You are Here : HomeCurrent Legislative Efforts and Related Activities
Current Legislative Efforts and Related Activities
Alert for OPEDA Members
Please write your Senators and/or Congressmen and ask them to make additional changes to the H . R. 3590 dated 12/24/09, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.
1. The Senate version of H. R. 3590 dated 12/24/09, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, includes language that any new national health care programs will be isolated from the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program (FEHBP) into a separate group – and treated separately from FEHBP as a separate program. The House Bill of 11/19/09 does not contain this language. Accordingly, OPEDA supports the current Senate (but not the House) version of this legislation – with the following needed changes:
2. Additional language needs to be added to the Senate version of this legislation to exempt Federal employees and retirees from the 40% excise tax on Health insurance as was done for certain bargaining union and state and local employees from 2013 until 2018. Should the current 12/24/09 Senate version of this legislation be passed into law, many Federal employees and retirees could be required to pay an additional 40% in excise taxes on their FEHBP plans exceeding $8,900 or family policies worth $24,000 starting in 2013. All FEHBP plans are currently are below these threshold amounts; however, if the Government contribution to each FEHBP plan is included, during 2013-2018, as a result of the rapidly increasing cost of Health Insurance (which far exceeds inflation), it is likely that some of the FEHBP plans will exceed these thresholds and be subject to the 40% excise tax.
To help protect the interests of Federal Employees and Retirees, all OPEDA members are encouraged to write to their Senators and/or Congressmen and ask them to make and support the above described changes to H . R. 3590 dated 12/24/09, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. OPEDA Members can find the names and mailing addresses (or E-mail addresses) of their Senators and Congressmen at the following web sites.
Members may also contact the OPEDA office at 202-720-4898 if they need assistance
contacting their elected representatives.
Health Care Costs and the No-COLA Year of 2010
Current projections strongly suggest that federal retirees will receive no cost of living adjustment (COLA) in 2010, as reported on the National Active and Retired Federal Employees (NARFE) website,www.narfe.org.
Margaret Baptiste, the National President of NARFE praised Representatives Charles Rangel, Henry Waxman, Pete Stark, Frank Pallone, Chris van Hollen and Dina Titus for their work in obtaining passage in the House of H.R. 3631, the “Medicare Premium Fairness Act.“
Baptiste stated that this bill would shield the federal, state and local government retirees who are not eligible to receive Social Security (SS) benefits. If this resolution is not passed by the Senate and signed into law, these retirees would have to pay the higher premiums (although they will not receive a COLA) and also would absorb the costs of the other government retirees Medicare beneficiaries who do receive SS payments.
OPEDA hopes that the Senate will consider H.R. 3631 quickly and that the President will then sign the bill into law.
Untitled Document
What's New
Pictures from the 2011 Holiday Party have been Posted in the
Photo Gallery.
