Pay & Benefits
The Medicare question federal retirees can’t ignore anymore
New projections for Medicare Part B costs are sharpening a familiar but increasingly expensive decision for federal retirees: whether Medicare enhances FEHB coverage enough to justify the added premium, or simply shifts where the costs show up.
Workforce
Bill would limit federal relocations to states with abortion restrictions
Legislation introduced by Rep. James Walkinshaw, D-Va., would block the Trump administration from relocating agencies to states that have instituted or revived abortion bans since the fall of Roe v. Wade, and grants feds the right to refuse relocations to those jurisdictions.
Pay & Benefits
Expanding paid leave for federal workers is back on the table
Bipartisan legislation would grant civilian federal employees up to 12 weeks of paid family and medical leave per year.
Pay & Benefits
OPM to set new requirements to ‘verify’ FEHBP enrollments
Newly published regulations would implement a 2025 law enacted in response to a GAO report that found the government could spend up to $1 billion annually on health benefits for people who are no longer eligible to receive them.
Pay & Benefits
TSP funds kept climbing in May
Each of the portfolios in the federal government’s 401(k)-style retirement savings program gained value last month.
Pay & Benefits
More GLP-1 options are coming for federal retirees, but they come with a catch
A new Medicare program launching July 1 broadens access to drugs like Zepbound and Foundayo, but federal annuitants need to know how the $50 copay will affect their catastrophic limits.
Pay & Benefits
Dems introduce bill to protect feds’ credit scores during shutdowns
Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., said he was inspired to draft the legislation after hearing from TSA workers whose inability to pay their bills during the 78-day partial government shutdown hurt their credit scores even after they began receiving back pay.
Pay & Benefits
Weighing the costs and trade-offs of suspending FEHB for Medicare Advantage
COMMENTARY | An analysis of two markets shows some commercial plans provide the lowest estimated yearly costs, but federal annuitants must consider the required trade-offs like prior authorization and provider access.
Management
Workers predict significant disruptions to food assistance programs as USDA announces more relocations
Programs like SNAP and WIC "simply will not function" if employees exit en masse after declining mandatory relocations across the country, union says.
Pay & Benefits
Senators demand OPM withdraw plan to access feds’ medical records
More than a dozen Democratic lawmakers warned that a little-scrutinized proposal to collect claims-level data related to the Federal Employees Health Benefits and Postal Service Health Benefits programs could violate federal law and doctor-client confidentiality.
Pay & Benefits
OPM to FEHB carriers: Cut costs, MAHA style
In the federal HR agency’s annual letter to insurers, officials called for the end to cash incentives for childhood vaccine adoption and urged insurers to require therapy before prescribing GLP-1 drugs to combat obesity.
Pay & Benefits
OPM leans into 'well care' as it reshapes federal health plans for 2027
OPM’s annual guidance to federal health plans outlines a shift toward preventive, whole-person care in 2027, along with changes to coverage, obesity treatment and gender-affirming care.
Pay & Benefits
Traveling soon? What federal health plans actually cover
Peak travel season is here, but most federal workers don't know what happens if they need care abroad. From upfront costs to medical evacuations, here is what your FEHB plan does and doesn't cover when you are out of the country.
Pay & Benefits
The federal leave options employees can use when annual and sick time run out
From unpaid leave to parental and military leave, federal workers have multiple options for time off under specific circumstances.
Pay & Benefits
Congress guarantees furloughed feds’ back pay despite continued White House maneuvering
The Office of Personnel Management removed citations of the 2019 Federal Employee Fair Treatment Act from its shutdown guidance last month, as the Trump administration continues to insist that the law guaranteeing all federal employees back pay after a shutdown doesn’t.
Pay & Benefits
TSP investments begin 2026 in the black
Each of the portfolios in the federal government’s 401(k)-style retirement savings program gained value in January.
Pay & Benefits
Federal retirees face new COLAs, premiums and earnings limits in 2026
Annual adjustments to retirement benefits, FEHB costs, Social Security rules and TSP limits are now taking effect.
Updated
Pay & Benefits
How federal employees can protect a spouse in retirement
To better understand their potential benefits and financial risks in retirement, both spouses should be aware of some benefits planning realities.
Oversight
Agriculture’s failure to force SNAP card upgrades is causing $555M in lost benefits, watchdog says
The Trump administration’s imperative to combat fraud has largely focused on recipients scamming the system, rather than becoming victims of fraudsters themselves.
Pay & Benefits