Federal Daily - October 5, 2009

TSP Returns for September 2009

Rates of Return were updated on October 1, 2009.

The monthly G, F, C, S, and I Fund returns represent the actual total rates of return used in the monthly allocation of earnings to participant accounts. The returns are shown after deduction of accrued TSP administrative expenses. The F, C, S, and I Fund returns also reflect the deduction of trading costs and accrued investment management fees. The most current G, F, C, S, and I Fund rates of return are shown above. Returns are updated after the monthly allocation of earnings, usually by the fourth business day of the month.

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OPM Issues Rules for LTC ‘Special Decision Period’

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) announced rules for allowing eligible current enrollees in the Federal Long Term Care Insurance Program (FLTCIP) to change coverage without underwriting during a limited special decision period being held from Oct. 1 through Dec. 14. The rules were published in the Oct. 1 Federal Register. Current eligible enrollees are being given the opportunity to make changes because of new plan features and premium rate increases for some enrollees. Enrollees who have plan options subject to a rate increase that kicks in January 2010 will be offered a specific “landing spot” of coverage that will allow them to keep their premium about the same, but with reduced coverage. The special decision period also gives eligible enrollees the chance to switch to the new FLTCIP plan design, which offers some features different from those available in the current plan. Eligible FLTCIP enrollees will be notified directly about the special decision period by the program administrator, Long Term Care Partners. To see more, go to: http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2009/pdf/E9-23727.pdf.

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Order Bans Feds From Texting While Driving

President Obama signed an executive order banning federal employees from text messaging while driving on the job or in a government-owned vehicle, the White House announced Oct. 1. The order also bans texting while driving if the federal worker is using electronic equipment supplied by the government. It is part of the administration’s larger effort to reduce distracted driving, said Department of Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. The department will consider new restrictions on cell phone use by rail, truck and bus operators, including new rules to revoke commercial drivers’ licenses for school bus drivers convicted of texting while driving, LaHood said. “This order sends a very clear signal to the American public that distracted driving is dangerous and unacceptable. It shows that the federal government is leading by example,” said LaHood. Driving while talking on cell phones has been banned in seven states, and texting while driving has been banned in 18 states; 17 states have made it illegal for school bus drivers to use cell phones while driving. To see more, go to: www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/Executive-Order-Federal-Leadership-on-Reducing-Text-Messaging-while-Driving or www.dot.gov/affairs/2009/dot15609.htm.

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Grassley Scales Back FEHBP Amendment

Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, last week dropped a proposal to force federal employees off the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program (FEHBP) and now is proposing that only elected officials and their staffs be required to purchase coverage through state-based insurance exchanges. Grassley’s proposal is contained in an amendment approved by the Senate Finance Committee as members worked through the massive health reform legislation. Grassley’s original amendment would have required all federal employees to purchase coverage through state-based insurance exchanges rather than through the FEHBP. The exchanges proposed in the main bill would be modeled after the FEHBP and designed to give participants the same kinds of choices and options for health care coverage. If the new proposal survives in the final health care bill passed by Congress, it would become effective beginning in 2013. “My interest in having members of Congress participate in the exchange is consistent with my long-held view that Congress should live under the same laws it passes for the rest of the country,” Grassley said. To see more, go to: http://finance.senate.gov/.

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Obama Signs Measure to Provide Financial Relief to USPS

President Obama on Sept. 30 signed a measure to provide some financial relief to the strapped U.S. Postal Service (USPS), allowing the USPS to make a reduced pre-funding contribution to the Postal Service Retiree Health Benefits Fund. The USPS relief measure was part of the Fiscal Year 2010 funding measure for the legislative branch (H.R. 2918). The American Postal Workers Union (APWU) noted that the measure gives USPS one year of financial relief, allowing it to make a reduced payment for future-retiree health benefits. Instead of making a scheduled $5.4 billion payment before the end of the fiscal year on Sept. 30, the Postal Service had to pay only $1.4 billion, APWU said. “Although the funding measure provides less relief than earlier bills, its enactment will help the USPS in the short-term to survive the most devastating economic downturn since the Great Depression,” the union said in a statement. To see more, go to: www.apwu.org/news/webart/2009/09-119-hr22senate-090930.htm.

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