Blog

Solving the Health Plan Puzzle

The FEHBP will be available from November 11 to December 9 in 2019. You don’t have a lot of time for ensuring that you’ve chosen the right healthcare plan that will take care of your requirements for 2020. It isn’t too early for people to start looking at their options. Recently, major changes have been made to the health program. New options are now available.
FEHBP healthcare plans offer these benefits: laboratory services; emergency services; mental health disorder services (which […]

New Flexible Rules for TSP Withdrawals Stirs Things Up

TSP management, who are in charge of handling the 401(k)-style retirement savings program of the federal government employees remarked that the provision of expanded withdrawal options to employees had made a great shift in how retirees and federal employees have been using their retirement accounts.
The TSP Modernization Act had been put in by the TSP last month, which allows multiple post-separation partial withdrawals to all employees who are participants. Federal employees 59½ years or older can make 4 in-services […]

Three Smart Social Security Moves You Can Make Today

When it comes to planning for retirement Social Security plays an important role. If your savings alone aren’t sufficient for covering all your living expenses this can be especially true.
If you’re looking to improve your financial position, you need a solid Social Security plan in place before starting retirement. While being overtly reliant on Social Security isn’t recommended at all, your benefits may be enough to pay off a significant portion of your bills. You can take several Social […]

Feds Will Pay 5.6% More Toward Health Care Premiums Next Year

Employees of the federal government will now pay an additional 5.6% in insurance premiums by 2020. It is a drastic increase over the last increment that had been announced for this year. It had been one of the lowest increments ever.
On Wednesday the OPM stated that the government’s contribution to FEHBP premiums will increase by around 3.2%. About 70% of an enrollee’s premium costs is what the government is likely to cover. Even though the enrollee’s contribution to premium […]

HHS Engaged in Bad Faith

Independent arbitrator, Robert Creo, announced that the HHSD had engaged in negotiations which weren’t in good faith with the NTEU when it had been negotiating to break the log jam over union contracts in 2018.
NTEU administrative officials, since 2018, have been alleging that HHS management had engaged in several bad faith negotiation measures in order to fulfill the conditions required before they could appeal to the FSIP. There were no real efforts were made to negotiate with union […]

There’s More to it Than Just Getting Insurance to Protect from Ransomware Attacks

Many local governments are dealing with increased threat of ransomware hacking attacks. To deal with this they have now started carrying cyber security insurance in order to stop their damages in case a city’s online computer facilities are taken over by hackers.
However, experts have warned that if they order just basic policies these local governments defense measures might not have the required level of security. Additionally, local governments can become an attractive target for hackers, whenever insurance companies pay […]

“Make our voice heard!” says federal retirees

The possibility of eroding benefits have many federal employees concerned. It is very important for federal retirees voices to be heard. Recently, new laws have been passed that seem to compensate some of the eroding benefits. For instance, sick leave can now be credited if it is unused. Even when this kind of positive change, no doubt that there is still a lot of work to be accomplished. Federal employees who are employed under short – term jobs have […]

Trump’s Workforce orders are being challenged by Federal Unions

The implementation of three executive orders directed at federal Employee Unions has been overturned by the US Court Of Appeals. Judge Ketanji Brown struck these executive orders signed by President Trump. The judge stated that they go against the collective bargaining rights of these employees. The thought behind these orders was to find a way to shorten the improvement plans to no more than 30 days, excluding streamline collective bargaining negotiation and giving a significant reduction to the amount […]

What Takes Place After You Apply For Retirement

Have you ever wondered what takes place when you submit your retirement paperwork? This article briefly explains the process.
After your retirement paperwork is submitted to the Office of Personnel Management they will notify you when it is received and give you a claim identification number. The number has seven digits and followed by the letters “CSA”. When you contact OPM about your retirement annuity, use this claim number. When OPM begins to process your claim they will:

Look over your […]

Bernie Sanders Campaign Now Proposing: Federal Employee Right to Strike.

Democratic presidential candidate, Senator Bernie Sanders, announced this week he was unveiling a comprehensive plan to rally the American labor movement. Due to shrinking union membership, the labor movement has been in decline for decades. The heart of the plan would give federal employee unions the right to strike.
The 1947 Taft-Hartley Act placed a number of restrictions on strikes in both the private and public sectors. The act also banned federal employees from striking at all. In 1981 President […]