News Briefs

News Briefs

December 13, 1996
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.


HELP FOR DISPLACED WORKERS--The newly opened office of the Metro Area Re-Employment Project (in Fairfax) "offers more than just tips and platitudes" for finding a job. "Its mission is to help displaced federal workers get back on their feet." The center gets high marks from clients (The Washington Post, The Weekly Arlington/Falls Church/Alexandria, December 12).

CHILDREN'S BENEFITS--OPM can now restart civil service annuity payments and continue health benefits coverage for children of deceased federal employees who previously lost those benefits because of marriage (Office of Communications News Release, December 12).

EXTRA HELP--"Navigating open enrollment season at the world's largest employer-sponsored health benefit plan is no easy task. . . ." However, federal employees are receiving more information on health plan quality than ever before (Policy Watch, Fall 1996).

WOMEN--"Women passed a milestone in the board room in 1996, for the first time holding more than 10 percent of the director's seats at the nation's 500 largest companies" (The New York Times).

OTHER VIEWS--FEHB premiums increase 2.4 percent overall (Business & Health, Montvale, MN, November)...New act expands efforts against fraud and abuse in health care (Pennsylvania Medicine, Harrisburg, PA, November).

HUMAN RESOURCE ISSUES--Change may be something organizations fear, but it is also something they must embrace to survive (Federal Human Resource Week).

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