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OPM makes no progress with retirement backlog to start 2023
The Office of Personnel Management started 2023 with a rise in its retirement claims processing backlog by 3,262. In January, OPM received 12,404 claims, an almost 7,000 increase compared to December....
View ArticleUSPS health insurance marketplace launch gives OPM plenty to do in a busy 2023
A major Postal Service reform bill signed into law last year is moving postal employees and retirees into a different health insurance marketplace from the rest of the federal workforce. The Postal...
View ArticleNow in its 35th year, the Thrift Savings Plan offers a lot of investment lessons
If you have been investing in the Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) for its entire 35 years, you have likely got a pretty good nest egg. Consistency and patience is part of what we have learned from the TSP...
View ArticleCongress makes new run at striking down disparity in Social Security
NASA’s James Webb Telescope has sent pictures of galaxies that formed moments — in cosmic time — after formation of the universe itself. A Penn State University researcher told the Associated Press...
View ArticleRevived bills would alter feds’ payment obligations during shutdowns, federal...
Lawmakers revived a host of bills this week that would impact the federal workforce, through changes to payments, retirement benefits and more. The Federal Employee Civil Relief Act, for one, would let...
View ArticleAhuja plans to fix OPM programs under the microscope of the House Oversight...
The House Oversight and Accountability Committee zeroed in on examining several federal programs with long-standing challenges, housed under the Office of Personnel Management. Among heated questions...
View ArticleSocial Security establishes a new office just for native Americans
The Social Security Administration recently established an office for helping Native Americans. The agency, in its words, wants to elevate and centralize efforts devoted to tribal members and Alaska...
View ArticleThis head of an obscure multibillion-dollar agency, improves health care for...
He runs a program most people never heard of, but it has got a $5 billion budget. He is the head of the Bureau of Primary Health Care, nested in the Health Resources and Services Administration,...
View ArticleA veterans advocacy group updates its guidance to take the Pact Act into account
The Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics Act — the PACT Act — became law a few months ago. It brought an expansion of services available to veterans and drew more veterans into eligibility. For a...
View ArticleOPM expects busy Open Season standing up USPS health insurance marketplace in...
The Office of Personnel Management expects to receive a much higher volume of calls during next year’s Open Season. That’s because a Postal Service reform bill signed into law in 2022 is moving postal...
View ArticleWhy some FEHB participants should take another look at Medicare Part D
Participants in the Federal Employees Health Benefits (FEHB) Program have new reasons to consider making changes to their health care enrollments. The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), enacted last...
View ArticleSome bank failure takeaways for feds worried about their own investments
Bank stocks might look like dicey propositions these days. There’s nothing to focus investors’ minds like the possibility of a run on the banks. It’s not 2008 though, and we probably won’t see the...
View ArticleThe truth (and three myths) about working with a financial advisor
Part of what defines us as Americans is our independent spirit. When a job needs doing, we do it ourselves, owning it as our responsibility to get it done. In many ways this is a positive thing. But...
View ArticleOPM outlines plan to migrate 1.7M FEHB enrollees into postal-only insurance...
The Office of Personnel Management is outlining its plan to migrate nearly 2 million individuals covered under the Federal Employee Health Benefits (FEHB) Program to a new postal-only health insurance...
View ArticleHow Congresswoman Spanberger plans to KO the WEP and the GPO, aka the Evil Twins
Several retired federal employees feel they are being unfairly denied benefits, due to the Social Security provisions known as the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and Government Pension Offset...
View ArticleThat new federal regulatory agenda has generated opposition
The Biden administration recently declared a new approach to federal regulation it said would modernize and streamline it. The new framework has drawn opposition from business. For one point of view,...
View ArticleA five-decade financial burden known as the Widow’s Tax is finally gone
In 2020, Congress repealed something known as the Survivor Benefit Plan – Dependency and Indemnity Compensation offset. Better known as the Widow’s Tax, it disappeared after a three-year phase-out...
View ArticleVBA turns to ‘aggressive hiring,’ automation tools to keep pace with PACT Act...
The Department of Veterans Affairs’ new permanent director for benefits is preparing the agency for another record-breaking year for processing claims. The Veterans Benefits Administration set a...
View ArticleMore feds might soon be eligible for student-loan forgiveness
More federal employees could see their student loans forgiven under a newly introduced bill. The bipartisan legislation would reduce eligibility requirements for the Public Service Loan Forgiveness...
View ArticleA Deeper Look at the TSA
For our May 10 show, I interviewed Transportation Security Administration (TSA) Chief Human Capital Officer, Jason Nelson. Unlike previous shows that highlighted agencies many Americans don’t even...
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