Benefits
New alliance will enable feds to earn degrees at deep discount
The Office of Personnel Management said it has entered an agreement with an online education provider to give federal employees more affordable access to post-secondary education resources.
Benefits
Scammers targeting Tricare beneficiaries
The Defense Health Agency is warning Tricare beneficiaries to beware of phone solicitors attempting to gather their personal information.
Benefits
Unclaimed TSP assets hit $88M
Thrift Savings Plan participants have abandoned accounts containing hundreds, or even thousands, of dollars in recent years.
Benefits
Troops need to use excess ordinary leave by end of FY 2015
Defense Department officials are advising service members that they will automatically lose any accumulated ordinary leave in excess of 60 days on Oct. 1, the beginning of the 2016 fiscal year.
Benefits
VA touts disability claims processing progress
The Department of Veterans Affairs said it has hit a "major milestone" in its effort to speed up decision-making and trim its backlog of disability claims.
Benefits
Senate approves budget resolution; feds targeted
The Senate approved a budget resolution in the wee hours Friday morning that would trim the federal workforce, require higher federal pension contributions, and alter federal health care benefits.
Benefits
VA moves to standard forms to speed up processing
The Department of Veterans Affairs said it now requires veterans seeking disability benefits to use standardized claim and appeal forms to speed up application processing.
Benefits
House-passed budget resolution hits feds in pocketbook
The House on a 228-199 vote approved a budget resolution that proposes a range of changes affecting federal employee compensation, including cuts to healthcare and retirement benefits.
Benefits
VA alters Veterans Choice 40-mile rule
The Department of Veterans Affairs announced this week that it will revise the way it calculates the distance between a veteran’s residence and the nearest VA medical facility in order to expand eligibility for its Veterans Choice program.
Benefits
OPM instructs FEHB insurers on self-plus-one plans
The Office of Personnel Management last week directed insurers who offer FEHB coverage to make sure that rates for the new "self-plus-one" coverage slated to debut with the 2016 plan year are lower than rates for self-and-family coverage.
Benefits
VA changes method for determining eligibility
The Department of Veterans Affairs said it eliminated net worth as a factor in determining a veteran's eligibility for VA health care.
Benefits
Tricare announces compound screen drug screening
Tricare said that its pharmacy contractor, Express Scripts, on May 1 will begin to screen all ingredients in compound drug claims to make sure they are safe and effective, and covered by Tricare.
Benefits
DOD personnel agency warns of alleged scam
Personnel officials warned Defense Department civilian workers about a company that allegedly is using misleading ads related to the Federal Employees Health Benefit Program as part of a sales scam.
Benefits
Three Ways for Military Spouses to Find a Federal Job on a Military Base
Most military spouses know about USAJOBS and will look there for federal jobs that might be in the geographic location of their next duty station. What many spouses do not know is that there are two other sources of federal jobs to consider.
Benefits
FEHB insurer nixes security audit
Health insurer Anthem Inc. has refused to let federal inspectors conduct a full vulnerability scan of its systems in the wake of a data breach affecting nearly 80 million individuals.
Benefits
Wounded Warriors sick leave bill advances
A Senate panel this week passed a bill that would provide 104 hours of sick leave up front to disabled veterans who are first-year federal employees.
Benefits
Health insurer data breach affects feds
A well-publicized data breach at health insurer Anthem, a provider of federal benefits for Blue Cross/Blue Shield, has impacted federal employee participants—some past, and some present—potentially compromising some of their personal data.
Benefits
NATCA marks engineers week
The National Air Traffic Controllers Association—whose approximately 15,000 members work mostly for the Federal Aviation Administration—is celebrating the role of the FAA's engineers this week, Feb. 22-28.
Benefits
Innovations in Government Awards announced
The John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University's Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation has announced 124 awards for innovative government programs.
Benefits