OPM reaffirms dental, vision contract awards

After temporarily shelving its original awards for federal dental and vision insurance contracts in order to reassess them, the Office of Personnel Management announced this week that the original companies would still get the contracts.

OPM said in June that it was reconsidering bids for insurance providers after Blue Cross Blue Shield of America's Federal Employee Program, the largest provider in the OPM-run Federal Employee Health Benefits Program, filed a protest with the Government Accountability Office. Blue Cross Blue Shield was given a contract to offer the vision benefits, but not the dental.

But the second time around, Blue Cross Blue Shield still was not given a dental contract. MetLife, GEHA, United Concordia, Aetna, GHI, CompBenefits and Triple-S will provide the service. Blue Cross Blue Shield, Spectera Inc., and Vision Service Plan will provide vision benefits.

OPM did not say why it did not award Blue Cross Blue Shield the dental contract, and the company declined to comment.

The new insurance will be available to federal employees alongside regular health insurance during the 2006 open season, from Nov. 13 to Dec. 11. By law, OPM has to offer the new benefits, which are voluntary and not supplemented by agencies, by the end of the calendar year.