THE DAILY FED
News Briefs
The following news summaries are from OPM AM, the daily newsletter of the Office of Personnel Management. OPM AM is available on OPM Mainstreet, the agency's electronic bulletin board, at 202-606-4800.
THE FEDERAL DIARY--"Federal employees who are 'privatized' before they are eligible for government retirement could finish out their careers--on the payroll of their private sector boss--and still get inflation-proof federal pensions when they reach retirement age. The revolutionary pilot program, in the new Defense authorization law, will be tested on a limited number of Defense civilians in areas where bases and facilities are being turned over to private firms" (The Washington Post).
OTHER VIEWS--Ms. Joyce Waters Kursweil received a certificate honoring her participation on the Philadelphia Presidential Rank Awards Program Meritorious Review Board from an OPM representative (Philadelphia Tribune, Philadelphia, PA, August 30)...Retired military personnel should be allowed to join FEHBP (Leaf-Chronicle, Clarksville, TN)...Buyout offer is bogus (Air Force Times, Springfield, VA, September 9).
LONG-TERM ILLS--"While health maintenance organizations can offer many healthy people a welcome, lower-cost alterative to traditional insurance, they many not always be the best choice for seniors and others with long-term health problems" (Wall Street Journal).
FEDERAL NEWS--Premium increase small in most 1997 federal worker health benefit plans (Government Employee Relations Report).
CHAPLAINS AS COUNSELORS--There is nothing new about chaplains performing counseling services in places outside the mainstream of commerce. But a growing number of companies are over coming their hesitations and are hiring ordained Christian ministers and priests to tend to their employees' emotional needs (The New York Times).
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