The Office of Personnel Management has issued a final rule that will allow some federal employees to make changes to their dental and vision insurance programs outside of the normal open enrollment period. Employees with qualifying life events will be able to make changes to their plans immediately.
The rule was published in the Federal Register on July 16. Details from the posting are included below.
The U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to change some of the requirements for Federal employees and retirees to make enrollment changes under the Federal Employees Dental and Vision Insurance Program (FEDVIP). These expanded enrollment opportunities are intended to better align FEDVIP with specific Federal Employees Health Benefits (FEHB) qualifying life events (QLE). We received no comments on the regulation.
The new enrollment opportunities will allow FEDVIP enrollees to make enrollment changes when they get married or return to work after certain periods of leave without pay. FEDVIP enrollees will now be able to enroll or change plans or options when they experience these life events. Previously, enrollees had to wait until the annual Open Season event to make these changes. This better aligns these enrollment opportunities under both the FEDVIP and the FEHB Programs.
The Federal Employee Dental and Vision Benefits Enhancement Act of 2004 provided OPM the opportunity to establish arrangements under which supplemental dental and vision benefits were made available to Federal employees, retirees, and their family members.
FEDVIP is available to eligible Federal and Postal employees, retirees, and their eligible family members on an enrollee-pay-all basis. This program allows dental and vision insurance to be purchased on a group basis with competitive premiums and no pre-existing condition limitations for enrollment. Premiums for enrolled Federal and Postal employees are withheld from salary on a pre-tax basis.
