The 2014 Federal Employees Health Benefits (FEHB) Open Season is scheduled for November 11 through December 10, 2013, 5 p.m. Central Time (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:
n Enroll if not enrolled.
n Change from one plan to another plan.
n Change from one option to another option.
n Change from Self Only to Self and Family.
n Change from Self and Family to Self Only.
n Cancel enrollment.
n Change from pre-tax to post-tax payment of health insurance premiums, or vice versa.
Enrollment changes and new enrollments made during the 2013 Open Season will be effective January 11, 2014 (Pay Period 3-2014).
The 2014 Guide to Benefits for (1) Postal Police Officers and Career Non-Bargaining Management employees (RI 70-2); (2) APWU, NALC, NPMHU, and NRLCA Career employees (RI 70-2A); (3) Postal Inspection Service, Office of Inspector General (OIG), and Postal Career Executive Service (PCES) employees (RI 70-2IN); (4); Information Technology/Accounting Services Career employees (RI 70-2IT); and (5) Career Postal Service Professional Nurses (RI 70-2NU); (6) Certain temporary (non-career) employees (RI 70-8PS) will be mailed from the national level to each employee’s address of record. Each 2014 Guide to Benefits includes:
n An overview of FEHB Program eligibility requirements and election choices during open season.
n 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).
n A comparison of biweekly premium costs of participating plans.
n An explanation of the pre-tax payment feature, including a current listing of qualifying life events.
n FEHB member survey results provided by the individual health plans.
n Information about plans that are committed to the use of health information technology and healthcare quality and price/cost information.
n PostalEASE FEHB Worksheet and PostalEASE Health Savings Account (HSA) Worksheet for employees enrolled in High Deductible Health Plans (HDHP) who wish to make pre-tax payroll contributions to their HSAs.
Note: Plan brochures that include benefits, cost, and other major features of each health plan are available at http://opm.gov/healthcare-insurance/healthcare/ plan-information
.
Employees will receive the 2014 Guide to Federal Employees Dental and Vision Insurance Program (FEDVIP BK-1). Guides will also be available on LiteBlue at: http://liteblue.usps.gov under My HR-Benefits.
To assist in publicizing this FEHB Open Season, all installations are asked to post on bulletin boards the open season notice of this Postal Bulletin and leave it posted through December 10, 2013.
The Federal Employees Dental and Vision Insurance Program (FEDVIP) open season notice of this Postal Bulletin should be posted on bulletin boards through December 9, 2013.
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, and bulk mail centers, the Office of Inspector General, selected Postal Inspection Service divisions, and selected Headquarters field units.
The Rural Carrier Benefit Plan brochure will be distributed automatically only to district and area Human Resources offices.
Order these items directly from plan sponsors:
n 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:
n PS Form 8201, Pre-Tax Health Insurance Premium Waiver/Restoration Form for Career Employees.
n 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, or contact the Human Resources Shared Service Center at 877-477-3273, option 5; TTY 866-260-7507.
— Compensation,
Labor Relations, 11-14-13
