Insurance Premiums Go Up, Up, Up; Shutdown Scare Ends; and More

This story has been updated to reflect House passage of the continuing resolution. 

Federal employees likely breathed a sigh of relief Wednesday afternoon, as Congress finally passed a short-term funding bill to avoid a government shutdown at the end of the fiscal year on Sept. 30.

Lawmakers broke a stalemate by agreeing to include funding to deal with the water crisis in Flint, Mich., in the 2016 Water Resources Development Act. The Flint funding, which is in the Senate version but not the House version of the waterways bill, became the major sticking point in negotiations over a continuing resolution.

Once the agreement was reached, the Senate passed the CR by a vote of 72-26. The short-term continuing resolution then headed to the House, where lawmakers passed it by a vote of 342-85. The stopgap measure would last through Dec. 9, but Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, has offered an amendment that would automatically extend the CR through Jan. 18 if lawmakers failed to agree on a subsequent deal to keep the government open after Dec. 9.

With the weight of a possible shutdown off their shoulders, federal employees can now turn to the other pressing issue facing them: insurance premium increases. Participants in the Federal Long-Term Care Insurance Program have until Friday to decide how they will handle premium jumps that average 83 percent, or $111 more per month.

Federal employee advocates and a few lawmakers have demanded answers on why the FLTCIP rates are going up to drastically, but a congressional hearing on the matter is unlikely until after the presidential election. For its part, the Office of Personnel Management has held firm to the Sept. 30 deadline for participants to decide whether they will keep their coverage and endure the rate hikes, or scale back their benefits to obtain some relief from the premium increase. Those having trouble making the decision can refer to Retirement Planning columnist Tammy Flanagan’s August piece on the topic.

Long-term care premiums aren’t the only ones going up, either. OPM announced Wednesday that participants in the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program will pay an average of 6.2 percent in 2017. Enrollees with self-only coverage will contribute an average of $5.27 more per paycheck, while those with family coverage will pay about $12.97 more. For just the second year, FEHBP participants can select the self-plus-one enrollment category. Those enrollees will see an average increase of $10.32 per paycheck.

Federal employees and retirees’ share of their health care premiums will go up by a higher percentage than the government contribution, which will rise 3.7 percent. OPM pays about 70 percent of FEHBP participants’ premiums.

Dental premiums will go up as well, by 1.9 percent, and vision premiums will increase by 6.3 percent.

The good news for health benefits is that there are not too many plans dropping out of the program, so enrollees will have about as many choices as last year. There are also no major changes to required benefits, except that all plans will now provide appropriate benefits for children on the Autism spectrum. FEHBP enrollees will have from Nov. 14 through Dec. 12 to change their insurance elections.

Finally, speaking of elections, many federal employees and military members stationed overseas will need to vote in the Nov. 8 presidential election via absentee ballot. The Federal Voting Assistance Program is offering tips to ensure that this process goes smoothly. Click here to read the organization’s pointers.