The U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) has selected insurance carriers who will offer dental and vision benefits under the Federal Employees Dental and Vision Insurance Program (FEDVIP) in 2014. Following an extensive review, OPM selected a total of fourteen carriers, which represents an increase in the number of carriers over OPM’s current portfolio of ten.
“Over the last six and a half years, the FEDVIP program has allowed Federal employees, retirees, and their families to access quality vision and dental coverage,” said OPM Acting Director Elaine Kaplan. “I am pleased that we were able to increase the number of carriers participating in the program, and now we will be offering more choices and flexibility for enrollees to select insurance coverage. We will be announcing the premium rates and benefits coverage later this year before Open Season begins.”
The Federal Employees Dental and Vision Benefits Enhancement Act requires OPM to establish arrangements under which dental and vision benefits will be made available to Federal employees, retirees, and their families. The law requires that the contracts under this program be available for seven years; however, premium rates and benefits packages are negotiated on an annual basis under the terms of the contracts. This is the first time since 2006 that OPM has opened the program up for new contracts and reviewed new company applications.
Last year, OPM offered seven contracts for dental and three for vision. This year, OPM will award ten contracts for dental plans to:
- Aetna,
- MetLife,
- United Concordia,
- GEHA,
- Blue Cross Blue Shield,
- Delta Dental,
- Triple S,
- Dominion Dental,
- Humana/, and
- Emblem Health.
OPM will award four contracts for vision plans to:
- Aetna,
- Blue Cross Blue Shield,
- VSP, and
- United Healthcare.
Information about the FEDVIP benefits and rates will be made available later this fall in time for the Federal Benefits Open Season. Enrollments will be effective January 1, 2014.
