Human Resources

Health Benefits Open Season

The 2008 Federal Employees Health Benefits (FEHB) Open Season is scheduled for November 10 through December 9, 2008, 5 p.m. CT. Many Open Season changes may be made via self-service on PostalEASE. During this Open Season, eligible employees may make any one, or a combination, of the following changes:

• Enroll if not enrolled.
• Change from one plan to another plan.
• Change from one option to another option.
• Change from Self Only to Self and Family.
• Change from Self and Family to Self Only.
• Cancel enrollment.
• Change from pre-tax to post-tax payment of health insurance premiums, or vice versa.

Enrollment changes and new enrollments made during the 2008 Open Season will be effective January 3, 2009 (Pay Period 02-09).

Distribution of Open Season Materials

Employees

The 2009 Guide to Benefits for (1) Career employees (RI 70-2); (2) Postal Inspection Service and Office of Inspector General (OIG) employees (RI 70-2IN); (3) Certain temporary (noncareer) employees (RI 70-8PS); and (4) Postal nurses (RI 70-2NU) will be mailed from the national level to each employee’s address of record. Each 2009 Guide to Benefits includes:

• An overview of FEHB Program eligibility require­ments and election choices during Open Season.
• Overviews of the Federal Employees Dental and Vision Insurance Program (FEDVIP), Flexible Spend­ing Accounts Program (FSA), Federal Employees’ Group Life Insurance Program (FEGLI), and Federal Long Term Care Insurance Program (FLTCIP).
• A comparison of biweekly premium costs of partici­pating plans.
• An explanation of the pre-tax payment feature, including a current listing of qualifying life status changes.
• Enrollee survey results provided by the individual health plans.
• Information about plans that are committed to the use of health information technology and healthcare quality and price/cost information.

All employees eligible for FEHB will also receive the 2009 Guide to Federal Employees Dental and Vision Insur­ance Program (FEDVIP BK-1).

Installations

To assist in publicizing this FEHB Open Season, all installations are asked to post on bulletin boards the Open Season notice provided on page 71 of this Postal Bulletin and leave it posted through December 9, 2008.

The Material Distribution Center (MDC) will make an automatic distribution of most fee-for-service brochures to all customer service district offices, processing and distri­bution centers, airport mail centers, bulk mail centers, remote encoding centers, the Office of Inspector General, selected Postal Inspection Service Divisions, and selected Headquarters field units.

The SAMBA Health Benefit Plan is now open to all employees, and the brochure will be distributed with the fee-for-service brochures.

The Rural Carrier Benefit Plan brochure will be distrib­uted automatically only to district and area Human Resources offices. Additional copies may also be requisi­tioned from the MDC.

The following items may be requisitioned from the MDC by using touch-tone order entry (TTOE): Call 800-273-1509.

Note: You must be registered to use TTOE. To register, call 800-332-0317, option 1, extension 2925, and follow the prompts to leave a message. (Wait 48 hours after register­ing before placing your first order.)

• RI 70-2, 2009 Guide to Benefits for Career USPS Employees — postal stocking number (PSN) 7690-03-000-3774.
• RI 70-2IN, 2009 Guide to Benefits for USPS Inspec­tors and Office of Inspector General Employees — PSN 7690-09-000-9077.
• RI 70-2NU, 2009 Guide to Benefits for Postal Nurses — PSN 7690-11-000-5259.
• RI 70-5, 2009 Guide to Federal Benefits for TCC and Former Spouse Enrollees — PSN 7690-03-000-3772.
• RI 70-8 PS, 2009 Guide to Benefits for Certain Tem­porary (Non-Career) USPS Employees — PSN 7690-03-000-3754.
• RI 72-5, Rural Carriers Benefit Plan (individual plan brochure for the rural carriers closed enrollment fee-for-service plan) — PSN 7690-03-000-3809.
• FEDVIP BK-1, 2009 Guide to Federal Employees Dental and Vision Insurance Program for USPS Employees (including Law Enforcement) — PSN 7610-09-000-9112.

Order directly from plan sponsors:

• Brochures for health maintenance organizations (HMOs), Point-of-Service (POS) Plans and High Deductible and Consumer-Driven Health Plans.

These two forms are available on the Postal Service PolicyNet website:

• PS Form 8201, Pre-Tax Health Insurance Premium Waiver/ Restoration Form for Career Employees.
• PS Form 8202, Pre-Tax Health Insurance Premium Election/Waiver Form for Noncareer Employees.

To find these forms, go to http://blue.usps.gov; under “Essential Links,” click Forms.

Additional Information

Publication 12, Health Benefits Open Season Adminis­trative and Processing Information, addresses FEHB Open Season administrative issues. It contains the following information:

• Open Season materials, including details of when and how to requisition a residual supply of materials.
• Eligibility requirements for coverage.
• List of FEHB health plan withdrawals and other significant plan changes.
• Comprehensive medical plan (HMO) contact information.
• Personnel processing information.
• Open Season publicity material.

Publication 12 is available on the Postal Service™ PolicyNet website:

• Go to http://blue.usps.gov.
• Under “Essential Links” in the left-hand column, click PolicyNet.
• On the PolicyNet page, click PUBs.

— Compensation,
Human Resources, 10-23-08

Federal Employees Health Benefits

Open Season
November 10, 2008, to December 9, 2008

HEALTH BENEFITS OPEN SEASON
ON PostalEASE

The Federal Employees Health Benefits (FEHB) Open Season will be held from November 10 to December 9, 2008, closing at 5:00 p.m. CT. Employees should complete the PostalEASE FEHB worksheet included in the mailing to their homes, and enter enrollment information directly into PostalEASE via the Web, kiosk, or telephone.

During this open season, eligible employees may make any one, or a combination, of the following changes using PostalEASE:

• Enroll if not enrolled.
• Cancel enrollment.
• Change from one plan to another plan.
• Change from one option to another option.
• Change from Self Only to Self and Family.
• Change from Self and Family to Self Only.

Enrollment changes and new enrollments made during the 2008 FEHB Open Season will be effective January 3, 2009 (Pay Period 02-09). New premium payments will be reflected in paychecks dated January 23, 2009.

— Compensation, Human Resources, 10-23-08

Please post on all bulletin boards through December 9, 2008.

(See article on page 69.)