Knock-Knock–Is there a Doctor in the House?

A federal employee of 18 years, the author recently used an out of network doctor for a family member “because there were not any in network doctors available at the medical center we selected” even though the facility as a network hospital. The result was that, despite having insurance, the out of pocket expenses were significant. The article was written to that others could benefit from his experience and to encourage federal employees to research and carefully consider options when choosing a medical insurance provider.

Edsels, Hula Hoops and Internal Government Promotions

The culture of government has changed in the past 20 years and these changes have impacted how Uncle Sam selects its higher graded employees. Federal employees in GS grades 12 – 15 used to be selected from within the existing workforce. But, just as the Edsel, the hula hoop. and the “company man” have faded from American life, so has the practice of always using internal promotions to fill higher graded positions.

Social Security Board of Trustees: Some Improvement in Long-Range Financing Outlook but Deficits Continue

The Social Security Board of Trustees today released its annual report on the financial health of the Social Security Trust Funds. While the key dates for program costs exceeding tax revenues and Trust Fund exhaustion remain unchanged, the 2008 Trustees Report shows improvement in the projected long-term financial status of the Social Security program.

Protecting Feds from Personal Information Release and Identity Theft: Are Current Policies Enough?

In the wake of recent privacy-violating probing of presidential candidates’ passport files and earlier losses by agencies of computers or hard drives containing sensitive employee data, it appears the risk of nosy feds, political paparazzi, curious contractors and others getting personal personnel info may be at an all time high. What’s going on?

Tough Choice in Short Time Doesn’t Equal Coercion

Given a short time to make an unpleasant decision about whether to resign or receive a proposed notice of removal, an errant federal manager opted to resign but then filed an appeal. Unlike MSPB Member Sapin, the court had no problem with the short period of time to make an unpleasant decision as the agency could have just issued the notice of proposed removal.