Federal Daily - January 27, 2009
Whipple Named Interim OPM Head
President Obama on Jan. 23 announced the appointment of Kathie Ann Whipple as the acting director of the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), replacing the departing Michael Hager, who also was acting head of the agency. “I am humbled to have been designated by President Obama to serve as the acting director of OPM, an agency it has been my pleasure to serve for the past eight years,” Whipple said in a statement. “I look forward to leading OPM until the president appoints and the United States Senate confirms the next director.” Prior to her appointment, Whipple was OPM’s deputy general counsel. According to published accounts, John Berry, director of the Smithsonian National Zoological Park, is the leading candidate to head OPM on a permanent basis. To see more, go to: www.opm.gov/news/white-house-names-acting-director-of-opm,1449.aspx.
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Burrus Warns of USPS Cutbacks
American Postal Workers Union (APWU) President William Burrus warned that the U.S. Postal Service will soon make sweeping changes to postal operations that will include considerable work-hour reductions as USPS struggles with reduced mail volume and declining revenue. Details of the cutbacks are not clear, but they will be significant, Burrus said in an open letter to APWU members posted Jan. 23 on the union Web site. “In the near future, the Postal Service will implement modifications to postal operations that are unprecedented in the 230-year history of this great institution,” Burrus wrote. “Change will take place, and the changes will affect employees.” However, Burrus also noted that any workforce reductions should be across-the-board, and should not solely target craft employees, whose work hours already have been dramatically reduced over the past four years. “If there are fewer craft employees, there must be fewer supervisors, fewer postmasters, and fewer contract employees,” Burrus wrote. “And ‘workshare discounts,’ which subsidize the major mailers at the expense of the Postal Service and employees, must end.” Last fall, Burrus warned members that USPS operating losses for Fiscal Year (FY) 2008 could put jobs at risk. The Postal Service’s dire condition is partly due to a slumping economy—FY 2008 losses are the result of a 12 percent decline in mail volume. To see more, go to: www.apwu.org/news/burrus/2009/update02-2009-090123.htm.
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Hinchey Reintroduces Acupuncture Coverage Bill
Rep. Maurice Hinchey, D-N.Y., last week reintroduced legislation that would—if passed into law—make acupuncture a covered service for Federal Employees Health Benefits (FEHB) program participants and Medicare beneficiaries. The Federal Acupuncture Coverage Act would provide access to acupuncture for Medicare’s 44 million beneficiaries and the 8 million federal workers, dependents and retirees who are covered under the FEHB. Coverage would apply to services rendered by state-licensed, registered or certified professionals. More than 40 states and the District of Columbia accredit acupuncturists. “It is entirely unacceptable that Medicare and the Federal Employees Health Benefits program don’t cover acupuncture treatment and thus force plan participants to forego acupuncture or pay for it entirely out of their own pocket,” Hinchey said. “The majority of private insurers cover acupuncture, yet the federal government’s health plans continue to ignore this very valid and effective form of medical treatment.” To see more, go to: www.house.gov/list/press/ny22_hinchey/morenews
/012309AcupunctureBillIntro.html.
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