing medical treatment for the disability for which sick leave could regularly be used. Leave does not carry over into the second year.

Passed the House on 9/28/15 (taken up by the Senate and passed 10/27/15)

Requires Social Security and many federal retirement programs to use the Consumer Price Index for the Elderly (CPI-E) to calculate cost-ofliving adjustments in retirement benefits.

Referred to the House Committees on Ways and Means, Veterans’ Affairs, Oversight and Government Reform, and Armed Services

Passed the Senate on 7/28/15 narfe, March 2015 See story, p. 7

narfe, October 2015 H.R. 304: The Federal Ad- Provides for a 3.8 percent pay justment of Income Rates raise for federal employees in (FAIR) Act / Rep. Gerald 2016.

E. Connolly, D-VA

Referred to the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform

Cosponsors: 78 (D)

Federal Compensation

S. 164: The Federal Adjustment of Income Rates (FAIR) Act / Sen. Brian Schatz, D-HI

Referred to the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs

Cosponsors: 6 (D)

narfe, March 2015

H.R. 485: Wage Grade Employee Parity Act / Rep. Matt Cartwright, D-PA

Gives the president the authority to provide Wage Grade, or hourly, employees, a pay raise.

Cosponsors: 9 (D), 3 (R) 10

|

narfe, April 2015 NARFE’s Position:

DE C 2 015

Referred to the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform

Support

Oppose

No position

ISSUE

Federal Compensation

Bill Number / Name / Sponsor H.R. 785: The Federal Employee Pension Fairness Act / Rep. Donna Edwards, D-MD Cosponsors: 24 (D) H.Res. 12: Expresses the sense of the House that the Postal Service should take measures to ensure continuation of six-day delivery / Rep. Sam Graves, R-MO Cosponsors: 173 (D), 49 (R)

What Bill Would Do Repeals laws passed in 2012 and 2013 that increased the Federal Employees Retirement System contributions for newly hired federal employees.

Referred to three House committees

Expresses the sense of the House that the U.S. Postal Service should maintain six-day mail delivery. As a resolution, it will not be sent to the president and, therefore, cannot become law.

Referred to the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform

H.R. 784: Protect Overnight Repeals the service standards Delivery Act / Rep. Rosa implemented by the Postal DeLauro, D-CT Service on 1/5/15 and directs the Postal Service to reinstate Cosponsors: 99 (D), 3 (R) 12/31/2011 service standards.

S. 1742: Rural Postal Act of Returns to service standards of 2015 / Sen. Heidi Heitkamp, July 2012, preserves six-day deD-ND livery and puts two-year moratorium on plant closures.

Postal Reform Cosponsors: 6 (D) S. 2051: The Improving Postal Operations, Service and Transparency Act (iPost) of 2015 / Sen. Thomas R. Carper, D-DE

Latest action(s)

narfe, April 2015

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

Cosponsors: 0

Requires postal employees and retirees to enroll in Medicare in order to continue receiving their current federal health insurance coverage and cuts workers’ compensation benefits for injured federal employees.

H.Res. 54: Expresses the sense of the House that the Postal Service should take all measures to restore service standards in effect on July 1, 2012 / Rep. Dave McKinley, R-WI

Expresses the sense of the House that the U.S. Postal Service should restore service standards as of July 1, 2012. As a resolution, it will not be sent to the president and, therefore, cannot become law.

Referred to the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform

narfe, November 2015

Cosponsors: 178 (D), 40 (R) Campaign finance

H.R. 20: The Government By the People Act / Rep. John Sarbanes, D-MD Cosponsors: 154 (D), 1 (R) H.R. 973: Social Security Fairness Act of 2015 / Rep. Rodney Davis, R-IL Cosponsors: 96 (D), 26 (R)

GPO/WEP

Reforms campaign finance laws Referred to three to put small donors on par with House committees wealthier donors. Provides a tax credit for contributions and government matching contributions.

Repeals the Government Pension Offset (GPO) and the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP).

Referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means

S. 1651: Social Security Fairness Act of 2015 / Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-OH

Referred to the Senate Finance Committee

Cosponsors: 14 (D), 5 (R)

narfe, September 2015

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

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11

Washington Watch

narfe bill tracker

(Continued from p. 11) ISSUE

OPM Security breach

Bill Number / Name / Sponsor

What Bill Would Do

H.R. 3029: RECOVER Act Expands lifetime coverage of credit monitoring and identity / Del. Eleanor Holmes theft protection of no less than Norton, D-DC $5 million to all individuals afCosponsors: 23 (D), 1 (R) fected by the security breaches at the Office of Personnel Management.

Referred to the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform

S. 1746: RECOVER Act /

Referred to the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs

Sen. Benjamin J. Cardin, D-MD

Cosponsors: 5 (D), 1 (I) H.R. 3696: Medicare Premium Fairness Act of 2015 / Rep. Dina Titus, D-NV Medicare Premiums

Cosponsors: 66 (D)

Keeps Medicare Part B premiums Referred to the and deductibles at 2015 levels for House Committees all beneficiaries in 2016. on Energy and Commerce, and Ways and Means

S. 2148: Protecting Medicare Beneficiaries Act of 2015 / Sen. Ron Wyden, D-OR

Referred to the Senate Committee on Finance See story, p. 6

Cosponsors: 26 (D), 2 (I) H.R. 2827: Competitive Service Act / Rep. Gerald E. Connolly, D-VA federal hiring

Cosponsors: 1 (R)

Allows federal agencies to review and select job candidates from other federal agencies’ “best qualified list” of applicants.

S. 1580: Competitive Service Act / Sen. Jon Tester, D-MT

narfe, November 2015

H.R. 532: Federal Employ- Allows federal employees six ees Paid Parental Leave weeks of paid leave for the birth Act / Rep. Carolyn Maloor adoption of a child. ney, D-NY Cosponsors: 57 (D), 1 (R)

Referred to the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Govern. Affairs

Cosponsors: 1 (D)

DC Statehood

Referred to the House Committees on Administration, and Oversight and Government Reform narfe, May 2015

S. 2033: Federal Employees Paid Parental Leave Act / Sen. Brian Schatz, D-HI

H.R. 317: New Columbia Admissions Act / Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton, D-DC

Referred to the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform Passed the Senate on 9/17/15,

Cosponsors: 2 (D), 4 (R)

Paid parental leave

Latest Action(s)

narfe, November 2015 Sets forth procedures that would allow the District of Columbia to become a state known as New Columbia.

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

Cosponsors: 125 (D) 12

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NARFE’s Position:

Support

Oppose

No position

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Questions & Answers

The following Questions & Answers were compiled by NARFE’s Federal Benefits Service Department staff.

NARFE does not provide advice or assistance on legal, financial planning or tax matters.

employees Determining the best day to retire

Q

I always read the Q&A section of narfe magazine and learn so much from it.

Although we are told to contact our local personnel office, often they are illequipped, understaffed and, I know from others, they don’t always know the answers. I want to retire between November 1, 2015, and January 9, 2016. I’ve been told that sometimes the end of the month is a better time to retire, but not always. And I’ve read the best retirement date may vary year to year. Can you advise me?

A

First, let us congratulate you on your upcoming retirement and thank you for your service to our country.

There are two components to deciding when to retire – one is personal and the other is financial, in the sense that you want to maximize your benefits. In November 2013, narfe magazine published a feature article titled “Choosing the Best Retirement Date” by retirement benefits expert Tammy Flanagan on this very issue that I

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think may help you. It is available online for downloading by members. Go to: www.narfe.org/pdf/ nm_2013_nov.pdf.

You also will be interested to learn that Tammy Flanagan answered that question during the recent online chat session following the NARFE Federal Benefits Institute webinar “Will You Be Ready for Retirement?” In response to a question posed by a NARFE member, she said: “For FERS (Federal Employees Retire-

ment System) employees with more than 20 years of service, I would recommend December 31, 2015. For FERS employees with a lesser amount of service, I would recommend the end of the leave year, January 9, to maximize the lump-sum annual leave payment.

For CSRS (Civil Service Retirement System) employees, January 1 is a great day. It’s a Friday and a holiday!”

You can view the entire hourlong webinar and read the transcript of the Q&A session by going to the NARFE website, www. narfe.org, and clicking on the NARFE Federal Benefits Institute button at the left on the home page.

does nAF service time count for retirement?

Q

I want to retire next year under the Federal Employees Retirement System

(FERS), but I need to know about service I performed in a nonappropriated funds (NAF) position.

I attended a pre-retirement seminar last year in which the instructor said I could use that service time, but it would not increase my annuity. There are about 11 months of service involved. If I can use them, I can retire on the date I planned. Is the information I received correct?

A

Yes, the information is correct. NAF employment is considered federal employment. However, it differs from regular civil service employment in that the monies used to pay the salaries of NAF employees come from a different source, usually self-generated by Department of Defense (DOD) and Coast Guard activities.

For your information, the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2002 (PL 107-107) made two changes in the retirement law: • Section 1131 makes it easier for employees to continue NAF retirement coverage after moving from DOD or Coast Guard NAF positions to civil service positions.

• Section 1132 permits employees under both FERS and the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) to use prior NAF service to qualify for an immediate annuity.

That means employees can use their NAF service, along with other service under CSRS and FERS, to meet the years of service eligibility for retirement.

However, that NAF service can-

not be used in the computation of the annuity. Employees can make the election to credit NAF service only at the time of retirement.

Pursuant to prior laws, the Office of Personnel Management will accept the certification from the head of a nonappropriated fund instrumentality that the service was performed.

Military reserve Time is exception to rule

Q

I am receiving military retirement pay as a result of my many years of military reserve active duty time. Will I need to waive that retired pay to add the active duty portion to my civil service years for retirement purposes?

A

Generally, the military service time used to compute military retired pay cannot also be used in the computation of a civil service retirement without waiving receipt of the military pay.

However, one of the exceptions to this rule is reserve retired pay.

Military service time used toward retirement pay for nonregular service, granted under 10 U.S. Code, Chapter 1223, 12731-12739, also can be used for credit in the computation of both Civil Service Retirement System and Federal Employees Retirement System retirement without waiving the receipt of that retirement pay. But a deposit for the active military service still is required before the time can be included in your annuity computation.

retirees self plus one rates higher than family

Q

In the October issue of narfe magazine, a story on p. 42 says, “for the Self Plus One type of enrollment, OPM told the plans that in no event can the premium rates be higher than those for the Self and Family enrollment type.” Well, that’s not true. I reviewed the monthly rates for what the employee pays for 2016 coverage under the New York Aetna Open Access HMO and found that the High Self Plus One and the Basic Self Plus One are higher than the Self and Family rates. The same is true for the New York Aetna Healthfund CDHP, the nationwide Mail Handlers Standard Self Plus One, and the nationwide NALC High Self Plus One. Do you know why they are higher?

A

The instructions from the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) to the plans participating in the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program referred to the overall premium rates each plan was going to charge the government for a Self Plus One enrollment. If you look at the total premium charged to the government by the plans you mentioned, you will see that in no case is the total premium higher for Self Plus One than it is for Self and Family. For about 5 percent of enrollees, the enrollee premium for Self Plus One is higher than the enrollee premium for Self and Family in their current plan, due w w w. n a r f e . o r g

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15

Questions & Answers

to the method used to calculate the government share of the total premium. The formula, which is set in law, is based on the average of all plan premiums – by type of enrollment – and requires OPM to calculate a maximum government share for each. There is a limit to how much the government contributes toward the cost of Self and Family, Self Plus One and Self Only. The government contribution is the lesser of the maximum contribution or 75 percent of the total premium. The remainder of the total premium is the enrollee share of the cost.

As an example: Say plan XYZ has a total premium of $400 for Self Plus One and a total premium

of $420 for Self and Family. The maximum government contribution is $291 for Self Plus One and $320 for Self and Family. For XYZ plan, 75 percent of the total premium is $300 for Self Plus One and $315 for Self and Family.

The lesser of these is the maximum government contribution, $291 for Self Plus One and $315 for Self and Family. The enrollee share of Self Plus One is: $400 $291 = $109. The enrollee share of Self and Family is: $420 - $315 = $105. In this case, the enrollee share of the Self Plus One premium is higher than the enrollee share of the Self and Family premium.

How do I change to self plus one?

Q

Is there anything I have to do to switch to Self Plus One from Self and Family prior to selecting next year’s plan? When and where will details about plan rates and coverage be available?

A

Premium rates for the nationwide Federal Employees Health Benefits Program (FEHBP) plans are available on p. 41 of this issue; they also appeared in the November issue of this magazine. Rates for all of the FEHBP plans are available on the Office of Personnel Management

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If you are a federal employee or retiree with Blue Cross Blue Shield Service Benefit Plan insurance coverage you may be eligible for:

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Blue Cross and Blue Shield Service Benefit Plan will pay a hearing aid benefit up to $2,500 every 3 calendar years for adults age 22 and over, and up to a $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 not guaranteed under any local Blue company’s contract with the Medicare program. In addition, these items are not subject to the Medicare appeals 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 Companies. State and local taxes and/or fees may apply. Available at participating locations until December 31, 2015.

Questions & Answers

(OPM) website at www.opm.gov/ healthcare-insurance/healthcare/ plan-information/premiums/.

You will need to contact OPM to make a change in your enrollment to a Self Plus One option if you wish to do so. OPM will not automatically make the change for you.

questions the legality of insurance waivers

Q

I am finding the scope of health insurance coverage is shrinking because medical preferred providers are refusing to treat me unless I sign an “insurance waiver” or private contract to pay the provider for

any service not covered by insurance. I am also finding Medicare providers who are doing the same.

Is this legal?

A

We do not believe that doctors and hospitals who require you to assure them that their bills will be paid are doing anything illegal. Your Federal Employees Health Benefits Program (FEHBP) plan will provide you with an estimate of benefits (EOB) that shows what part of a claim is your responsibility. You might want to speak to your FEHBP plan about your concerns with preferred providers.

As for Medicare, if you sign a contract with a provider saying you

will pay whatever Medicare does not, Medicare will not cover you.

There are federal laws that limit the amount a provider can charge to 115 percent of the Medicareapproved amount, and you are not obligated to pay anything above.

However, if you sign a contract to pay the provider, you have voluntarily waived that protection under the Medicare laws.

To learn more, call Medicare at 800-633-4227.

Qualifying Life events for FEDVIP coverage

Q

My husband and I are both retired federal employees, and we both

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Questions & Answers

NARFE at Your Service have Self Only coverage in the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program. My husband has continued to work in retirement, and under his employer-sponsored health care policy, we are both covered for dental and eye care. He will retire from this job in early 2016. Can we both select FEP BlueDental and BlueVision after he retires, or do we need to do it in the current Open Season?

A

Generally, eligible individuals can enroll or change enrollment in a dental or vision plan in the Federal Dental and Vision Insurance Program (FEDVIP) only during the Open Season period. However, like

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federal health insurance, there are qualifying life events that allow individuals to enroll from 31 days before the date of the event to 60 days after the date of the event.

One of those events is: Losing other dental/vision coverage.

We advise you to contact BENEFEDS at 877-888-3337 or www. benefeds.com to confirm that you qualify under that life event.

To obtain an answer to a federal benefits question, NARFE members should call 703-838-7760 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

By David Tobenkin

Superf Innovators improve lives, advance technology, spur Job growth and more

Lately, the talk of many politicians has not been kind to federal employees: They are a drain on the federal budget.

They don’t do much. And what they do they don’t do as well as the private sector could.

Meet Deborah Jin, an employee since 1995 at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and a recipient of a 2003 MacArthur Fellowship “Genius” grant for her work studying ultracold atoms, research that is important for atomic clocks, precision measurements, navigation and quantum information. “I am proud to be a federal employee at NIST,” declares Jin, who acknowledges that even she encounters negative stereotypes about federal employees. “NIST does great science and important work for the nation, and I have many wonderful colleagues at NIST,” she says.

Like Jin, many federal employees and agencies have done amazing things, and in many instances have been contributors to the nation’s bottom line rather than a drag upon it.

Illustration by Bill Pragluski, Critical Stages, LLC

feds

Superfe One good barometer of such results is the list of Presidential Rank Awards, given each year to members of the Senior Executive Service (SES) and senior-level and scientific and professional executives. This year’s crop of awards recipients, announced in April, boasted accomplishments that included the following: • Developing a hurricane protection system in New Orleans that prevented catastrophic damage and loss of life when Hurricane Isaac made landfall in 2012; • Devising and overseeing the government’s legal strategy in the Deepwater Horizon oil spill litigation, leading to a settlement in which petroleum corporation BP will pay almost $8 billion; • Leading development of a revolutionary, lightweight material with a self-adhesive backing – the X-Flex Blast Protection system – that untrained soldiers can quickly apply to walls to increase blast resistance by a factor of 15; • Establishing a data-driven approach to decision-making for an agency that manages the world’s largest administrative review process, resulting in a 32 percent productivity gain despite a staffing decline; and • Envisioning and determining how to use PlayStation 3 gaming consoles for high-performance computing by combining 1,800 consoles into a 500 trillion operations per second computer that is 12 times less costly and 10 times more power-efficient than all other super computers.

FUNDAMENTAL BUILDING BLOCKS

In many sciences, federal employees and agencies have paved the way. While many are aware of the hallmark achievements of some agencies – NASA sending astronauts to the moon, for example – there are others that have produced equally profound but less publicly heralded achievements.

Much of the groundwork for the space satellite industry was laid by scientists at NASA and the Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) in the 1950s and 1960s. NRL’s Project Vanguard, which launched the world’s fourth artificial satellite in 1958, was the first to use solar cells in space and helped develop

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launch vehicles and guidance and tracking systems in future space programs, notes retired NASA Deputy Assistant Director of Public Affairs Alex Nagy. The Advanced Tracking and Telemetry Data Processing System project involved producing the largest computer system in the nation, while the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System (TDRSS) project replaced a worldwide ground system for communicating with space satellites with just three TDRSS satellites, notes NARFE member Edmund J. Habib, former NASA branch head and division head of the Advanced Research Division, who received a 1970 Aerospace Communications Award for his pioneering work with NASA’s TDRSS. Similarly, NRL, led by physicist and Presidential Medal of Freedom winner Roger Easton, played a critical role in developing the technologies that would become the Global Positioning System (GPS), a space-based navigation system that provides location and time information in all weather conditions, anywhere on or near the Earth where there is an unobstructed line of sight to GPS satellites, notes Thomas McCaskill, a retired physicist who worked with Easton at NRL to develop GPS. Habib, Nagy and McCaskill all responded to a narfe magazine reader survey.

Research by the Partnership for Public Service (Partnership), a federal government human resources policy think tank, found that of 270 Americans who had received the Nobel Prize between 1901 and 2002, approximately one-quarter were, or had been, federal employees. An example is Martin Rodbell, a 1994 winner in the Physiology/ Medicine category for his discovery in the 1960s of G-proteins, signal transmitters in the body that help cells communicate with each other. Rodbell worked at various components of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for 42 years and conducted his research on G-proteins at NIH’s National Institute of Arthritis and Metabolic Diseases.

The roster of brilliant government employees who led significant advances in science includes NIST’s David Wineland. He was recognized with the 2012 Nobel Prize in Physics, which he shared with Serge Haroche, for “ground-breaking experi-

eds mental methods that enable measuring and manipulation of individual quantum systems.”

Wineland also provided the world’s first demonstration of laser cooling, and the world’s first demonstration of quantum logic gates, considered the start of international research in quantum computing.

FUNDER OF FIRST RESORT

While it is arguably easy to pick success stories from the large pool of federal government employees, some academics argue that the federal government has played a systematic, constant role as a key driver of entrepreneurship by supporting endeavors that no one else would have the resources or risk tolerance to pursue.

In her recently published book The Entrepreneurial State: Debunking Public vs. Private Sector Myths, University of Sussex Professor Mariana Mazzucato employs a series of case studies involving industries such as information technology (IT), biotech and nanotechnology to contend that, in many cases, the private sector invested in risky technologies only after the federal government had made earlier, more risky investments. As an example, the book notes that many of the technologies that make Apple’s iPhone desirable – including the Internet, GPS, touch-screen display and its voice-activated guide, Siri – were originally funded by the U.S. government.

With respect to the Internet, the Defense Department’s Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) in the late 1960s and 1970s was behind many of the technological advances that would later evolve into the Internet, such as the invention of the TCP/IP protocol that formed the basic communication language of the Internet.

More recently, the computer algorithm that led to the Google search engine was created by Sergey Brin and Larry Page while they were graduate students working under a National Science Foundation Digital Library Initiative grant at Stanford University.

Federal laboratory achievements in the areas

The federal government drives entrepreneurship by supporting efforts that no one else has the resources or risk tolerance to pursue. of invention disclosures – confidential scientific reports that explain why inventions should be patented – and actual patents obtained are often cited by federal agencies as evidence of the management of intellectual assets and technical know-how. Between fiscal years (FYs) 2008 and 2012, the number of invention disclosures reported by federal agencies increased by 13 percent to a total of 5,149 in FY 2012, according to a December 2014 NIST report “Federal Laboratory Technology Transfer Fiscal Year 2012, Summary Report to the President and the Congress.” Over the same period, the number of patent applications filed increased by 20 percent to 2,346, and the number of patents issued increased by 44 percent to 1,808.

The report also notes that licensing of federally developed technologies is one of the primary mechanisms used to create incentives for industry to invest the resources necessary to develop and commercialize new, leading-edge technologies. Between FYs 2008 and 2012, the number of total active licenses reported by federal laboratories increased by 5 percent to a total of 13,405 in FY 2012, with income from all licensing totaling $166.8 million in 2012.

SAVINGS, JOB CREATION AND A HEALTHY ROI

The Senior Executives Association (SEA) tallies a list of how much the Presidential Distinguished Rank awardees save each year. Savings realized by those awardees and the programs they supervised totaled $94.9 billion in 2012, $36.5 billion in 2011, $36.6 billion in 2010 and $49 billion in 2009.

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Superfeds A 2011 study by Battelle Memorial Institute of the federal government-funded Human Genome Project, found that a $5.6 billion federal investment in that project contributed to direct and indirect economic output of $796 billion and the creation of 3.8 million job years of employment between 1988 and 2010, which the study said translated into a return on investment to the economy of $141 for each $1 of investment. The genomics-enabled industry also provided $3.7 billion in federal taxes during 2010 alone, thus recouping nearly half the invested amount in a single year.

HIDDEN BENEFITS OF GOVERNMENT R&D

With most government employees performing their jobs without fanfare, it is often difficult to identify and quantify federal agency and employee contributions to the economy and the country. Few would guess that some agencies are performing cutting-edge research. The Forest Service, for example, does more than promote fire safety in national parks with Smokey the Bear as its spokesman. Since 1920, its Forest Products Laboratory (FPL) has promoted healthy forests and forest-based economies through the efficient, sustainable use of American wood resources.

Among the agency’s accomplishments are helping to develop a semichemical pulping process as a higher yield offshoot of the kraft process in papermaking. Currently, FPL is working with the University of Wisconsin to develop a biodegradable computer chip.

Just because valuable research is performed by federal employees or agencies, however, does not mean it gains general acceptance. In 1988, NIST computer scientist Roy G. Saltman authored a report, NBS SP500-158: “Accuracy, Integrity, and Security in Computerized Vote-Tallying,” recommending that the use of pre-scored punch card ballots be ended. “While the report was widely distributed to election administrators nationwide, in general, no action was taken,” says Saltman.

“If the report’s recommendations had been

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adopted, the debacle of the Bush v. Gore election in Florida in 2000 [in which many Florida voters used punch cards that resulted in incompletely punched holes that were not tallied] would not have happened,” Saltman says.

Some achievements also may not receive sufficient attention because the primary beneficiaries are not U.S. citizens. A good example is the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s important role in eradicating smallpox in Africa and the rest of the world by 1980.

And some federal achievements are extraordinary only to those in the know, says Carol Bonosaro, former SEA president. “One year, a woman won [a Presidential Rank award] for engineering the (spinoff) of the agency that would become the Department of Education from the agency of Health, Education and Welfare in a manner that led to no grievances or complaints,” says Bonosaro, formerly an SES member at the Commission on Civil Rights, who retired from the SEA in November. “That, to me, is astonishing.”

CONTRIBUTIONS TO PUBLIC SERVICE AND SAFETY

Federal employees also often don’t receive recognition for their extensive and wide-ranging efforts to ensure that public services and safety are maintained. Much of the difficulty of measuring what federal employees do is because their programs involve the prevention of a negative outcome, whether it be a terrorist incident, the government running out of money or an epidemic, says Partnership Vice President John Palguta.

“You could headline this story ‘Nothing bad happened today’ because a lot of what the federal government does for the country is prevent bad things from happening,” Palguta says. “I think you could put in the tally of major accomplishments that we haven’t had a major terrorist attack on U.S. soil since 2001. Over 23,000 planes depart and land in the U.S. daily without incident. The national parks are open and accessible.

Thousands of veterans receive good care and

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Superfeds service from the Department of Veterans Affairs every single day. It is the bad exception that gets the news, which is sometimes highlighted for partisan political gain.”

Palguta also says that federal agencies oftentimes face enormous tasks that likely would challenge any service provider. “A lot of what government does are things that would not otherwise be done,” he says. “There is no profit in taking care of the poor or indigent. Who but the Environmental Protection Agency would police clean water or clean air on a national basis? Who else would negotiate international treaties on behalf of the nation? The preamble of the Constitution makes it clear that providing for the common defense is a government responsibility.”

There are even some essentially military functions that are left to civilian federal employees, who face similar risks. Quality Assurance Specialist Ammunition Surveillance (QASAS) employees, for example, are some 400 Department of the Army civilians who deploy with combat troops and perform ammunition inspections in combat areas, says Brent Myers, a QASAS employee since 1999. “I have been to remote areas with incoming and outgoing rounds going off while performing my duties,” Myers says.

“Ammunition serviceability is imperative to win the fight. The military does not have soldiers that are trained in this area and depends on this mission to be performed by QASAS.”

CULTURAL AND SOCIAL CONTRIBUTIONS

Federal agencies also have been responsible for implementation of many of the most impactful pieces of legislation of the past century. One example is the GI Bill, which helped address the work needs of the country and pave the way to increased national productivity after WWII. The Department of Veterans Affairs has played a key role in administering GI Bill benefits for veterans, notes Ted Van Hintum, a retired VA assistant director for program management in Education Services. “I’m proud I was able to work in the

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Federal agencies have been responsible for implementation of many of the most impactful pieces of legislation of the past century. program,” Van Hintum says. “I feel like I made a positive difference in people’s lives by helping them continue their education and earn a good income after completing college.”

VA achievements continue in the present, notes Richard Rooney, director of pharmacy at the Jesse Brown VA Medical Center in Chicago, IL. In August and September 2015, VA staff there were able to initiate treatment of nearly 170 veterans with Hepatitis C within less than two months.

“Our VA staff worked extremely well together to expand clinic availability and access to care for our veterans and was able to initiate therapy in more patients in those two months than in the prior 18 months,” Rooney says.

And many in the general public are grateful for the federal service that they receive. The Partnership’s Samuel J. Heyman Service to America Medals (Sammies) honor excellence in the federal workforce. Steven Rosenberg, the 2015 federal employee of the year, developed life-saving treatments for millions of cancer patients, pioneering the use of the body’s immune system and genetically engineered anti-tumor cells to fight the disease. “I would not be standing here before you if it wasn’t for Dr. Rosenberg,” said cancer survivor Shea Birnie – whose disease had metastasized and who originally had been given 10 months to live – in introducing Rosenberg at the Sammies awards ceremony in October. “I was swept into NIH, and it felt like hope.... He saved my life.”

—David Tobenkin is a freelance writer based in the greater Washington, DC, area.

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VOLUNTEERING FEDERAL GOVERNMENT in the

More and more retired feds are returning to the workplace — as volunteers

Federal government retirees have many options as to how to use their time and energy in retirement. Some travel the world; others use their career experience to start small businesses; still others get parttime or full-time jobs with companies for which they enjoy working. And some government employees use at least some of their newfound available time to give back to their communities by volunteering to help others.

The most successful volunteer opportunities are those that suit the skills of the prospective volunteer. It should not be surprising, therefore, that many federal retirees, who have spent their working careers serving the American people, choose volunteer positions that allow them to continue serving the public.

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Louise Van Diepen, a former member of the Senior Executive Service (SES), is one such volunteer. “I knew when I left government that I wanted to do something,” she says. “I thought I wanted to be a consultant, but I found very quickly that I didn’t like private-sector culture. What brought me into government was wanting to do public service, and I wanted to keep on doing it once I retired.”

VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES WITH THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT

The federal government offers men and women like Van Diepen numerous opportunities to continue serving the public by volunteering.

For example, the Peace Corps (www.peacecorps.gov), founded by President Kennedy in 1961 to promote world peace and friendship, offers what it calls “life-defining experiences” to serve abroad and make a difference in more than 60 countries – and the only age restriction is that a volunteer be over 18 years old.

The Citizen Corps (www.ready.gov) helps make communities safer, stronger and better prepared to respond to emergencies by training Americans in skills such as basic disaster response, fire safety and medical operations that support emergency first responders and disaster relief efforts.

The Corporation for National and Community Service (www. nationalservice.gov) connects Americans ages 55 or older with the people and organizations that need them most. Senior Corps employees are mentors, coaches or companions to people in need and contribute their job skills and knowledge to community projects and organizations.

Some federal agencies use volunteers directly to help them accomplish their missions. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), for example, uses volunteers (www. volunteer.noaa.gov) to take part in research and assume educational roles that benefit science, American citizens and planet Earth.

By Everett A. Chasen

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VOLUNTEERING in the FEDERAL GOVERNMENT The National Resources Conservation Service of the Department of Agriculture (www.nrcs. usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/main/national/people/ volunteers/) features an “Earth Team”: volunteers who work with private landowners throughout the nation to improve soil quality, conserve water, improve air quality and enhance wildlife habitat.

The Forest Service offers volunteers of all ages the opportunity to help care for America’s national forests. Some of the agency’s opportunities even provide housing, a uniform and a subsistence allowance. Other agencies offering opportunities to support the country’s natural and cultural resources include the National Park Service, the Bureau of Land Management and the Army Corps of Engineers. Volunteer opportunities of this kind are consolidated at the government’s www. volunteer.gov web portal.

On July 19, 2013, President Obama issued a memorandum establishing a task force on expanding national service. The group is charged with developing strategies to expand volunteer service to meet national needs through collaboration with federal agencies and the private sector. All 13 cabinet-level departments are represented, along with the Peace Corps, the National Science Foundation, the Office of Personnel Management, the Environmental Protection Agency and the White House.

VOLUNTEERING AT THE DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) manages the largest volunteer effort in the federal government. Sabrina Clark, the department’s chief of voluntary service, says VA has more than 300,000 volunteers at present.

“We have two different types of volunteers,” she explains. “Our regularly scheduled volunteers and occasional volunteers

The Department of Veterans Affairs manages the largest volunteer effort in the government.

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– groups such as the Boy Scouts and the American Legion – who will come in in large groups to help us with special events from time to time.” Volunteers provide many different kinds of services to veterans, and VA customizes assignments for them based on the talents they have to offer.

Clark mentions VA’s Volunteer Transportation Network, which is heavily supported by the Disabled American Veterans (DAV). Through the network, volunteer drivers provide needed transportation for veterans who need VA services. She also explains the department’s Caregiver Respite program, which sends volunteers to the residences of veterans who need help at home, giving their caregivers a break.

Many volunteers at VA hospitals serve as ambassadors, helping veterans navigate VA’s large hospital campuses and getting them to their clinic and other appointments on time. “All those assignments can pretty much be found in every VA health care facility,” she explains, but VA can customize assignments for individuals.

In 2015, VA held its second “Summer of Service,” informing the American people of ways they can contribute to the health and well-being of veterans. “VA can’t do everything for veterans ourselves,” says Clark, “and many of the things we do are only accomplished with the help of our community partners.”

VA matches volunteers with assignments that will be rewarding for them, Clark reports. “Our voluntary service program managers (located at every VA hospital) have a good handle on the needs of their facilities. As hospital staff and offices express a need for additional help, the program manager makes that need available to the community. People come and are interviewed and learn more about the available assignment, and VA learns about their availability and skills.”

Once a match is made, VA provides appropriate training and support to the volunteer. VA community partners, especially veterans’ service organizations, such as the American Legion, Disabled American Veterans and the Veterans of Foreign Wars, also play an important role in recruiting volunteers. In all, VA has relationships with more than 74,000 community organizations.

FEDERAL RETIREES’ EXPERIENCES

While Clark does not know how many federal retirees are among VA’s 300,000 volunteers, she

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VOLUNTEERING in the FEDERAL GOVERNMENT mentions several individual stories of service.

At the VA hospital in Tomah, WI, the former manager of Nutrition and Food Service began volunteering almost immediately after she retired.

An avid bicyclist, she now assists veterans in the facility’s adaptive cycling clinic, which helps veterans of all ages and with all types of disabilities to get out and ride. She also supports other special projects.

Clark also cites Karen Bonifacio, a former lab worker in VA’s Beckley, WV, hospital. Besides continuing to volunteer in the lab after her retirement, Bonifacio and members of the Daughters of the American Revolution chapter to which she belongs participate in the hospital’s Operation Diaper Bag, which provides baby supplies and diaper bags to young female veterans with families in need of some extra help.

Another retired employee now working as a volunteer is Laura Balun, Clark’s predecessor as VA’s voluntary service chief. Balun now visits the Washington, DC, VA Medical Center one day a week, volunteering as a massage therapist – one of two such volunteer therapists who provide that service for veterans at the hospital. “I’ve helped veterans who have been crushed by tanks,” she says, “and a number of women who have experienced military sexual trauma. I usually see seven to nine patients a day.”

Balun had not been a massage therapist before retiring from the government. “That’s something I had always wanted to do,” she explains. “I went to school specifically for massage therapy to get certification – just so I could volunteer.” Now she also works commercially as a part-time therapist.

“What makes a volunteer experience successful is knowing that the service you provide is helpful. I honestly get more satisfaction from my volunteer experience than from my paying experience. The veterans are so very grateful!”

Louise Van Diepen, the former SES member mentioned at the beginning of this article, volunteers two days a week at the Washington, DC, Fisher House. (Fisher Houses are a network of comfort homes located at major military and VA facilities where military and veterans’ families can stay at no cost while a loved one is receiving treatment.) Formerly the chief of staff for VA’s Veterans Health Administration, Van Diepen restocks food in the kitchen and is available to veterans’ families as a friend – not a counselor – when they need someone to talk to.

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‘Everything I’ve done, I’ve gotten back two- or three-fold, in relationships, new experiences and meeting other people.’

Van Diepen’s experience as a former chief of staff, however, has made her invaluable to the Fisher House in accomplishing the many reportwriting tasks required of any government organization. “The variety in the job, the intellectual challenge of the work, the social interaction with families, and the contact with the hospital and hospital environment are all valuable to me. It’s a way to remain in contact with my VA family in a nonobstructive and constructive way.

“VA is big enough, and has enough volunteer opportunities, that it allows me to either drop in or drop out when I need to, because I may have to take time to care for my own father,” she continues. “When I interviewed with the volunteer coordinator, I said, ‘Listen, I’m very reliable, but if something happens with my dad, I have to take time away.’ And she said, ‘OK.’ What was critical for me was the ability to do something that involved serving the public.”

Clark suggests interested federal retirees visit VA’s volunteer website at www.volunteer.va.gov.

“Public service is a really noble profession – so much so, in fact, that retirees might want to continue by supporting an organization that is continuing to help others.”

Van Diepen advises her fellow retirees: “First, when you get out, you should take some time for yourself. I don’t know a person who is retired who didn’t need three to four months of recovery time.”

“Volunteering isn’t necessarily for everyone,” she adds. “People have different values, and they should do what makes them happy in their retirement years; but I believe volunteer work is like a gift coming back to you. Everything I’ve done, I’ve gotten back two- or three-fold, in relationships, new experiences and meeting other people.

“I never feel like I’m giving,” she concludes. “I feel like I’m getting!”

—Everett A. (Ev) Chasen is a writer and communications

consultant in the washington, DC, area. He retired from the federal government After 35 years of service.

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Open Season Report

o

pen season Report

FEHBP plan changes

T

he 2015 Federal Benefits Open Season for Federal Employees Health Benefits Program (FEHBP) enrollment changes ends Monday, December 14. You should receive this issue of narfe magazine in late November, so there is still time to review health plans and make an informed decision.

FEHBP participants will be able to choose from 252 health plan choices during this Open Season.

Of keen interest to enrollees is the addition of the Self Plus One enrollment option.

If you are a federal employee and not presently enrolled in the FEHBP, you may enroll during Open Season if you are not otherwise excluded from coverage because of the nature of your appointment.

If you are a federal annuitant and are not presently covered by the FEHBP as an enrollee or a family member, you cannot enroll in the FEHBP during Open Season, except if you previously suspended your FEHBP enrollment in favor of coverage under TRICARE, TRICARE For Life, a Medicare Advantage HMO plan, 38

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CHAMPVA, Medicaid or as a Peace Corps volunteer.

Open Season changes for employees are effective at the beginning of the first pay period after January 1, 2016.

Open Season changes made by annuitants and survivor annuitants are effective on January 1, 2016, and the premium changes will be effective in the February 1, 2016, annuity payments.

Plan Brochures

When deciding which plan is best for you, be sure to review your current plan’s 2016 brochure, as well as the brochures for other plans you are considering. The 2016 plan brochures for all of the FEHBP plans can be viewed online and downloaded at www. opm.gov/healthcare-insurance.

Each brochure is formatted the same way, with sections on specific topics such as “How Our Plan Has Changed,” “Your Costs for Covered Services” and “Coordinating Benefits With Other Coverage.” And all plan brochures have a box on the cover that provides the page numbers to find the new premium rates

and the plan’s changes for the new year.

Since the implementation of the 2010 Affordable Care Act, all plans provide a Summary of Benefits and Coverage with easyto-understand information about out-of-pocket costs, coverage and rights of enrollees.

Premium Changes

The overall weighted average total premium increase for nonpostal employees and all annuitants in the FEHBP for 2016, based on all of the enrollees in all of the plans, is 6.4 percent. For postal employees, it is 6.7 percent.

The 6.4 percent figure is not an across-the-board increase per plan. It is the weighted average increase for the total premium (government and employee share) for all of the plans in the FEHBP. This means that some plans’ premiums decreased, some did not change at all and some increased.

Fee-for-service (FFS) plans’ total premiums will rise an average of 6.6 percent, while local health maintenance organization (HMO) plans’ premiums will increase an

average of 5.4 percent.

Federal employees with Self Only coverage will pay, on average, $5.50 more per two-week pay period, while those with Self and Family coverage will see an average increase of $19.61. Enrollees in the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Standard option, the most popular enrollment, will see monthly premiums rise $9.15 for Self Only coverage and $24.93 for Self and Family.

There are HMO enrollees who will see very large increases in premiums and some whose

premiums have dropped considerably. For example, the enrollee’s share of the monthly premium for Self and Family coverage for Florida Humana A Medical Plan (Code LL2) will increase by more than $595 a month for High option Self and Family coverage.

On the other end of the spectrum, monthly premiums for Illinois Blue Preferred Plus (9G1 and 9G2) will decrease $217.90 and $383.98, respectively, for 2016.

Kaiser Foundation of California Basic is another whose premiums will be lower.

But even if your particular plan’s premiums are not rising by much, make sure you read the plan brochure – particularly Section 2, “How We Change for 2016.”

This section will reveal which, if any, out-of-pocket expenses, such as co-payments and coinsurance, will increase in 2016.

When reading each plan’s brochure, note which costs are not included in meeting the plan’s yearly deductible. These out-ofpocket expenses can really add up.

—Federal Benefits Service Department

Medicare Premiums: Part B and Part D Medicare Open Season began October 15 and ends December 7.

Part B

The monthly Medicare Part B base premium will be $120.70 in 2016, plus a $3 surcharge. For enrollees whose premiums come out of their Social Security benefit, premiums will remain $104.90.

Part D

The Medicare Part D prescription drug benefit is generally geared to people who do not have any employer-provided or union-provided prescription drug coverage. Under your FEHBP coverage, you simply pay copayments and/or coinsurance for your prescription drugs, so the vast majority of FEHBP enrollees will not need Medicare Part D prescription drug coverage.

Anyone covered under the FEHBP has what is known as “creditable prescription drug coverage.” This means that the FEHBP prescription drug coverage is at least as good as, if not

better than, the Part D coverage.

This also means if a person with FEHBP coverage turns down Part D when he or she is first eligible to enroll but signs up at some point in the future, he or she will not be required to pay a penalty for late enrollment in Part D. FEHBP plan brochures for 2016 contain statements certifying the creditability of each plan’s drug coverage for Part D late-enrollment purposes. These statements will be found at the beginning of each plan’s brochure, immediately before the table of contents, and will be headlined “Important Notice From (Plan’s Name) About Our Prescription Drug Coverage and Medicare.”

Part D requires a monthly premium in addition to the Medicare Part B premium. The estimated average monthly basic premium for 2016 will be about $42. Some may pay a higher monthly premium based on their income.

In 2016, the Part D enrollee may have to pay up to the first $360 in prescription drug costs, the Part D deductible amount.

(Some Part D enrollees will not be required to pay the $360 deductible.) In addition, Part D enrollees will be subject to copays until the combined amount paid by both the enrollee and the Part D plan reaches $3,310.

After that, the coverage gap (donut hole) kicks in, and the enrollee pays 58 percent of the cost of generic prescriptions and 45 percent of the cost for brand name prescriptions until they reach $4,850. After that threshold is met, Part D enrollees will have to pay only a small co-pay or coinsurance for the rest of the calendar year.

If Medicare is a person’s primary insurer, FEHBP plans will coordinate prescription drug payments with the Medicare Part D carrier.

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

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39

Open Season Report

Fee-for-Service Plan Changes

F

ollowing are the six fee-forservice (FFS) plans available to all employees and annuitants and the changes in benefits, taken from their brochures.

In addition to the six opento-all plans, there are four FFS plans open to specific groups of federal employees and annuitants. For space reasons, they are not listed here. And because there are so many FEHBP health maintenance organizations (HMOs), it also is not possible to list their changes. Premium rates for all 10 FFS plans are shown in the chart on p. 41.

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) no longer issues the “Guide to Federal Benefits.”

Federal employees and retirees now will have to search OPM’s website to get the same information the “Guides” provided in one publication. You can review information only at www.opm.gov/healthcareinsurance.

When reviewing each plan’s changes, take note of announced changes in preferred provider organizations (PPOs). If you live in a state where your plan is chang-

ing its PPO network, you need to contact the plan and ask for a new PPO directory for 2016 to assure that your doctors, hospitals, etc., will be in the new network. Otherwise, you may wish to change plans during Open Season.

For 2016, all plans have removed the exclusion for services, drugs or supplies related to sex transformations.

American Postal Workers Union Health Plan (APWU) High Option Changes The plan has increased the generic co-payment and added preferred and nonpreferred brand name and specialty drug tiers for prescription drug benefits.

Specialty Cholesterol has been added to the drug StepTherapy program.

Compound medication drug prescriptions will be covered only if FDA approved.

The Healthy Pregnancies, Healthy Babies program will offer a $150 financial incentive to enroll in the first trimester or a $75 financial incentive to enroll in the second trimester.

Consumer Driven Health Plan Changes The plan has increased the out-of-pocket catastrophic maximum to $4,200 for Self Only and $6,900 for Self Plus One and Self and Family when billed by innetwork providers/facilities, and $10,200 for Self Only or $11,400 for Self Plus One and Self and Family when using out-of-network providers/facilities.

The plan has implemented prescription drug medication management, step therapy, supply limits, compound limitations and prior authorization for prescription drugs.

The plan has added hypercholesterolemia to the Specialty Drugs disease category.

Blue Cross and Blue Shield (BC/BS) Planwide Changes Preventive care benefits have been added for: osteoporosis screening, hepatitis B screening, application of flouride varnish, low-dose aspirin for certain pregnant women, and certain BRCArelated testing.

The plan has added benefits for

Using OPM’s Plan Comparison Tool to guide your decision The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) offers an online plan comparison tool at its website, www.opm.gov, that allows you to evaluate up to four plans at once.

In the plan comparison tool, you can evaluate plans’ rates and customer satisfaction. You can search plans by ZIP code, by

40

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plan name and by plan code.

OPM provides detailed information on costs under “Rates” and “Benefits.” You can see catastrophic limits and calendar-year deductibles, as well as hospital inpatient admission co-pay and room and board charges, doctor outpatient surgery, primary doctor

visits, prescription drug deductible per person and more.

In addition, you can compare plans by federal worker satisfaction, including: overall satisfaction, how well doctors communicate, customer service, plan information on costs, the ability to get needed care and more.

KEY: Employees pay biweekly Annuitants pay monthly

2016 premiums — Fee for Service

Enrollee Increase / Plan Option Code Total Premium Gov’t Pays Enrollee Pays Decrease

biweekly | monthly biweekly | monthly biweekly | monthly biweekly | monthly APWU Health Plan High Self High Self & Family High Self Plus One CDHP Self CDHP Self & Family CDHP Self Plus One

OPEN TO ALL 471 472 473 474 475 476

$293.37 | $635.64 $704.10 | $1,525.55 $616.09 | $1,334.86 $207.76 | $450.15 $498.62 | $1,080.34 $457.07 | $990.32

$213.37 | $462.30 $488.50 | $1,058.42 $461.02 | $998.88 $155.82 | $337.61 $373.97 | $810.26 $342.80 | $742.74

$80.00 | $173.34 $215.60 | $467.13 $155.07 | $335.98 $51.94 | $112.54 $124.65 | $270.08 $114.27 | $247.58

$15.33 | $33.22 $69.37 | $150.30 | $5.63 | $12.20 $20.47 | $44.35 |

Blue Cross and Blue Shield service benefit plan Standard Self 104 $313.55 | $679.36 Standard Self & Family 105 $726.74 | $1,574.60 Standard Self Plus One 106 $692.33 | $1,500.05 Basic Self 111 $273.94 | $593.54 Basic Self & Family 112 $652.70 | $1,414.18 Basic Self Plus One 113 $621.77 | $1,347.17

$213.37 | $462.30 $488.50 | $1,058.42 $461.02 | $998.88 $205.46 | $445.16 $488.50 | $1,058.42 $461.02 | $998.88

$100.18 | $217.06 $238.24 | $516.18 $231.31 | $501.17 $68.48 | $148.38 $164.20 | $355.76 $160.75 | $348.29

$9.15 | $19.83 $24.93 | $54.01 | $5.08 | $11.00 $15.74 | $34.09 |

GEHA Benefit Plan High Self High Self & Family High Self Plus One Standard Self Standard Self & Family Standard Self Plus One HDHP Self HDHP Self & Family HDHP Self Plus One

311 312 313 314 315 316 341 342 343

$313.72 | $679.73 $745.43 | $1,615.10 $690.18 | $1,495.39 $207.16 | $448.85 $489.91 | $1,061.47 $445.39 | $965.01 $216.01 | $468.02 $510.85 | $1,106.84 $464.42 | $1,006.24

$213.37 | $462.30 $488.50 | $1,058.42 $461.02 | $998.88 $155.37 | $336.64 $367.43 | $796.10 $334.04 | $723.76 $162.01 | $351.02 $383.14 | $830.13 $348.32 | $754.68

$100.35 | $217.43 $256.93 | $556.68 $229.16 | $496.51 $51.79 | $112.21 $122.48 | $265.37 $111.35 | $241.25 $54.00 | $117.00 $127.71 | $276.71 $116.10 | $251.56

$6.10 | $13.22 $31.70 | $68.68 | $2.75 | $5.95 $10.95 | $23.72 | $3.13 | $6.79 $11.53 | $24.99 |

MHBP Value Self Value Self & Family Value Self Plus One Standard Self Standard Self & Family Standard Self Plus One HDHP Self HDHP Self & Family HDHP Self Plus One

414 415 416 454 455 456 481 482 483

$236.60 | $512.63 $571.80 | $1,238.90 $560.59 | $1,214.61 $279.93 | $606.52 $650.55 | $1,409.53 $637.79 | $1,381.88 $259.47 | $562.19 $602.92 | $1,306.33 $574.22 | $1,244.14

$177.45 | $384.47 $428.85 | $929.18 $420.44 | $910.96 $209.95 | $454.89 $487.91 | $1,057.15 $461.02 | $998.88 $194.60 | $421.64 $452.19 | $979.75 $430.67 | $933.11

$59.15 | $128.16 $142.95 | $309.72 $140.15 | $303.65 $69.98 | $151.63 $162.64 | $352.38 $176.77 | $383.00 $64.87 | $140.55 $150.73 | $326.58 $143.55 | $311.03

$2.29 | $4.96 $7.39 | $16.01 | $-22.67 | $-49.11 $-63.15 | $-136.83 | $0.65 | $1.40 $5.21 | $11.28 |

NALC High Self High Self & Family High Self Plus One CDHP Self CDHP Self & Family CDHP Self Plus One Value Self Value Self & Family Value Self Plus One

321 322 323 324 325 326 KM1 KM2 KM3

$285.92 | $619.49 $634.74 | $1,375.27 $623.30 | $1,350.48 $200.24 | $433.85 $434.80 | $942.07 $434.79 | $942.05 $172.40 | $373.53 $374.39 | $811.18 $374.38 | $811.16

$213.37 | $462.30 $476.06 | $1,031.45 $461.02 | $998.88 $150.18 | $325.39 $326.10 | $706.55 $326.09 | $706.54 $129.30 | $280.15 $280.79 | $608.39 $280.79 | $608.37

$72.55 | $157.19 $158.68 | $343.82 $162.28 | $351.60 $50.06 | $108.46 $108.70 | $235.52 $108.70 | $235.51 $43.10 | $93.38 $93.60 | $202.79 $93.59 | $202.79

$-4.39 | $-9.51 $2.98 | $6.47 | $0.00 | $0.00 $0.00 | $0.01 | $0.00 | $0.00 $0.01 | $0.00 |

SAMBA High Self High Self & Family High Self Plus One Standard Self Standard Self & Family Standard Self Plus One

441 442 443 444 445 446

$347.16 | $752.18 $833.19 | $1,805.25 $763.76 | $1,654.81 $253.76 | $549.81 $583.65 | $1,264.58 $558.27 | $1,209.59

$213.37 | $462.30 $488.50 | $1,058.42 $461.02 | $998.88 $190.32 | $412.36 $437.74 | $948.44 $418.70 | $907.19

$133.79 | $289.88 $344.69 | $746.83 $302.74 | $655.93 $63.44 | $137.45 $145.91 | $316.14 $139.57 | $302.40

$-4.09 | $-8.86 $-7.20 | $-15.60 | $2.65 | $5.74 $7.07 | $15.33 |

RESTRICTED

Compass Rose Health Plan (members of the Intelligence Community, employees of Departments of Defense and State) High Self 421 $291.49 | $631.56 $213.37 | $462.30 $78.12 | $169.26 $0.64 | $1.39 High Self & Family 422 $699.57 | $1,515.74 $488.50 | $1,058.42 $211.07 | $457.32 $17.13 | $37.11 High Self Plus One 423 $641.27 | $1,389.42 $461.02 | $998.88 $180.25 | $390.54 | Foreign Service Benefit Plan (American Foreign Service personnel, Departments of State and Defense, USAID, Foreign Agricultural and Commercial services, other executive branch employees assigned overseas; Foreign Service retirees) High Self 401 $252.70 | $547.52 $189.53 | $410.64 $63.17 | $136.88 $3.00 | $6.52 High Self & Family 402 $625.16 | $1,354.51 $468.87 | $1,015.88 $156.29 | $338.63 $8.04 | $17.42 High Self Plus One 403 $618.98 | $1,341.12 $461.02 | $998.88 $157.96 | $342.24 | Rural Carrier Benefit Plan (active and retired rural letter carriers) High Self 381 $298.34 | $646.40 $213.37 | $462.30 High Self & Family 382 $577.71 | $1,251.71 $433.28 | $938.78 High Self Plus One 383 $566.37 | $1,227.14 $424.78 | $920.36

$84.97 | $184.10 $144.43 | $312.93 $141.59 | $306.78

$-5.51 | $-11.94 $5.00 | $10.83 |

Panama Canal Area Benefit Plan High Self 431 $238.66 | $517.10 High Self & Family 432 $498.18 | $1,079.39 High Self Plus One 433 $476.34 | $1,032.07

$59.66 | $129.27 $124.54 | $269.85 $119.08 | $258.02

$3.98 | $8.63 $8.32 | $18.04 |

$179.00 | $387.83 $373.64 | $809.54 $357.26 | $774.05

Open Season Report

inpatient admissions to residential treatment centers for treatment of medical, mental health and/or substance abuse conditions when performed and billed by a licensed and accredited residential treatment center based on specific criteria.

The plan will provide allergy care and prescription drug benefits for specific FDA-approved drugs for sublingual allergy desensitization.

You no longer will be required to obtain prior approval for outpatient intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) services related to the treatment of anal cancer.

Members with high blood pressure who complete the Blue Health Assessment may receive a free blood pressure monitor every two years through the Hypertension Management Program.

The plan will provide a Pregnancy Care Incentive Program for pregnant members ages 18 and over who receive prenatal care in the first trimester of their pregnancy and submit a copy of the provider’s medical record documenting the prenatal care visit.

Standard Option Changes For Self Plus One and Self and Family contracts, the catastrophic out-of-pocket maximum is now $10,000 per year when you use preferred providers and $14,000 per year when you use a combination of preferred and nonpreferred providers. Previously, the out-of-pocket maximum for Self and Family contracts was $6,000 for preferred provider services and $8,000 for a combination of preferred and nonpreferred provider services.

For Self Plus One and Self 42

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and Family contracts, when one covered family member reaches the Self Only catastrophic outof-pocket maximums ($5,000 for preferred, or $7,000 for a combination of preferred and nonpreferred providers) during the calendar year, that member’s claims no longer will be subject to associated cost-sharing amounts for the rest of the year.

Co-payments will increase for the following: professional mental health care and substance abuse services by a preferred provider; office visits, physical therapy, speech therapy, occupational therapy, cognitive therapy, vision services and foot care services performed by a preferred provider; outpatient observation services.

Cost-share for inpatient admission to a preferred hospital will be $350; $450 for a member or nonpreferred facility plus 35 percent coinsurance.

Cost-share for Continuous Home Hospice care performed by preferred providers will be $350 per episode; $450 if performed by a member or nonpreferred provider plus 35 percent of the plan allowance.

Dental benefits will be limited for clinical oral evaluation, diagnostic imaging, palliative treatment and preventive procedures.

Basic Option Changes For Self Plus One and Self and Family contracts, the catastrophic out-of-pocket maximum will be $11,000 per year when preferred providers are used.

For Self Plus One and Self and Family contracts, when one covered family member reaches the Self Only catastrophic protection out-of-pocket maximum ($5,500) during the calendar year, that

member’s claims no longer will be subject to associated member cost-sharing amounts for the rest of the year.

Co-payments will increase for: home nursing visits by a preferred provider; mental care and substance abuse services by a preferred provider; dental care services by a preferred provider; office visits, reproductive services, allergy care, treatment therapies, physical therapy, speech therapy, occupational therapy, cognitive therapy, hearing services, vision services, foot care services, alternative treatments or diabetic education; outpatient observation services by a preferred provider.

The plan will provide Mail Service Prescription Drug Program benefits for Medicare Part B enrollees.

Co-payments for many prescription drugs in Tiers 1 through 5 will increase.

Government Employees Health Association (GEHA) Overall Plan Changes The preferred provider organizations (PPOs) for many states have changed for 2016. Make sure you read the brochure to see if you are affected.

Prostate-Specific Antigen (PSA) tests no longer will be covered as a preventive care procedure but will be covered as a diagnostic benefit.

Enrollees will have to pay the difference between the plan allowance and the provider’s charge for accidental injury treatment at a non-PPO. There will be a $35 co-payment for treatment at a PPO urgent care facility.

The plan will not cover physical exams and immunization required for obtaining or continuing

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Monthly premiums that are below the federal average

•

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•

Waived deductibles and copayments for medical services — if Medicare Part A and Part B are primary and your provider accepts Medicare assignment.

Learn more Visit aetnafeds.com/aetnadirect Or call 1-855-277-4356

Health insurance plans are offered and/or underwritten by Aetna Life Insurance Company (Aetna). This is a brief description of the features of this Aetna health insurance plan.

Before making a decision, please read the plan’s applicable federal brochure(s). All benefits are subject to the definitions, limitations and exclusions set forth in the federal brochure. Plan features and availability may vary by location and are subject to change. Aetna does not provide care or guarantee access to health services. For more information about Aetna plans, refer to www.aetnafeds.com. ©2015 Aetna Inc.

19.12.306.1 (8/15)

Open Season Report

employment or insurance, attending schools or camps, or travel.

The plan will now cover telephone therapy in the same manner as any other mental health provider visit.

High Option Changes The High Option PPO catastrophic limit will be $5,500 for Self Only enrollments and $7,000 for both Self Plus One and Self and Family enrollments. NonPPO catastrophic limits will be $7,500 for Self Only enrollments and $9,000 for Self Plus One and Self and Family enrollments.

Specialty medications are now limited to a 30-day supply from the CVS/Caremark Specialty Pharmacy.

Standard Option Changes The PPO catastrophic limits are $6,000 for Self Only enrollment and $7,500 for Self Plus One and Self and Family enrollments.

Non-PPO catastrophic limits are $8,000 for Self Only enrollment and $9,500 for Self Plus One and Self and Family enrollments.

Pharmacy benefits have been restructured into prescription drug tiers. For each 30-day supply of nonspecialty medication, you pay the following: $10 generic, 50 percent up to $200 maximum for preferred, 50 percent up to $300 maximum for nonpreferred. For up to a 90-day supply of nonspecialty medication received through the CVS/Caremark Mail Service Pharmacy, you will pay $20 generic, 50 percent up to a maximum of $500 preferred, and 50 percent up to a maximum of $600 nonpreferred.

The plan will limit specialty drugs to up to a 30-day supply from the CVS/Caremark Specialty 44

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Pharmacy. For each specialty pharmacy prescription up to a 30day supply, you will pay 50 percent up to a maximum of $200 for generic or preferred medication and 50 percent up to a maximum of $300 for nonpreferred medication. For specialty drugs dispensed by other sources, you will pay 50 percent coinsurance after a $500 co-payment for preferred medications or 50 percent coinsurance after a $500 copayment for nonpreferred medications. The calendar-year deductible applies to specialty drugs dispensed by other sources.

Mail Handlers Benefit Plan (MHBP) Overall Plan Changes The plan has discontinued its relationship with MultiPlan and Three Rivers Provider Network.

The plan no longer will cover Christian Science practitioners, nurses or nursing facilities.

The benefit maximum for hearing aids has been increased.

Skilled nursing care facility annual day limits have been increased.

Changes have been made in the Special Pharmacy Step Therapy Drug Program.

The plan will coordinate benefits for prescription drugs in the same manner as for medical benefits.

Standard Option Changes The plan has reduced the network calendar-year deductible for Self Only and Self and Family, co-payments for visits to a specialist, cost-sharing for ancillary services in a network hospital and for preferred brand name drugs purchased at a network pharmacy through the plan’s mail order

drug program for those enrolled in Medicare Part B. Value Plan Changes The plan changed the benefit structures for chiropractic services and for acupuncture services to remove the calendar-year deductible from applying services from a network provider.

Member cost-sharing and the calendar-year deductible now will apply to surgical and anesthesia services.

National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC) Overall Plan Changes The plan will cover: • Routine Hepatitis B virus infection screening for some adults and adolescents; • Routine gonorrhea screening for ages 24 and younger; • An annual set of spinal x-rays associated with chiropractic treatment; • Low-dose aspirin for pregnant women at high risk of preeclampsia.

In 2016, all compound drugs will require prior authorization.

High Option Changes The plan has lowered co-payments for up to both a 60-day and a 90-day supply of generic drugs through its mail order program for members with Medicare Part B as their primary payer.

Value and Consumer Driven Plan Changes In-network annual deductible is $2,000 per person or $4,000 per family; $4,000 per person or $8,000 per family for out-ofnetwork services.

In-network catastrophic out-ofpocket maximums will be $6,600

Open Season 2015: November 9th to December 14th 1-800-222-2798 | www.apwuhp.com

You’re Retired And it’s Time to...

Relax your Way to Healthy Savings!

You’re retired and it’s time to consider your health care options.

Health coverage and cost will be important to you. Consider the APWU Health Plan’s High Option. Under the High Option, retirees have access to rich benefits. Electing to enroll in Medicare Part A and B in addition to the High Option offers even more enhancements. Enrolling in all three is a great strategy and offers the most protection against health care costs. See the full list of advantages: • No deductible or coinsurance on covered expenses (including hospital stays)* • National coverage: See any doctor or facility you wish; no referrals or network to worry about* • APWU Health Plan will coordinate with Medicare for you-no additional paperwork* • 100% coverage for lab tests when performed by LabCorp or Quest Diagnostics • Discounts on eye care and hearing needs • Generic medication and supplies to treat diabetes and hypertension are covered at 100% through Health Management Programs • Strong pharmacy benefits, including mail order with auto refills; and on average better coverage than Medicare Part D • APWU coordinates with Medicare on drugs covered by Part B so members don’t have any out-of-pocket costs* • Cancer Centers of Excellence covered at 95% • Preventive care and screenings paid at 100% (in-network) • Affordable monthly premiums

High Option Highlights

2016 Monthly Premiums Self Only: $173.34 Self Plus One: $335.98 Self and Family: $467.13 *High Option members when Medicare Part A and B pay as primary

Open Season Report

per person or $13,200 per family; $12,000 per person or $24,000 per family for out-of-network services.

prescription drugs is $1,500 for Self Only and $3,000 for both Self Plus One and Self and Family.

Special Agents Mutual Benefit Association (SAMBA) Standard Option Changes The plan’s: • Annual deductible is $350 for Self Only, $700 for Self Plus One, and $1,050 for Self and Family; • Catastrophic maximum is $5,000 for Self Only and $10,000 for Self Plus One and Self and Family when PPO services are used; $7,000 for Self Only and $14,000 for Self Plus One and Self and Family when non-PPO and PPO services are combined; • Catastrophic maximum for Network retail and mail order

High Option Changes The plan’s: • Annual deductible is $300 for Self Only and $600 for Self Plus One and Self and Family; • Catastrophic maximum is $3,500 for Self Only and $7,000 for Self Plus One and Self and Family when PPO services are used; $6,500 for Self Only and $13,000 for Self Plus One and Self and Family when non-PPO and PPO services are combined; • Catastrophic maximum for network retail and mail order prescription drug program is $2,000

for Self Only and $4,000 for Self Plus One and Self and Family; • Specialty drug provider is Accredo, the Express Specialty Pharmacy.

—Federal Benefits Service Department

self + One = You? Enrollees must make the switch to Self Plus One themselves if they want to take advantage of this new option.

Neither the Office of Personnel Management, nor federal agencies, nor your current carrier will automatically make the change. It’s up to you!

LIVING FEARLESS AFFORDABLE, EASY ENROLLMENT & GREAT PROVIDER NETWORK

IS HAVING

FEP BlueVision An eye exam can detect symptoms of systemic diseases BENEFITS such as diabetes, thyroid disease and neurological impairments.

1.888.550.BLUE (2583) OR 1.800.523.2847 TTY 46

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www.fepblue.org

Our plans may have surprising new ways to save.

It’s Open Season — the time to explore health plans that could be a better fit for you and your budget. Consider plan options from UnitedHealthcare that include: • Low-cost options • No-cost annual checkups • No-cost preventive dental care • Virtual health visits and rewards for healthy actions

Learn more at uhcfeds.com.

Open Season runs from November 9 through December 14.

Not all health plans are available in all areas. Visit uhcfeds.com to find a listing of plans available in your area. ©2015 United HealthCare Services, Inc. Insurance coverage provided by or through UnitedHealthcare Insurance Company or its affiliates. Health Plan coverage provided by or through a UnitedHealthcare company. Virtual visits are not an insurance product, health care provider or a health plan. Unless otherwise required, benefits are available only when services are delivered through a Designated Virtual Network Provider. Virtual visits are not intended to address emergency or life-threatening medical conditions and should not be used in those circumstances. Services may not be available at all times or in all locations.

Open Season Report

2016 FEHBP Prescription Drug Guide

I

n the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program, prescriptions can be filled by health plans through the plan’s preferred retail pharmacies, nonpreferred retail pharmacies and the plan’s mail order service. The plans charge coinsurance and/ or co-payments for prescription drugs when they are purchased through any of these sources.

Some plans provide prescription drug plan benefits even if the plan’s annual deductible is not met. Other plans may have a specific annual deductible that must be met before the plan begins to pay prescription drug benefits.

Health plans will substitute avail-

able generic equivalent drugs for brand name drugs for prescriptions submitted to local pharmacies and mail order services, unless the prescribing physician indicates that the patient is to receive only the brand name medication.

To keep prescription drug benefit costs down for the plans, some are reducing out-of-pocket costs for generic drugs and raising them for brand name drugs. This will make prescription drugs more costly for enrollees needing life-saving and life-extending medications, which are usually brand name specialty drugs. You also will see that some plans have capped the yearly amount of out-of-pocket expenses

for prescription drugs to keep enrollees who need the expensive brand name drugs – sometimes called specialty drugs – from possible financial hardship.

Enrollees covered by Medicare Part A and Part B may note that some plans waive their own deductibles, coinsurance and copayments for hospital and medical services. These waivers do not apply to the prescription drug co-payments and/or coinsurance.

Some plans will charge lower coinsurance and co-payment rates for enrollees who are covered by Medicare Part A and Part B. In addition, there are some plans that charge Medicare enroll-

Prescription drug benefits for selected FEHBP plans

Plan Retail Pharmacy / Network R

48

APWU - High

Generic: $10 Brand name: Preferred 25% / Nonpreferred: 40% Specialty drugs: Generic: 25% / Brand name: Preferred: 25% / Nonpreferred: 40%

Blue Cross and Blue Shield - Standard

Generic: 20% of plan allowance (15% if you have Medicare) Brand name: Preferred: 30% of plan allowance / Nonpreferred: 45% of plan allowance

GEHA - Standard

Generic: Lesser of $10 or pharmacy’s usual & customary cost Brand name: 50% up to a max of $200

MHBP - Standard

Electronic: Generic: $5 co-pay per presc.

Brand name: Preferred: 30% of plan allowance (25% if enrolled in Medicare B) + any difference between plan allowance and cost of generic unless exception obtained, limited to $200 per presc. / Nonpreferred: 50% of plan allowance + any difference between plan allowance and cost of generic unless exception obtained, limited to $200 per presc.

Paper: See Non-Network Retail

NALC - High

Generic: 20% of cost Brand name: Formulary: 30% of cost / nonformulary: 45% of cost (If enrolled in Medicare: NALC Senior Antibiotic generic: $0; generic: 10% of cost; formulary brand: 20% of cost)

SAMBA - Standard

Generic: $8 Brand name: Preferred: 30% of plan allowance / nonpreferred: 40% of plan allowance

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ees the same coinsurance and co-payments as non-Medicareeligible enrollees in one option, while charging Medicare enrollees smaller coinsurance and/or copayment amounts than nonMedicare enrollees in the plan’s other option.

Usually, patients will fill orders for short-term prescription drugs, such as antibiotics, at a local pharmacy. They will use mail order services for maintenance drugs, such as medications used to treat high blood pressure, high cholesterol or heart disease, etc.

It is wise to compare the prices of medications at local pharmacies with the cost of obtaining

the medications through mail order services. Many times, the cost of filling a prescription at a local pharmacy is less than the co-payment for using a mail order service. Some plans charge the full mail service co-payment even though the actual cost of the prescription drug is less than the copayment; other plans charge only the cost of the prescription drug if the actual cost of the drug is less for the mail service pharmacy than the co-payment. In other words, do not expect the mail service pharmacy to charge less than the co-payment because the local pharmacy has the prescription drug at a lower price.

Retail pharmacy / Non-Network

Some plans have limitations on the amount and frequency of dispensing prescription drugs. Plan members should be aware of those limitations and also should be aware that more plans have priorapproval requirements before certain prescriptions can be filled.

The general rule for most plans is that refills can be obtained when 75 percent of the current supply is used up.

With some plans’ co-payments for brand name drugs increasing January 1, check your current prescription level to see if you can order a refill before the end of the year and avoid any increase.

—Federal Benefits Service Department

Mail order (90-day supply)

50% of cost

Generic: $20 Brand name: Preferred brand name: 25% / Nonpreferred brand name: 40%

45% of plan allowance

Generic: $15 ($10 if you have Medicare) Brand name: Preferred: $80 per presc. / Nonpreferred: $105 per presc.

Generic: Lesser of $10 or pharmacy’s usual & customary cost Brand name: 50% up to a max of $200 + any difference between plan allowance and cost of the drug

Generic: Lesser of $20 or the cost of the drug Brand name: 50% up to a max of $500

50% of the plan allowance + any difference between plan allowance and billed amount

Generic: $10 co-pay per presc.

Brand name: Preferred: $80 co-pay ($60 co-pay if enrolled in Medicare B) + any difference between plan allowance and generic unless exception obtained / Nonpreferred: $120 co-pay + any difference between plan allowance and generic unless exception obtained Specialty drugs: 15% of plan allowance, limited to $425 per presc.

(For 30-day supply: 15%, limited to $200 per presc.)

45% of plan allowance

Generic: NALCSelect: $5 / NALC Preferred: $7.99 / generic: $12 Brand name: Formulary $65 / nonformulary $80 (For 60 day supply: generic: $8 / formulary brand: $43 / nonformulary brand: $58) Specialty drugs: $350 (60-day supply: $250; 30-day supply: $150)

Generic: $8 Brand name: Preferred: 30% of plan allowance / nonpreferred: 40% of plan allowance

Generic: $15 Brand name: Preferred: 30% of plan allowance / nonpreferred: 40% of plan allowance Source: 2016 Summary of Benefits w w w. n a r f e . o r g

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49

Open Season Report

2016 FEdvip plans

O

pen Season for the Federal Employees Dental and Vision Insurance Program (FEDVIP) coincides with the Open Season for the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program. Eligible individuals will be able to choose benefits that cover dental care, vision care or both.

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) contracts with 12 insurance carriers to provide comprehensive coverage under 14 different plans.

Three types of enrollment are available: Self Only, for the enrolled employee or annuitant; Self Plus One, for the enrolled employee or annuitant and one eligible family member; and Self and Family, for the enrolled employee or annuitant and all eligible family members. For more information, go to www.benefeds. com or call 877-888-3337.

Dental Plans

There are six nationwide and four regional dental plans. Premiums are based on rating areas, determined by where enrollees live. A rating area is a group of ZIP codes.

Each dental plan can have up to five rating areas. See the chart, p. 53, for premiums for nationwide plans. For regional plan rates, go to www.benefeds.com.

Nationwide Plans

(Nationwide plans include international coverage.)

Aetna Single High option plan • In addition to in-network benefits, offers out-of-network benefits; • $10,000 yearly maximum per member for in-network services; • No annual deductible; • Orthodontia covered after 50

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a 12-month waiting period for adults and dependent children with no age limit ($2,000 per person lifetime maximum on covered orthodontia services); • Free add-on discounts such as fitness, vision, weight-loss programs and natural products; • Benefit provided for medically necessary/noncosmetic implants.

Delta Dental Two plan options • No waiting periods outside of orthodontia; • Expansive network of Delta Dental PPO dentists; • No ID card required to receive services and no claim forms to file – PPO dentists file the claim; • No deductible charged when using in-network; • Out-of-network services provided.

FEP BlueDental Two plan options • No deductible for preventive, diagnostic, intermediate or major services under either option innetwork; • Out-of-network – High option has a $50 deductible, and Standard option has a $75 deductible; • Under both options, preventive and diagnostic services are paid in full when services are provided by in-network dentists; • Annual maximum – High option, $15,000 in-network; $3,000 out-of-network; • Annual maximum – Standard option, $1,500 in-network; $750 out-of-network; • Orthodontia – Standard option has a 12-month waiting period; High option has no waiting period; adult orthodontia is offered under the plan.

GEHA Two plan options • Orthodontia covered after 12-month waiting period with no age limitation; • Under Standard option, the per person lifetime maximum on covered orthodontia services is $2,500; • Members enrolled in GEHA’s dental plan options will receive the same association benefits as other GEHA plan members, including hearing and vision discounts, at no additional cost; • In addition to in-network benefits, offers out-of-network benefits based on the American Dental Association fee schedule, using the same payment percentages as for in-network benefits, even in areas where access is adequate; • Benefit provided for medically necessary/noncosmetic implants.

MetLife Two plan options • In 2016, the High option maximum for nonorthodonic services increases to $25,000 per year; • No waiting period for orthodontia ($2,000 in-network per person lifetime maximum on covered orthodontia services under Standard option; $3,500 per person lifetime maximum under High option); • Adult orthodontia is available for the High option only with a lifetime maximum of $1,500; • Out-of-network benefit (there is a deductible for both the Standard and the High options’ out-ofnetwork services); • Benefit provided for medically necessary/noncosmetic implants.

United Concordia Single High option plan • No deductible;

METLIFE FEDERAL DENTAL

BIG NETWORK. BIGGER SAVINGS. Enroll by December 14.

With the MetLife Federal Dental Plan, Annuitants and Federal employees can choose a dental plan that offers MORE ...

MORE SAVINGS* • Big discounts with in-network dentists • No out-of-pocket costs for in-network cleanings, X-rays and exams** • Discounts apply on all services, even if the service is not covered MORE DENTISTS • One of the nation’s largest networks • Over 300,000 dentist locations MORE COVERAGE • New! $25,000 annual maximum per person per year on the high option • Covered services include services you may need such as periodontal services, implants and crowns

TO ENROLL Call 1-877-888-FEDS or visit: www.BENEFEDS.com For more information visit FEDERALDENTAL.METLIFE.COM * Savings from enrolling in a dental benefits plan will depend on various factors, including plan design and premiums, how often participants visit the dentist and the cost of services rendered. ** Subject to frequency limitation.

Like most group benefit programs, benefit programs offered by MetLife and its affiliates contain certain exclusions, exceptions, reductions, limitations, waiting periods, and terms for keeping them in force.

Please contact MetLife or your plan administrator for costs and complete details.

1508-223464 CS L0915438017[exp1116][All States][DC,GU,MP,PR,VI] © 2015 Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, New York, NY 10166. PEANUTS © 2015 Peanuts Worldwide LLC

Open Season Report

• Orthodontia covered after 12-month waiting period for all members ($3,000 per person lifetime maximum on covered orthodontia services); • Coverage for certain implant prosthetics and resin crowns and an annual maximum of $10,000; • Out-of-network benefit at a lower percentage rate.

Dental Plans / Regional Plans

Dominion Dental Services, Inc. Service Area: Mid-Atlantic Region, including the District of Columbia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Delaware, most of Virginia and southern New Jersey.

Two dental health maintenance organization (HMO)

options, Select Standard and Select High • The only dental HMO plan offered in the FEDVIP program; • No maximum dollar limits, waiting periods or deductibles; • Covered benefits include cleanings, fillings, endodontics, periodontics, crowns and bridges, implants and orthodontics for adults and children; • Predetermined fees (fixed copayments); • Access to one of the largest dental HMO networks in the MidAtlantic.

EmblemHealth (formerly GHI) Service Area: All of New York state and some ZIP codes in the states of Pennsylvania, Connecti-

new face of eye health Your vision is key to a full and enjoyable life.

That’s why we make eye care affordable and convenient.

An award-winner for quality and satisfaction, UnitedHealthcare Vision offers budget-friendly plans, an easy-to-access large network–plus standard photochromic lenses (like Transitions®) at no additional copay.

Focus on your eye health. Sign up during open season. (Nov. 9-Dec. 14) www.benefeds.com 1-877-888-3337

www.myuhcvision.com/fedvip | 1-866-249-1999 UnitedHealthcare Vision® coverage provided by or through UnitedHealthcare Insurance Company, located in Hartford, Connecticut, or its affiliates. Administrative services provided by Spectera, Inc., United HealthCare Services, Inc. or their affiliates. This policy has exclusions, limitations and terms under which the policy may be continued in force or discontinued. For costs and complete details of the coverage contact UnitedHealthcare Insurance Company.

52

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cut and New Jersey.

• 100 percent coverage for all in-network dental services; • Out-of-network benefit, even in areas that meet access, that pays benefits up to a scheduled maximum; • Orthodontia covered after a 12-month waiting period for adults and dependent children ($2,000 per person lifetime maximum on covered orthodontia services); • Nonorthodontia annual maximum is $5,000; • Annual maximum rollover feature.

Humana Service Area: All of Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, DC, Florida, Georgia, Il-

2016 premiums - Nationwide Dental plan6 Plan Name Rating Self Only Self Plus One Region* biweekly | monthly biweekly | monthly

KEY: Employees pay biweekly Annuitants pay monthly self and Family biweekly | monthly

AETNA PPO

High

1 2 3 4 5

$14.09 | $30.53 $15.53 | $33.65 $16.52 | $35.79 $18.22 | $39.48 $19.79 | $42.88

$28.20 | $61.10 $31.05 | $67.28 $33.05 | $71.61 $36.46 | $79.00 $39.60 | $85.80

$42.29 | $91.63 $46.57 | $100.90 $49.56 | $107.38 $54.68 | $118.47 $59.39 | $128.68

Delta Dental PPO

Standard

1 2 3 4 5

$8.74 | $18.94 $9.52 | $20.63 $10.27 | $22.25 $10.83 | $23.47 $12.37 | $26.80

$17.48 | $37.87 $19.05 | $41.28 $20.53 | $44.48 $21.64 | $46.89 $24.74 | $53.60

$26.22 | $56.81 $28.57 | $61.90 $30.81 | $66.76 $32.47 | $70.35 $37.11 | $80.41

High

1 2 3 4 5

$16.72 | $36.23 $18.34 | $39.74 $20.11 | $43.57 $21.39 | $46.35 $24.88 | $53.91

$33.44 | $72.45 $36.67 | $79.45 $40.22 | $87.14 $42.79 | $92.71 $49.77 | $107.84

$50.16 | $108.68 $55.01 | $119.19 $60.33 | $130.72 $64.19 | $139.08 $74.65 | $161.74

FEp Blue Dental PPO

Standard

1 2 3 4 5

$9.70 | $21.02 $11.03 | $23.90 $12.22 | $26.48 $12.89 | $27.93 $14.26 | $30.90

$19.41 | $42.06 $22.05 | $47.78 $24.44 | $52.95 $25.78 | $55.86 $28.51 | $61.77

$29.11 | $63.07 $33.08 | $71.67 $36.66 | $79.43 $38.67 | $83.79 $42.77 | $92.67

High

1 2 3 4 5

$17.34 | $37.57 $19.73 | $42.75 $21.86 | $47.36 $23.10 | $50.05 $25.54 | $55.34

$34.69 | $75.16 $39.46 | $85.50 $43.73 | $94.75 $46.19 | $100.08 $51.09 | $110.70

$52.03 | $112.73 $59.19 | $128.25 $65.59 | $142.11 $69.29 | $150.13 $76.63 | $166.03

Standard

1 2 3 4 5

$9.03 | $19.57 $9.92 | $21.49 $11.27 | $24.42 $12.16 | $26.35 $13.50 | $29.25

$18.07 | $39.15 $19.85 | $43.01 $22.53 | $48.82 $24.32 | $52.69 $27.01 | $58.52

$27.12 | $58.76 $29.77 | $64.50 $33.79 | $73.21 $36.48 | $79.04 $40.50 | $87.75

High

1 2 3 4 5

$15.58 | $33.76 $17.13 | $37.12 $19.45 | $42.14 $21.00 | $45.50 $23.32 | $50.53

$31.17 | $67.54 $34.27 | $74.25 $38.92 | $84.33 $42.00 | $91.00 $46.67 | $101.12

$46.76 | $101.31 $51.45 | $111.48 $58.36 | $126.45 $63.04 | $136.59 $70.02 | $151.71

Standard

1 2 3 4 5

$9.22 | $19.98 $9.99 | $21.65 $11.10 | $24.05 $12.31 | $26.67 $13.53 | $29.32

$18.44 | $39.95 $19.99 | $43.31 $22.19 | $48.08 $24.62 | $53.34 $27.07 | $58.65

$27.67 | $59.95 $29.98 | $64.96 $33.29 | $72.13 $36.93 | $80.02 $40.60 | $87.97

High

1 2 3 4 5

$17.07 | $36.99 $19.11 | $41.41 $20.82 | $45.11 $22.55 | $48.86 $25.23 | $54.67

$34.14 | $73.97 $38.21 | $82.79 $41.64 | $90.22 $45.09 | $97.70 $50.46 | $109.33

$51.22 | $110.98 $57.32 | $124.19 $62.46 | $135.33 $67.64 | $146.55 $75.70 | $164.02

$13.74 | $29.77 $15.42 | $33.41 $17.11 | $37.07 $18.81 | $40.76 $20.50 | $44.42

$27.48 | $59.54 $30.86 | $66.86 $34.22 | $74.14 $37.61 | $81.49 $40.99 | $88.81

$41.20 | $89.27 $46.27 | $100.25 $51.35 | $111.26 $56.42 | $122.24 $61.47 | $133.19

GEHA PPO

metlife PPO

United Concordia PPO

High

1 2 3 4 5

* Rating regions for each carrier are not the same for all plans w w w. n a r f e . o r g

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53

Open Season Report

linois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, Mississippi, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia, and most of Maryland • No rate increase for 2016; • No annual deductible; • Coverage for dental implants; • Fixed co-payments for each service, regardless of the charge; • No waiting period for orthodontia; • Per person annual maximum benefit, $15,000.

Triple-S Salud Service Area: Puerto Rico • Orthodontia covered with a 50 percent coinsurance after a 12-month waiting period for dependents up to age 22 ($2,000 per person lifetime maximum on covered orthodontia services); • No out-of-network benefit in areas that meet access standards.

Vision plans

There are four vision plans. See the chart below for premiums.

Aetna Vision • Maximum in-network annual

benefit is $10,000; • Lower co-pays for in-network services, including none for lens, $20 for standard progressive lens, $40-65 per tier for premium progressive lens; • Frame allowance increased to $200; • In- and out-of-network benefits; • No deductible in the voluntary plan; • Extra discounts at participating providers on balances over the allowance for frames and conventional contacts, LASIK laser surgery, retinal imaging and second pairs of eyeglasses.

FEP BlueVision (Blue Cross/ Blue Shield) • Flat-rate reimbursement in areas without adequate access; • Low-vision services offered; • Discounts on laser vision correction; • Unconditional breakage warranty to repair or replace any plan frame or lens(es) for a period of one year from the date of delivery; • Coverage for elective contact lenses and medically necessary contact lenses;

2016 premiums - Nationwide vision PLAN6

• High option provides an outof-network benefit based on a fee schedule; • No out-of-network benefits under Standard option.

UnitedHealthcare Vision Plan • Will pay out-of-network, limited access and international benefits based on a published fee schedule; • Low-vision services offered; • Discounts on laser vision correction; • Prosthetic eye replacement on a lifetime maximum basis; • Coverage for elective contact lenses and medically necessary contact lenses.

VSP (Vision Service Plan) • Will pay out-of-network international benefits based on a published fee schedule; • Offers a WellVision Exam designed to detect conditions such as diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, glaucoma and macular degeneration; • Guaranteed pricing on retinal screening; • Discounts on laser vision correction.

KEY: Employees pay biweekly Annuitants pay monthly

Plan Name Self Only Self Plus One

biweekly | monthly biweekly | monthly AETNA vision Standard $3.28 | $7.11 $6.55 | $14.19 High $5.95| $12.89 $11.90 | $25.78

54

self and Family biweekly | monthly $9.84 | $21.32 $17.85 | $38.68

FEP BlueVision Standard High

$3.83 | $8.30 $5.11 | $11.07

$7.66 | $16.60 $10.23 | $22.17

$11.48 | $24.87 $15.34 | $33.24

UnitedHealthcare Vision Plan Standard High

$2.91 | $6.31 $4.26 | $9.23

$5.69 | $12.33 $8.30 | $17.98

$8.47 | $18.35 $12.36 | $26.78

VSP (vision Service Plan ) Standard High

$3.67 | $7.95 $6.34 | $13.74

$7.33 | $15.88 $12.69 | $27.50

$11.01 | $23.86 $19.04 | $41.25

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A NETWORK DENTIST IS ON AVERAGE LESS THAN TWO MILES AWAY. HONEST. JOIN A NETWORK WITH 107,000 DENTISTS.

United Concordia Dental hosts one of America’s first FEDVIP dental plans. This year our legacy of providing federal employees great dental insurance continues with affordable rates, an extensive network covering over 331,000 locations and a $10,000 annual maximum.

FEDVIP OPEN SEASON: NOVEMBER 9 – DECEMBER 14, 2015 ADV-0219-0915

|

uccifedvip.com

Open Season Report

2016 FSAFeds

E

ligible federal employees can enroll in FSAFEDS, the federal government’s flexible spending program, each year during the Federal Benefits Open Season. Under the program, employees contribute money from their salary into an FSAFEDS account before taxes are withheld and use it to get reimbursed for out-of-pocket health care and dependent care expenses.

The federal government offers three types of FSAFED accounts: • Health Care Flexible Spending Account, used to pay for qualified medical costs and health care expenses that are not paid by an employee’s Federal Employees Health Benefits Program (FEHBP)

plan or any other insurance.

• Limited Expense Health Care Flexible Spending Account, only available to employees who enroll in an FEHBP High Deductible Health Plan with a Health Savings Account, and limited to dental and vision care services/products.

• Dependent Care (Day Care) Flexible Spending Account, used to pay for eligible dependent care expenses such as child care.

Open Season FSAFEDS enrollments are effective January 1, 2016. Current enrollees must enroll each year to continue participating in FSAFEDS. Federal retirees are not eligible for FSAFEDS. For participants enrolled in a

health care or limited expense health care account in or after 2015: • The minimum election for all accounts is $100.

• The ability to carry over funds has been adopted for health care and limited expense health care FSAs. If employees are enrolled in one of these FSAs next year, they will be able to bring up to $500 of unspent funds from 2016 into 2017. These funds can be used to reimburse eligible expenses incurred in 2017. Employees must re-enroll for the 2017 benefit period to be eligible for the carry-over. (This carry-over ability does not affect dependent care FSAs.)

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Managing Money

Money-enhancing moves to make at year’s end

H

oliday preparations are in full swing, and for all of us who are wrapped up (no pun intended) in the season’s festivities, here are a few money-

enhancing moves to consider before ringing in the New Year: 1. Maximize your retirement savings. We’re provided limited tax-advantaged opportunities to save for retirement. If you are financially able, contribute the maximum allowable amounts to all of your retirement plans. For 2015, you may contribute up to $18,000 to the Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) if you are under age 50, and $24,000 if you are 50 or older. If you are not on pace to hit these limits, take the appropriate measures now so you are able to deposit as much as you can by year’s end.

If cash flow is tight, at least contribute enough to maximize the agency matching contributions. If you are an active employee under the Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS), you receive agency matching contributions up to the first 5 percent of pay (dollar for dollar on the first 3 percent and 50 cents on the dollar on the next 2 percent) that you contribute to the TSP. In addition to the TSP, you may be eligible to contribute up to $5,500 if you are under age 50 and $6,500 if you are

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50 or older to a deductible traditional IRA or Roth IRA. If your income prohibits you from making a deductible traditional IRA contribution, it may be possible to make a nondeductible contribution and subsequently convert it to a Roth IRA tax free.

2. Take Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs). If you are over age 70½, you must take required minimum distributions (RMDs) from your tax-deferred retirement plans, such as the TSP and traditional IRAs, by December 31. Failing to do so may result in a penalty of up to 50 percent of your RMD. If you turned 70½ this year, you have until April 1, 2016, to take your first RMD. However, it may be better to take it this year rather than delay it until next year, because you would then be required to take two distributions in 2016, which may push you into a higher tax bracket.

On the other hand, if you are expecting less income in 2016, it may make sense to

By Mark A. Keen,

CFP®

delay taking your first RMD. Consider your financial circumstances and options, and act accordingly.

3. Give to others. If you itemize, charitable donations are an excellent way to reduce taxable income. Clean out that garage now, and make sure your donations are completed

by December 31 in order to claim the deduction on your 2015 return. Don’t forget to get receipts for those noncash donations.

If you normally write large checks to charities, consider donating appreciated securities instead. You still get the full charitable deduction, and the charity gets the full value of the security since they’re exempt from taxes (including capital gains tax). Should you still want to own the security; buy it back, and you’ll now have a higher tax basis, which means you will have less capital gains tax to pay if you do sell it in the future. A win-win.

4. Rebalance your portfolio. Market swings can throw your portfolio’s mix of stocks and bonds out of balance. Compare your portfolio’s current asset allocation with that of a diversified allocation appropriate for your circumstances and make the necessary adjustments.

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

5. Harvest losses. Depending on your circumstances, tax-loss harvesting may provide a silver lining to the recent market correction.

While there are a number of rules of which to be aware, the general principle is rather simple: Sell investments that have lost value, and use those capital losses to offset capital gains. Don’t have any capital gains to offset? You can write off up to $3,000 of income with capital losses

each year, carrying forward unused losses to the next year.

6. Convert to a Roth IRA. Even if you’re not eligible to make a Roth IRA contribution, you may be able to convert a traditional IRA, or other tax-deferred retirement accounts, to a Roth IRA. Now is a great time to look into this as you should have a good handle on what your taxable income is for the year and can use that information to convert a specific amount that won’t bump you into the next tax bracket or cause other adverse consequences.

Talk with your financial or tax adviser to see if these end-of-year strategies will benefit you.

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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59

The Informed Citizen

Quick State-by-state Guide to 2016 elections

P

residential delegate selection and state primary elections will occur separately in 33 states and simultaneously in 17. Fifteen states, most famously Iowa, use party caucuses to select presidential convention delegates. Thirty-five employ primaries. In Nebraska, Democrats plan March caucuses; Republicans conduct a May primary. In 10 additional states, Republicans and Democrats use different dates to elect or select delegates. The chart below packs state-by-state information into a small space by using colors and numbers. An example follows:

Alaska (AK) holds caucuses to select delegates to the presidential nominating conventions of the two major parties. Alaska Republicans (R) will caucus March 1, Democrats (D) March 26.

State

Presidential

Caucus/ state congress

Primary primary SEn / House Governor

Al 3/1 Ak r 3/1, d 3/26 Az 3/22 Ar 3/1 Ca 6/7 Co R 3/1, D 3/1 Ct 4/26 De 4/26 DC r 6/14, d 3/12 Fl 3/15 Ga 3/1 Hi r 3/8, D 3/26 Id r 3/8, D 3/22 Il 3/15 In 5/3 Ia r 2/1, D 2/1 Ks R 3/5, D 3/5 Ky R 3/5, D 5/17 La 3/5 Me r 3/5, D 3/6 Md 4/26 Ma 3/1 Mi 3/8 Mn r 3/1, D 3/1 Ms 3/8 Mo 3/15

60

Alaska’s state primary is Tuesday, August 16. In the November 8 General Election, Alaska will conduct a Senate election for a seat now held by a Republican.

There is NO gubernatorial elec-

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3/1 8/16 8/30 3/1 6/7 6/28 8/9 9/13 6/14 8/30 5/24 8/13 5/17 3/15 5/3 6/7 8/2 5/17 11/8 6/14 4/26 9/20 8/2 8/9 3/8 8/2

Yes / 7 Yes / 1 Yes / 9 Yes / 4 open / 53 Yes / 7 Yes / 5 no / 1 / 1 open / 27 Yes / 14 Yes / 2 Yes / 2 Yes / 18 open / 9 yes / 4 Yes / 4 Yes / 6 Yes / 6 no / 2 open / 8 no / 9 no / 14 no / 8 no / 4 Yes / 8

no no no no no no no open

no no no no no yes no no no no no no no no no no yes

state upper/ lower 20 / 40 30 / 60 35 / 100 40 / 80 35 / 65 36 / 151 21 / 41 40 / 120 56 / 180 25 / 51 35 / 70 59 / 118 50 / 100 50 / 100 40 / 125 38 / 100 35 / 151 40 / 160 / 110 67 / 134 34 / 163

State Mt Ne Nv NH NJ NM NY NC ND Oh Ok Or Pa RI SC SD Tn Tx Ut Vt Va Wa WV Wi Wy

By Christopher Farrell, senior analyst

tion, but 20 legislators in the upper chamber and 40 in the lower will be on the ballot. These numbers are in RED to denote the current Republican majority.

Elections without an incumbent seeking re-election are denoted OPEN or OPEN depending on whether the incumbent is a Republican or Democrat.

Nominating Conventions The Republican National Committee will hold its convention in Cleveland, OH, July 18-21. The Democratic National Committee will convene in Philadelphia, PA, July 25-29.

Presidential

Caucus/ state congress

Primary primary SEn / House Governor 6/7 R 5/10, D 3/5 r 2/23, D 2/20 2/9 6/7 6/7 4/19 3/15 r 3/1, d 6/7 3/15 3/1 5/17 4/26 4/26 r 2/20, d 2/27 6/7 3/1 3/1 R 3/22, d 3/22 3/1 3/1 r 5/24, D 3/26 5/10 4/5 r 3/1, D 4/9

6/7 5/10 6/14 9/13 6/7 6/7 6/28 5/3 6/14 3/15 6/28 5/17 4/26 9/13 6/14 6/7 8/4 3/1 6/28 8/9 6/14 8/2 5/10 8/9 8/16

no / 1 yes / 3 open / 4 Yes / 2 no / 12 no / 3 Yes / 27 Yes / 13 Yes / 1 Yes / 16 Yes / 5 Yes / 5 Yes / 18 no / 2 Yes / 7 Yes / 1 no / 9 no / 36 Yes / 4 Yes / 1 no / 11 yes / 10 no / 3 yes / 8 no / 1

yes no no open no no no yes open no no yes no no no no no no yes open no yes open no no

state upper/ lower 50 / 100 49 / 21 / 42 24 / 400 40 / 70 63 / 150 50 / 120 47 / 94 33 / 99 48 / 101 30 / 60 50 / 203 38 / 75 46 / 124 35 / 70 33 / 99 31 / 150 29 / 75 30 / 150 49 / 98 34 / 100 33 / 99 30 / 60

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Alzheimer’s Update

Your Donations fund four new studies

E

ach year, the NARFE-Alzheimer’s National Committee meets and decides which research projects will be awarded grants from the NARFE-Alzheimer’s Research

Fund. In fiscal year 2015, NARFE members donated $479,208 to the Fund. The committee awarded four grants, totaling $479,208, at the Alzheimer’s Association headquarters in Chicago in September. NARFE has awarded a total of 67 research grants since the program began in 1985. This year’s grants go to: • Gail Musen, Ph.D., Joslin Diabetes Center (Boston, MA), $250,000 over three years, “Type 2 Diabetes and Risk for Alzheimer’s Disease: Effect of Exercise.” Research has shown that having type 2 diabetes may increase an individual’s risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease.

Recent evidence has shown that cardiovascular health with physical exercise may be effective in improving cognitive function and reducing the risk of dementia. Musen and colleagues will explore the effects of eight weeks of moderate aerobic exercise on people with type 2 diabetes. This could lead to a non-pharmacological therapy for both diabetes and Alzheimer’s disease.

• Henrietta M. Nielsen, Ph.D., Mayo Clinic Jacksonville (Jacksonville, FL), $100,000 over two years, “Apolipoprotein E Levels: A RiskDeterminant for Neurodegenerative Disease.” A variation of the apolipoprotein E gene known as (APOE-e4) has been shown to in-

62

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crease the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease and dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB). Nielsen and colleagues have developed a way to measure apolipoprotein E levels in samples of blood and cerebrospinal fluid (fluid that surrounds nerve cells in the brain).

The results of this study will help determine whether levels of apolipoprotein E can predict which individuals are at risk for developing Alzheimer’s; the severity of the disease; or possible differences between dementias, such as Alzheimer’s or DLB. • Min Shi, Ph.D., University of Washington (Seattle, WA), $99,975 over two years, “Tau Efflux via Exosomes and Potential Plasma Biomarker of Alzheimer’s Disease.” In Alzheimer’s disease, tau molecules accumulate into toxic neurofibrillary tangles, which can hinder nerve cell communication and lead to nerve cell death. One way in which nerve cells remove tau buildup is by transporting it out of the cell using specialized

By Merv Stuckey, NARFE-alzheimer’s Chair

“cargo-carrying” compartments called exosomes. The researchers will study Alzheimer’s-like mice to determine if the clearance of tau from the brain via exosomes is impaired, resulting in tau accumulation and subsequent nerve cell damage. This study could lead to an inexpensive blood test for diagnosing Alzheimer’s at its earliest stages.

• Eric Tanifum, Ph.D., Baylor College of Medicine (Houston, TX), $99,940 over two years (total awarded by NARFE is $29,233), “Probing Blood-Brain Barrier Integrity in APP/PSEN1 Mice by 19F MRI.” The blood-brain barrier (BBB) is a layer of cells that surrounds the brain and protects it from harmful molecules circulating in the blood. Research has found that as people age, this layer may break down and become “leaky.”

Such damage may promote brain changes characteristic of Alzheimer’s disease. Tanifum and colleagues plan to develop and test, on Alzheimer’s-like mice, a brain imaging technique known as fluorine-19 magnetic resonance imaging (19F MRI), which can highlight damage to the BBB. This could lead to a noninvasive procedure for determining who is at risk for Alzheimer’s. merv stuckey is chair of the NARFEAlzheimer’s National Committee. email: narferoadrunner@comcast.net. This column appears quarterly.

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oct

G FUND

F FUND

C FUND

S FUND

I FUND

1 Month

0.17%

0.02%

8.45%

5.61%

7.07%

YTD

1.68%

1.46%

2.76%

-0.71%

2.43%

1 year

2.04%

2.42%

5.28%

1.61%

-1.30%

3 year*

2.04%

2.12%

16.27%

15.58%

8.08%

5 year*

2.04%

3.34%

14.39%

13.41%

4.99%

10 year*

2.99%

4.94%

7.90%

8.82%

4.22%

L INCOME

L 2020

L 2030

L 2040

L 2050

1 Month

1.64%

3.72%

4.88%

5.58%

6.31%

YTD

1.96%

2.12%

2.19%

2.13%

2.10%

1 Year

2.48%

2.66%

2.80%

2.80%

2.71%

3 year*

4.50%

8.28%

9.97%

11.17%

12.23%

5 year*

4.22%

7.41%

8.76%

9.70%

N/A

oct

*Annualized

*Annualized

THIS CHART is provided as a service to NARFE members who enrolled in the Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) 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. 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.)

OPM Retirement Claims Processing status

After two rough months, the C, S and I Funds all had their best monthly performance in years in October. Materials, energy and technology led the way, and the funds benefited from talk of increased stimulus in Europe and a rate cut in China.

The Federal Reserve did not raise rates in October; however, increased expectations of a hike in December pushed yields up 10 basis points, which cut into the return of the F Fund.

The L Funds performed as expected and now have positive returns for the year to date.

—BY Ravindra Deo, Chief Investment Officer, Thrift Savings Plan

No cola in 2016

T

here will be no cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) in civilian federal and military annuities and Social Security benefits in 2016.

This was confirmed when the September Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) was averaged with the indices of July and August and compared with the 2014 thirdquarter average of 234.242. (See story, p. 8.)

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. September’s index is 1.20 percent higher than the December 2014 base index of 229.909.

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

2015

For the Record

stock Funds trend up in October; bond fund reacts to fed

Thrift savings Plan fund returns

Monthly % Change

% Change from 234.242

New Claims Received

Claims Processed

Inventory

% Processed in 60 days or less

October 2014

233.229

-0.40

-0.43

November

231.551

-0.72

-1.15

april

6,292

8,660

18,226

72.6%

December

229.909

-0.71

-1.85

May

7,845

10,697

15,374

68.0%

January 2015

228.294

-0.70

-2.54

229.421

+0.50

-2.06

June

6,920

7,783

14,511

68.7%

February

juLY

9,862

7,918

16,455

69.0%

March

231.055

+0.71

-1.36

69.6%

April

231.520

+0.20

-1.16

May

232.908

+0.60

-0.57

June

233.804

+0.38

-0.19

July

233.806

0.00

-0.19

August

233.366

-0.19

-0.37

September

232.661

-0.30

-0.67

august

7,341

september

6,300

7,446 7,944

16,350 14,706

70.1%

THIS CHART tracks progress by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) in reducing its backlog of retirement claims. For data going back to October 2013, and for an update of the number of new retirement cases OPM receives each month by agency and the percent of cases with errors that it returns to those agencies, go to www.opm. gov/retirement-services/.

64

CPI-W

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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: $12 Million Fund National Committee Chair Card Number: Merv Stuckey, 2272 E. Buster Mountain Dr. Expiration Date: (mm)/ (yy) Oro Valley, AZ 85755-4709 *Total as of September 30, 2015 3-Digit Security Code: 100% of all contributed funds go to Name: (please print) Email: narferoadrunner@comcast.net

$11,480,801* 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.

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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

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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

/

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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

Help is available!

congrats, NARFE Scholars!

N

ARFE is proud to announce the 2015 NARFE Scholarship winners and their NARFE sponsors. The list appears on pp. 6768. Each student received a certificate and a $1,000 check for the 2015-16 school year. Winners are listed by their sponsor’s region of residence.

NARFE extends special thanks to the members from NARFE’s 10 regions who served on the judging

teams and to the staff of the Federal Employee Education & Assistance Fund, which administers this program for NARFE. Applications for the 2016 NARFE Scholarship Program will be published in the February and March issues of narfe magazine and will be available at www.narfe.org beginning in February.

To make a tax-deductible dona-

Give the GIFT of NARFE Membership Share NARFE this Holiday Season!

What does a Gift Membership include?

All the benefits afforded NARFE members.

NARFE members affected by the severe storms and flooding in South Carolina in early October may be eligible for a grant from the NARFE Disaster Fund. Administered by the Federal Employee Education & Assistance Fund (FEEA), the program provides cash grants ($500 maximum per grant per household) to members in good standing who have been injured, incurred property loss or have other needs during and after a declared natural disaster. Applications are available on the NARFE website, www.narfe.org; by calling FEEA, 800-338-0755; or by emailing rmartillaro@feea.org. To donate to the NARFE Disaster Fund, please see the coupon on p. 65.

tion to the NARFE Scholarship Program, please see the coupon on p. 65.

Choose Your Membership Type

All NARFE members receive narfe magazine, access to federal benefits specialists, NARFE’s News Watch, legislative Hotline, and exclusive member discounts, along with professional lobbyists advocating on your behalf.

Members choose one of two chapter options.

q Local Chapter Under the direction of local leadership, chapters offer regular meetings often with invited speakers, as well as networking, volunteer and grass-roots lobbying opportunities. Annual chapter dues, determined by the locality, are charged in subsequent years.

Chapter Affiliation: Chapter # __ __ __ __ OR

FROM:

q eNARFE

Sponsor NARFE. _________________________________________ Membership ID No. ______________________________________

TO: Recipient Name _________________________________________ Address ________________________________________________

The eNARFE Chapter provides a place for members to keep active in and informed about the federal community without the formality of a local chapter. Advocacy is encouraged within the e-community, and members may join with local groups for grass-roots participation. There are no additional dues for the eNARFE Chapter.

TOTAL DUES $40 First-Year Dues X __________ = __________ Per Person # Enrolling Total Dues

Apt./Unit _______________________________________________ City ______________________________ State ___ ZIP _________ Phone ( _______ ) _______________________________________ Email __________________________________________________ q Active Federal Employee q Active Federal Employee Spouse q Annuitant q Annuitant Spouse q Survivor Annuitant

MAIL THIS APPLICATION TO: NARFE / Recruitment and Retention 606 N. Washington St. / Alexandria, VA 22314-1914

66

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PAYMENT OPTIONS q Check, Money Order or Bill Pay (Payable to NARFE) q Charge my:

q MasterCard q VISA q Discover q American Express

Card No. _______________________________________________ Expiration Date _____ /_________ mm yyyy Name on Card ___________________________________________ Signature _________________________________ Date _______

2015 NARFE Scholarship Winners Christopher Romano Westfield, NJ Lafayette College Son of Robert Romano, Ch. 1066 - NJ

Rebecca Luebeck Richmond, TX University of Texas Austin Granddaughter of Thomas De Cou, Ch. 12 - MI

Madison Power Mandeville, LA Louisiana State University Daughter of Kevin Power, Ch. 2363 - LA

Region III

Ryan Wenzel Sullivan, WI University of Wisconsin Madison Grandson of Catherine Wenzel, Ch. 490 - WI

Aaron Sheppard Benton, LA Louisiana Tech University Grandson of Norma Evans, Ch. 137 - LA

Kayla Geaney Wakefield, MA Northeastern University Granddaughter of Eileen Puglielli, Ch. 434 - MA

Darius Hunt Philadelphia, MS Mississippi State University Son of Ed Hunt, Jr., Ch. 1251 - MS

Region V

William Loughlin Massapequa, NY State University of New York Stony Brook Grandson of Marie Ryan, Ch. 471 - NY

Zachary Mixon Starkville, MS Mississippi State University Son of Melissa Mixon, Ch. 968 - MS

Region I

Daniel Aharon Woodmere, NY Yeshiva University Grandson of Allan Arnold, Ch. 1203 - NY Emily Beach Georgetown, TX University of Texas Granddaughter of Chris Andersen, Ch. 1294 - NY

David Nieters Burnt Hills, NY Clarkson University Grandson of Thomas Sitnik, Ch. 200 - NY Addy Thomas Pensacola, FL Rice University Granddaughter of James Woody, Ch. 1355 - NY

Region II

John Barrett Lewes, DE West Virginia University Son of John Barrett, Ch. 2363 - DE Hannah Gerardy Dunkirk, MD Kansas State University Daughter of Kathy Gerardy, Ch. 2363 - MD

Cody Adams Luverne, AL Auburn University Grandson of Walter King, Ch. 2363 - AL

John Moreland Greer, SC Clemson University Grandson of Linda Hadala, Ch. 1501 - MS John Orr Birmingham, AL University of Alabama Grandson of Robert Orr, Ch. 443 - AL Rebecca Rockecharlie Glen Allen, VA Virginia Polytech Institute and State University Granddaughter of Paul Caron, Ch. 717 - FL

Region IV

Alyssa Anglin Hammond, IN Indiana Univer. Bloomington Granddaughter of Judith Buksa, Ch. 546 - IN

Christy Hamilton Summersville, WV West Virginia University Granddaughter of Charles Hamilton, Ch. 2094 - PA

Gregory Gershkowitz Strongsville, OH Ohio State University Grandson of Bernard Sater, Ch. 470 - OH

Kyle McIlroy Downingtown, PA Pennsylvania State University Grandson of James Braughler, Ch. 1575 - PA

Joshua Kirby Springfield, IL University of Illinois Champaign-Urbana Grandson of Owen Kirby, Ch. 348 - IL

Kara Ritterpusch Pasadena, MD University of NC Chapel Hill Granddaughter of Judith Schall, Ch. 2363 - MD

Logan Kitchen Beaver Dam, WI Indiana Purdue University Son of Diane Kitchen, Ch. 2363 - WI

Carley Allen Nixa, MO Missouri State University Daughter of Bobby Allen, Ch. 11 - MO Ashlyn Breckenridge Monroe, IA Iowa State University Granddaughter of Jane Ann Berry, Ch. 791 - IA Joshua Burris Mountain Grove, MO Missouri University of Science & Technology Grandson of Lyman Burris, Ch. 313 - MO Sophia Petrangelo Mendota Heights, MN University of St. Thomas Granddaughter of Frederick Lambrecht, Ch. 140 - MN Jacey Redman Iowa Falls, IA Drake University Granddaughter of Linda Krukow, Ch. 170 - IA Osta Thomson Kentwood, MI Grand Valley State University Granddaughter of Ron Timperley, Ch. 899 - SD

Region VI

Jagannath Kandadai Plano, TX University of Texas Son of Ramakrishna Kandadai, Ch. 2363 - TX Lindsey McCowan Mesquite, TX Stephen F. Austin State University Granddaughter of Patricia Gurson, Ch. 122 - TX Nathan Olson Austin, TX University of Texas Austin Son of Mark Olson, Ch. 228 - TX

Blake Tepera Cypress, TX Texas A&M University Grandson of Dennis Jones, Ch. 228 - TX

Region VII

Alexandra Boor Indianapolis, IN Indiana University Granddaughter of Russell Boor, Ch. 2363 - NM Alexandria Carley Highlands Ranch, CO Brigham Young University Granddaughter of James Carley, Ch. 320 - UT Benjamin Pirtle Poulsbo, WA Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University Grandson of Dorothy Bush, Ch. 2339 - CO Wesley Powell Aurora, CO Montana State University Son of Paul Powell, Ch. 1072 - CO Sierra Volker Prescott, AZ University of Utah Granddaughter of Barbara Schwitters, Ch. 1505 - AZ Kendall Williams Ft. Morgan, CO Morgan Community College Granddaughter of Audrey Williams, Ch. 2363 - CO

Region VIII

Emily Gilman Goleta, CA Wheaton College Granddaughter of Gordon Gilman, Ch. 190 - CA Hunter Klein Oxnard, CA University of California Davis Grandson of Beatrice Loesch, Ch. 10 - CA

(Continued on p. 68) w w w. n a r f e . o r g

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NARFE News

2015 NARFE Scholarship Winners (Continued from p. 67)

Gabrielle Mark Honolulu, HI Chapman University Granddaughter of Buena Aquino, Ch. 570 - HI Joseph Oliver Fortuna, CA Humboldt State University Grandson of Melvin Munson, Ch. 2139 - CA Haley Petitt Oceanside, CA University of California Los Angeles Daughter of Andrew Petitt, Ch. 2363 - CA Andrew Phillippi Windsor, CA California Polytechnic San Luis Obispo Grandson of Kenneth Phillippi, Ch. 1077 - CA

Region IX

Joslyn Bryant Albany, OR University of Oregon Grandson of James Bryant, Ch. 1003 - OR Zachary Debar Laurel, MT Montana State University Grandson of Robert Debar, Ch. 459 - MT Conor Henson Portland, OR California Polytechnic San Luis Obispo Son of Colleen Henson, Ch. 29 - OR Claire Longsworth Montana City, MT Whitworth University Daughter of Steve Longsworth, Ch. 2363 - MT

Claudia MacPherson Portland, OR Villanova University Granddaughter of David Hillman, Ch. 29 - OR

Kelsey Day Munfordville, KY Western Kentucky University Granddaughter of Wanda Day, Ch. 1269 - KY

Evan Valencia La Canada, CA University of Colorado Boulder Grandson of Chuck Warner, Ch. 397 - OR

Eric Gidzinski Campbellsburg, KY University of Cincinnati Grandson of Joseph Brandt II, Ch. 1312 - NC

Region X

Erin Ansbro Salisbury, NC University of North Carolina Chapel Hill Daughter of Patricia Ansbro, Ch. 720 - NC Brent Cullen Virginia Beach, VA George Mason University Grandson of Charles Seamon, Ch. 1894 - NC

Silvia Sotolongo Durham, NC Amherst College Granddaughter of Mary Chrismon, Ch. 566 - NC Lauryn Vickers Durham, NC North Carolina Central University Granddaughter of Mary Vickers, Ch. 566 - NC

narfe Statement of Ownership, Management and Circulation 1.Publication Title: narfe 2.Publication Number: 4632-60 3.Filing Date: Oct. 1, 2015 4.Issue Frequency: Monthly 5.Number of Issues Published Annually: 12 6.Annual Subscription Price: $45 7.Address of Known Office of Publication: National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association, 606 N. Washington Street, Alexandria, VA 22314-1914 8.General Business Office of the Publisher: National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association, 606 N. Washington Street, Alexandria, VA 22314-1914 9.Names and Addresses of Publisher, Editor, and Managing Editor: Publisher: National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association, 606 N. Washington Street, Alexandria, VA 22314-1914 Editor: Margaret M. Carter, 606 N. Washington Street, Alexandria, VA 22314-1914 Managing Editor: Not Applicable 10.Owner: National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association, 606 N. Washington Street, Alexandria, VA 22314-1914 11.Known Bondholders, Mortgagees, and Other Security Holders Owning or Holding 1 Percent or More of Total Amount of Bonds, Mortgages or Other Securities: None 12.Tax Status: Has Not Changed During Preceding 12 Months 13.Publication Title: narfe 14.Issue Date for Circulation Data Below: October 2015 15.Extent and Nature of Circulation:

Average No. Copies Each Issue During Preceding 12 Months

No. Copies of Single Issue Published Nearest to Filing Date

A. Total Number of Copies (Net Press Run) 235,457 227,996 B. Paid Circulation 1.Mailed Outside-County Paid Subscriptions Stated on PS Form 3541 226,304 219,500 2.Mailed In-County Paid Subscriptions Stated on PS Form 3541 3.Paid Distribution Outside the Mails including Sales Through Dealers and Carriers, Street Vendors, Counter Sales, and Other Paid Distribution Ouside USPS 485 420 4.Paid Distribution by Other Classes of Mail Through the USPS 469 300 C. Total Paid Distribution 227,258 220,220 D. Free or Nominal Rate Distribution 1.Free or Nominal Rate Outside-County Copies included on PS Form 35410 1,608 1,477 2.Free or Nominal Rate In-County Copies included on PS Form 3541 3.Free or Nominal Rate Copies Mailed at Other Classes Through the USPS 6,004 5,799 4.Free or Nominal Rate Distribution Outside the Mail 2 E.Total Free or Nominal Rate Distribution 7,614 7,276 F.Total Distribution 234,872 227,496 G.Copies Not Distributed 585 500 H.TOTAL

235,457 227,996 I.Percent Paid and/or Requested Circulation 96.8 96.8 16.Publication of Statement of Ownership: December 2015 17.I certify that all information furnished on this form is true and complete.

Margaret M. Carter, Editor/Oct. 1, 2015

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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

If your future security is tied to federal retirement benefits — 1. Complete this application and return by mail with your payment. federal retirees, current employees, spouses, and individual 2. Join online at www.narfe.org. survivors — you should join NARFE. 3. Call 800-627-3394, Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. ET.

NARFE MEMBERSHIP APPLIC ATION

1Q5

q YES. I want to join NARFE.

I am a (check all that apply) q Active Federal Employee q Active Federal Employee Spouse q Annuitant q Annuitant Spouse q Survivor Annuitant

Street Address _____________________________________

Apt./Unit __________________________________________

q 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.

q Mr. q Mrs. q Miss q Ms.

Full Name _________________________________________

Choose Your Membership Type

All NARFE members receive narfe magazine, access to federal benefits specialists, NARFE’s News Watch, legislative Hotline, and exclusive member discounts, along with professional lobbyists advocating on your behalf. Members choose one of two chapter options.

q Local Chapter

Under the direction of local leadership, chapters offer regular meetings often with invited speakers, as well as networking, volunteer and grass-roots lobbying opportunities. Annual chapter dues, determined by the locality, are charged in subsequent years.

Chapter Affiliation: Chapter # __ __ __ __

OR

_____________________________

PAYMENT OPTIONS q Check, Money Order or Bill Pay (Payable to NARFE) q Bill me (NARFE membership will start when payment is received.) q Charge my: q MasterCard q VISA q Discover q American Express Card No. ____________________________________ Expiration Date _____ /_________ mm yyyy Name on Card ________________________________

q eNARFE

The eNARFE Chapter provides a place for members to keep active in and informed about the federal community without the formality of a local chapter. Advocacy is encouraged within the e-community, and members may join with local groups for grass-roots participation. There are no additional dues for the eNARFE Chapter.

TOTAL DUES $40 First-Year Dues X __________ = __________ Per Person # Enrolling Total Dues

Signature ____________________________________ Date ________________________________________ 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

Member Perks

SAVE MONEY WITH NARFE Perks NARFE appreciates your service, and so do businesses across the country.

Whether you are planning your next vacation or planning for retirement, members can save money on everyday purchases, thanks to our Affinity Partners.

It’s just one more way we’re able to say “thank you” for being a NARFE member. union puts members first by offering low-rate loans and a high-interest checking account. Members have access to 5,000+ shared branches and 56,000 surcharge-free ATMs.

finance and Legal

new

ID Shield 571-830-5489 www.legalshield.com/info/narfe LegalShield along with Kroll will monitor your identity from every angle, not just your Social Security number, credit cards and bank accounts. This takes the work required to restore your identity off your shoulders, placing it in the hands of a licensed fraud investigator.

NARFE members receive the discounted monthly rate of $8.95 for individuals or $17.95 for families when you sign up through the website above.

w

ne LegalShield 571-830-5489 www.legalshield.com/info/narfe Whether it’s big, small or somewhere in between, you have affordable legal help when you need it. With your legal plan, you or your family members can contact your law firm anytime you need legal advice or assistance.

NARFE members receive the discounted rate of $16.95 for individuals or $18.95 for families of 10 (two adults and up to 8 children) when you sign up through the website above.

InFirst Federal Credit Union 800-328-1500 www.infirstfcu.org As a member of NARFE, you are eligible to join InFirst Federal Credit Union, formerly NARFE Premier FCU, serving active and retired federal employees and their families since 1935. The credit 70

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insurance

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.

GEICO 800-368-2734 www.geico.com/fed/narfe GEICO continues to offer a special discount opportunity for NARFE members. To find out how much you could save, visit our website or call today and mention that you are a NARFE member.

Have your current coverage information available in order to secure a comparable quote. On top of a great discount, your completed quote will help benefit NARFE’s causes and initiatives!

NARFE Insurance Services 800-233-5764 www.narfeinsurance.com Designed and administered by Mercer Consumer, exclusively for NARFE members: senior age whole life, term

life, Medicare supplements, hospital income plan, short-term recovery insurance, pet insurance, accidental death and dismemberment, cancer care, enhanced dental insurance and long-term care.

Moving services

Bekins Van Lines 800-248-4810 narfe@bekins.com All NARFE members will receive contracted pricing for all interstate shipments. This will apply to packing, transportation and full-value coverage against damages. Please mention you are a NARFE member.

Wheaton World Wide Moving 800-248-7960 narfe@wvlcorp.com At Wheaton, we know interstate relocating is much more than trucks and boxes. Moving is not simply an address change. It’s a life change. With a network of top-quality agents throughout the United States, Wheaton provides peace of mind with every relocation.

We offer you, as a NARFE member, benefits to help you have a positive interstate relocation experience. Call today and mention you are a NARFE member to start the moving process.

narfe merchandise

NARFE General Store 855-99NARFE (855-996-2733) www.narfegeneralstore.com As the official provider of NARFE merchandise, the NARFE General Store

offers NARFE-approved name badges, business cards, clothing, accessories, cups and mugs, plaques and clocks, and much, much more. Check out our online catalog for our customizable product line.

Telecommunications

new

Sprint 877-746-8249 www.sprint.com/fed NARFE members receive a 15% discount with Sprint! Access www.sprint. com/fed, call 877-746-8249 or visit the Sprint store nearest you to take advantage of this offer. Please bring your member ID card with you to our stores to sign up for the discount, and provide code GNARF_ZMB.

new

Verizon FiOS www.verizon.com/ connectionsprogram Members of NARFE can save up to $10 a month on a new qualifying Triple Play bundle with Verizon FiOS Internet, TV and home phone service – savings of up to $120 per year. The FiOS 100% fiberoptic network delivers award-winning broadband and entertainment to your home. Only FiOS Internet customers get upload speeds as fast as their download speeds. With FiOS TV, 625+ channels are available, including 185+ in HD, and over 120,000 On Demand titles, thousands free. These exclusive online-only savings are available only through our partner website, above.

travel

Alamo 800-462-5266 www.alamo.com Drive Happy® with Alamo® where NARFE members receive year-round discounts. Call or visit our website today and reference Contract ID 262544.

Choice Hotels International 800-258-2847 www.choicehotels.com With 6,200 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, charitable donations 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 through phone number or website above; cannot be redeemed at individual hotels.

ticipating 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 costeffective, we have the right hotel for you ... and at the right price. Call to reserve your room today at one of these fine hotels: Wyndham Hotels and Resorts®, Days Inn®, Ramada Worldwide®, Baymont Inns and Suites®, Hawthorn Suites® By Wyndham, Microtel Inns and Suites®, Howard Johnson®, Travelodge® and Knights Inn®. Advance reservations required through phone number above; cannot be redeemed at individual hotels.

Wellness

Beltone Hearing Care 888-418-6763

Local Hospitality www.narfe.org/travel

new

NARFE is pleased to offer its members an exclusive travel discount service.

Savings may exceed 50% and average 10-20% below market on all hotels and car rental suppliers around the world.

Any hotel, any car, anywhere, anytime!

National 800-CAR-RENT www.nationalcarrental.com 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-CARRENT® and reference Contract ID 5282909. For complete terms and conditions, visit www.narfe.org/ memberperks.

Wyndham Hotel Group 877-670-7088 NARFE members receive up to 20% off the “Best Available Rate” at par-

Beltone has been helping the world hear better for 75 years. NARFE members receive 25% off, and those with Blue Cross Blue Shield Service Benefit Plan insurance coverage may be eligible for two Beltone True 3™ hearing aids for ZERO out-of-pocket.

Life Line Screening 800-324-9906 www.lifelinescreening.com/ NARFE Life Line Screening, America’s leading provider of community-based preventive health screenings, will conduct health screenings using state-ofthe-art ultrasound technology in your neighborhood. To schedule an appointment, please call the number above and give the operator code number BKHN075 or visit the website.

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

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The Way We Worked

Presidential Protectors This 1946 photo shows Secret Service Agent Jim Rowley, center, guarding President Harry S. Truman, right, on the flying bridge of the president’s yacht, the U.S.S. Williamsburg, during the president’s vacation cruise to Bermuda. The president’s military aide, General Harry Vaughn, is at left. The Secret Service was created in 1865 to combat counterfeiting, which had run rampant during the Civil War. After President William McKinley’s assassination in 1901, it began protecting the presidents.

Photo from the Harry S. Truman Presidential Library, National Archives; courtesy of the National Archives History Office; 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. To join, visit http://shfg.org.

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Did you know?

The Secret Service transferred from the Treasury Department to the Department of Homeland Security in 2003.

Today it has more than 150 offices in the United States and abroad. In addition to guarding the president and vice president, their families and visiting heads of state, it is the lead agency for National Special Security Events, such as the September visit of Pope Francis to the United States.

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