[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 3 (Monday, January 6, 2014)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 613-615]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-31498]


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OFFICE OF PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT

5 CFR Part 870

RIN 3206-AM81


Special Rights for Transferred Employees Under the Dodd-Frank Act 
Regarding Federal Employees' Group Life Insurance

AGENCY: U.S. Office of Personnel Management.

ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is issuing a 
proposed rule to implement provisions of Public Law 111-203, the Dodd-
Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. Public Law 111-
203 includes authorization for certain transferred employees to have a 
special enrollment opportunity and special rights regarding Federal 
Employees' Group Life Insurance (FEGLI) to ensure their continuity of 
benefits coverage.

DATES: Comments are due on or before March 7, 2014.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by RIN number ``3206-
AM81,'' using any of the following methods:

[[Page 614]]

    Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the 
instructions for submitting comments.
    Mail: Rachel Royster, Program Analyst, Planning and Policy 
Analysis, U.S. Office of Personnel Management, 1900 E Street NW., 
Washington, DC 20415.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Rachel Royster, Program Analyst (202) 
606-4181.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The U.S. Office of Personnel Management 
(OPM) is issuing a notice of proposed rulemaking to provide special 
FEGLI rights to the following employees who were carrying employer 
sponsored life insurance other than FEGLI: (1) Employees from Office of 
Thrift Supervision (OTS) transferred to Office of the Comptroller of 
the Currency (OCC) and Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC); 
and (2) employees of the Federal Reserve System, FDIC, National Credit 
Union Administration Board (NCUA), OCC, OTS, and Department of Housing 
and Urban Development (HUD) to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau 
(CFPB or the Bureau) under Public Law 111-203. The new regulatory 
provisions include new subparts in part 870 of title 5 of the Code of 
Federal Regulations. Authorizing legislation: Section 322 and Section 
1064 of Public Law 111-203 discuss the transfer of employees and their 
special FEGLI rights.

Section 322. Transfer of Employees From OTS to OCC or FDIC

    The relevant portions of this section states:

    ``(B) Dental, Vision, or Life Insurance After the First Year.--
If, after the 1-year period beginning on the transfer date, the 
Office of the Comptroller of the Currency or the Corporation 
determines that the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency or the 
Corporation, as the case may be, will not continue to participate in 
any dental, vision or life insurance program of an agency from which 
an employee was transferred, a transferred employee who is a member 
of the program may, before the decision takes effect and without 
regard to any regularly scheduled open season, elect to enroll in--
'' 322(i)(2)(B).
* * * * *
    ``(iii) the Federal Employees' Group Life Insurance Program 
established under chapter 87 of title 5, United States Code, without 
regard to any requirement of insurability.'' 322(i)(2)(B)(iii).
* * * * *
    ``(IV) Credit for Time Enrolled in Other Plans--For any 
transferred employee, enrollment in a life insurance plan 
administered by the agency from which the employee transferred, 
immediately before enrollment in a life insurance plan under chapter 
87 of title 5, United States Code, shall be considered as enrollment 
in a life insurance plan under that chapter for the purpose of 
8706(b)(1)(A) of title 5, United States Code.'' 
322(i)(2)(E)(ii)(IV).

    These provisions allow a transferring employee that participated in 
an OTS life insurance program that is no longer available at OCC or 
FDIC to have a special enrollment period for FEGLI. OTS maintained the 
Office of Thrift Supervision Group Life Insurance Program in which OCC 
and FDIC did not continue to participate. Therefore, at approximately 
one year after the transfer date, July 21, 2011, OPM held a special 
enrollment period for transferred employees participating in Office of 
Thrift Supervision Group Life Insurance Program to enroll in FEGLI. The 
special enrollment period began on June 1, 2012 and ended July 29, 
2012.
    Any employee who enrolled in FEGLI during this special enrollment 
period will have their time in a life insurance plan administered by 
OTS credited towards their 5 years of continuous enrollment to continue 
FEGLI coverage into retirement.

Section 1064. Transfer of Employees From the Federal Reserve System, 
FDIC, NCUA, OCC, OTS and HUD to CFPB

    The relevant portion of this section states:

    ``(B) Medical, Dental, Vision, or Life Insurance After the First 
Year.-- If, at the end of the 1-year period beginning on the 
designated transfer date, the Bureau has not established its own, or 
arranged for participation in another entity's, medical, dental, 
vision, or life insurance program, an employee transferred pursuant 
to this subtitle who was a member of such a program at the agency or 
Federal reserve bank from which the employee transferred may, before 
the coverage of that employee ends under subparagraph (A)(i), elect 
to enroll, without regard to any regularly scheduled open season, 
in--''1064(i)(2)(B).
    ``(iii) the Federal Employees' Group Life Insurance Program 
established under chapter 87 of title 5, United States Code, without 
regard to any requirement of insurability . . .'' 
1064(i)(2)(B)(iii).

    CFPB established its own life insurance program. Therefore, the 
referenced employees transferred did not have a special enrollment 
period to elect FEGLI coverage. These transferred employees can enroll 
if they experience a qualifying life event or by providing satisfactory 
medical information.
    While there was no special enrollment period for employees 
transferring to CFPB, if employees that transferred to CFPB were newly 
eligible for FEGLI (they did not have a prior FEGLI election 
opportunity at their former employing agency from which they were 
transferred), an opportunity to enroll was created. Since these 
employees previously did not have the opportunity to elect FEGLI, they 
were treated as though they were new employees for FEGLI purposes and 
could make a first-opportunity election of FEGLI coverage during the 
same special enrollment period as the Section 322 transferees. These 
employees who enrolled in FEGLI during this special enrollment period 
will have their time in a life insurance plan administered by their 
former agency in which they transferred from credited towards their 5 
years of continuous enrollment to continue FEGLI coverage into 
retirement.

Section 322 and Section 1064. Special Provisions for Annuitants To 
Ensure Continuation of Life Insurance Benefits

    Section 322 and Section 1064 contain the following text:
    (E) SPECIAL PROVISIONS TO ENSURE CONTINUATION OF LIFE INSURANCE 
BENEFITS.--
    (i) IN GENERAL.--An annuitant, as defined in section 8901 of title 
5, United States Code, who is enrolled in a life insurance plan 
administered by an agency from which employees are transferred under 
this title on the day before the transfer date shall be eligible for 
coverage by a life insurance plan under sections 8706(b), 8714a, 8714b, 
or 8714c of title 5, United States Code, or by a life insurance plan 
established by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency or the 
Corporation, as applicable, without regard to any regularly scheduled 
open season or any requirement of insurability. 322(i)(2)(E)(i).
    And
    (G) SPECIAL PROVISIONS TO ENSURE CONTINUATION OF LIFE INSURANCE 
BENEFITS.--
    (i) IN GENERAL.--An annuitant (as defined in section 8901(3) of 
title 5, United States Code) who is enrolled in a life insurance plan 
administered by a transferor agency on the day before the designated 
transfer date shall be eligible for coverage by a life insurance plan 
under 8706(b), 8714a, 8714b, and 8714c of title 5, United States Code, 
or in a life insurance plan established by the Bureau, without regard 
to any regularly scheduled open season and requirement of insurability. 
1064(i)(2)(G)(i).
    OPM has interpreted these provisions to mean that if a referenced 
annuitant's life insurance coverage lapsed because their life insurance 
program ceased to exist, then they will be eligible to elect FEGLI. 
There is no one in this category because there are no life insurance

[[Page 615]]

programs administered by a transferor agency that ceased to exist. 
Therefore, there are no annuitants that can elect FEGLI as a result of 
these provisions.

Regulatory Impact Analysis

    OPM has examined the impact of this proposed rule as required by 
Executive Order 12866 and Executive Order 13563, which directs agencies 
to assess all costs and benefits of available regulatory alternatives 
and, if regulation is necessary, to select regulatory approaches that 
maximize net benefits (including potential economic, environmental, 
public, health, and safety effects, distributive impacts, and equity). 
A regulatory impact analysis must be prepared for major rules with 
economically significant effects of $100 million or more in any one 
year. This rule is not considered a major rule because OPM expects that 
this rule will not impose costs of more than $100 million in any one 
year.

List of Subjects on 5 CFR Part 870

    Administrative practice and procedure, Government Employees, Life 
insurance.

U.S. Office of Personnel Management.
Katherine Archuleta,
Director.
    For the reasons set forth in the preamble, the U.S. Office of 
Personnel Management proposes to amend 5 CFR Part 870 as follows:

Title 5--Administrative Personnel

PART 870--FEDERAL EMPLOYEES' GROUP LIFE INSURANCE PROGRAM

Subpart A--Administration and General Provisions

0
1. The authority citation for Part 870 is revised to read as follows:

    Authority: 5 U.S.C. 8716; Subpart J also issued under section 
599C of Pub. L. 101-513, 104 Stat. 2064, as amended; Sec. 
870.302(a)(3)(ii) also issued under section 153 of Pub. L. 104-134, 
110 Stat. 1321; Sec. 870.302(a)(3) also issued under sections 
11202(f), 11232(e), and 11246(b) and (c) of Pub. L. 105-33, 111 
Stat. 251, and section 7(e) of Pub. L. 105-274, 112 Stat. 2419; Sec. 
870.302(a)(3) also issued under section 145 of Pub. L. 106-522, 114 
Stat. 2472; Secs. 870.302(b)(8), 870.601(a), and 870.602(b) also 
issued under Pub. L. 110-279, 122 Stat. 2604; Subpart E also issued 
under 5 U.S.C. 8702(c); Sec. 870.601(d)(3) also issued under 5 
U.S.C. 8706(d); Sec. 870.703(e)(1) also issued under section 502 of 
Pub. L. 110-177, 121 Stat. 2542; Sec. 870.705 also issued under 5 
U.S.C. 8714b(c) and 8714c(c); Public Law 104-106, 110 Stat. 521;

0
2. In Sec.  870.701, add paragraph (f) to read as follows:


Sec.  870.701  Eligibility for life insurance.

* * * * *
    (f) An individual's period of coverage in a life insurance plan is 
credited to the 5 years of service under (a)(2) of this section if: (1) 
He/she participated in the Office of Thrift Supervision (OTS) life 
insurance plan and transferred to the Office of the Comptroller of the 
Currency/Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation under the Dodd-Frank 
Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, Public Law 111-203, or 
he/she transferred to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau under 
the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, Public 
Law 111-203 and did not have a prior FEGLI election opportunity at 
their former agency from which they transferred, and (2) elected FEGLI 
coverage during the special enrollment period between June 1, 2012 and 
July 29, 2012. Evidence of the non-FEGLI period of continuous coverage 
will be documented in a manner designated by OPM.
* * * * *
[FR Doc. 2013-31498 Filed 1-3-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6325-63-P