[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 212 (Friday, November 3, 2017)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Page 51170]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-23956]
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Proposed Rules
Federal Register
________________________________________________________________________
This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER contains notices to the public of
the proposed issuance of rules and regulations. The purpose of these
notices is to give interested persons an opportunity to participate in
the rule making prior to the adoption of the final rules.
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Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 212 / Friday, November 3, 2017 /
Proposed Rules
[[Page 51170]]
OFFICE OF PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT
5 CFR 890
RIN: 3206-AN33
Federal Employees Health Benefits (FEHB) Program: FEHB Employee
Premium Contributions for Employees in Leave Without Pay or Other
Nonpay Status
AGENCY: U.S. Office of Personnel Management.
ACTION: Proposed rule; withdrawal.
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SUMMARY: The United States Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is
withdrawing a previously published Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM)
that would have amended the Federal Employees Health Benefits (FEHB)
regulations at 5 CFR part 890 to provide flexibility to agencies
regarding payment for FEHB coverage for employees entering leave
without pay (LWOP) or any other type of nonpay status, except when
nonpay is as a result of a lapse of appropriations. The regulation also
would have affected employees who have insufficient pay to cover their
premium contribution, and certain categories of employees were exempt.
DATES: OPM is withdrawing the proposed rule published August 30, 2016
(81 FR 59518) as of November 3, 2017.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Julia Elam, Program Analyst at (202)
606-0004.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On August 30, 2016, OPM published an NPRM
(81 FR 59518) that would complement the FEHB Modification of
Eligibility final regulation (79 FR 62325, published on October 17,
2014) which allows generally for certain temporary, intermittent and
seasonal employees to enroll in the FEHB Program if they are expected
to work at least 130 hours per month for at least 90 days. In the NPRM,
OPM recognized that the expansion of eligibility for FEHB coverage may
impact an agency's budget due to the required FEHB Government health
benefit contributions for newly eligible employees who elect to
participate in FEHB coverage and go into LWOP or other nonpay status
based on the intermittent nature of the work performed. The NPRM would
have provided flexibility to agencies regarding payment for FEHB
coverage for employees entering leave without pay (LWOP) or any other
type of nonpay status, except when nonpay is as a result of a lapse of
appropriations.
OPM received comments from Federal employees, Federal agencies, a
Federal shared service provider, and unions representing Federal
employees. The majority of commenters objected to the regulation based
on concerns that the rule would place an undue financial burden on
Federal employees on LWOP or other nonpay status and would make it
difficult for these employees to maintain health insurance. OPM also
received comments about the impact of the rule on Permanent Seasonal
Employees (PSEs). The commenters stated that PSEs are placed in nonpay
status annually and there is a reasonable expectation that these
employees will return to employment and repay the unpaid premiums that
have been incurred as a debt.
In reviewing these objections, OPM attempted to determine whether
the potential cost savings from this proposed rulemaking outweighs the
negative impact asserted by commenters. To estimate cost savings, OPM
requested the current amount of unrecoverable premium debt from
employees on LWOP and nonpay status from several agencies with large
numbers of temporary, seasonal and intermittent employees. However,
these agencies were generally unable to provide this data. Agencies do
not have reliable data on unrecoverable FEHB debt because, due to
constantly changing circumstances, these amounts are difficult to
track. OPM did obtain one estimate of unpaid FEHB debt or FEHB debt in
default for all employees on seasonal and intermittent Schedules in
LWOP or insufficient pay for one agency for FY2016. The agency reported
that total FEHB debt incurred by the agency for these employees was
$1,068,065, but that only $48,797 of this total debt remained unpaid by
employees once they returned to pay (or sufficient pay) status.
Further, there are debt collection mechanisms in place to recover the
remaining $48,797.
Agencies must already comply with the Debt Collection Improvement
Act (DCIA) of 1996 (DCIA) to collect delinquent debt, including FEHB
debt. Therefore, appropriate actions are being taken for the collection
of FEHB debt for employees entering leave without pay (LWOP) or any
other type of nonpay status. OPM determined that the potential cost
savings from this proposed rulemaking does not outweigh the potential
negative impact of the undue financial burden or risk of losing health
insurance on certain Federal employees.
Withdrawal of this NPRM (81 FR 59518, August 30, 2016) does not
preclude the agency from issuing future rulemakings on this issue, nor
does it commit the agency to any course of action in the future.
U.S. Office of Personnel Management.
Kathleen McGettigan,
Acting Director.
[FR Doc. 2017-23956 Filed 11-2-17; 8:45 am]
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