Voglio sapere a riguardo di…

Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 199 / Tuesday, October 19, 2021 / Proposed Rules office notifies employees of their eligibility to enroll in a FEDVIP plan. If an employee in this group is expected to work or does work 130 hours per calendar month for 90 days or more, then he or she is eligible to enroll upon notification by his or her employing office. If an employee is a firefighter or intermittent emergency response personnel, he or she is eligible upon notification of his or her employing office. Coverage will become effective for these newly eligible groups pursuant to 5 CFR 894.504. Employing offices must determine eligibility of new and current employees and upon determining eligibility, promptly offer employees made eligible by this rule an opportunity to enroll in FEDVIP so that coverage becomes effective upon issuance of the final rule.

jspears on DSK121TN23PROD with PROPOSALS1

Enrollment of Active Duty Service Members Who Experience a Status Change to Uniformed Services Retirees This proposed rule clarifies when active duty service members who become uniformed services retirees may enroll in FEDVIP outside of open season. A sponsor on active duty becomes eligible for FEDVIP as a TEI, pursuant to Public Law 108496, when the individual becomes a uniformed services retiree. Under current regulations at 894.501b, an individual may enroll within 60 days of becoming eligible. Under 5 CFR
894.504, the individuals enrollment is effective the first day of the pay period following the one in which the Administrator receives the enrollment.
A sponsor who is on active duty that retires and becomes a TEI could experience a 30-day break in coverage if that individual enrolls when becoming eligible as a uniformed services retiree.
OPM is adding a new paragraph, 5 CFR
894.501e to allow these active duty service members who will experience a status change to a uniformed services retiree to enroll in FEDVIP beginning 31
days before the service member loses other dental or vision coverage to 60
days after becoming eligible to enroll.
We are also amending 5 CFR 894.504d to make the effective date for these individuals enrolling outside of open season to be no earlier than the date the active duty service member lost other coverage.
Addition of New QLEs and Technical Corrections OPM is proposing to amend certain provisions in 5 CFR part 894 to add qualifying life events for enrollees to cancel a FEDVIP enrollment and decrease an enrollment type. During the 2018 Open Season and the period for
VerDate Sep<11>2014

17:18 Oct 18, 2021

Jkt 256001

belated enrollments, OPM became aware of circumstances where enrollees who are both TRICARE-eligible and a Federal employee, wanted to cancel coverage because the enrollee or a dependent became eligible for VA
dental or vision services. OPM is proposing a new QLE for an enrollee to cancel FEDVIP enrollment when the enrollee becomes eligible for such services and for a decrease in enrollment type when a family member who has been covered under an enrollment becomes eligible for VA
dental and or vision services.
In 5 CFR 894.511, OPM proposes to add a new paragraph c that adds a QLE
allowing a TEI sponsor to decrease an enrollment if a TEI family member who is enrolled becomes deployed to active military duty. Currently, this QLE in 5
CFR 894.511b only applies to Federal employees, annuitants or compensationers. In addition, the rule proposes to add a new paragraph d that adds a new QLE for an enrollee to decrease an enrollment type if a covered family member becomes eligible for dental or vision benefits from the VA.
In 5 CFR 894.601, OPM proposes a new paragraph i that addresses when FEDVIP coverage stops if a sponsor becomes eligible to cancel an enrollment outside of open season and elects to do so. If the sponsor cancels a self plus one or self and family enrollment, the sponsor must notify family members of changes in the enrollment. In 5 CFR 894.602, OPM
proposes to add a qualifying life event for an enrollee to cancel their FEDVIP
enrollment if the enrollee is determined to be eligible for and enrolls in dental or vision benefits through the VA. If the enrollee is a sponsor and cancels a self plus one or self and family enrollment in a FEDVIP dental plan, the sponsor meets one of the conditions in 5 CFR
894.309a3iii, and must notify eligible family members about the change in enrollment. Then, an eligible family member would have to reenroll in a FEDVIP dental plan and cover all eligible family members, pursuant to 5
CFR 894.815b and 5 CFR 894.806.
In addition, this proposed rule includes technical corrections. These technical corrections include the following: Capitalization and italicization of certain defined terms throughout 5 CFR part 894; proposal to clarify that premium conversion applies to Federal employees and to update the definition of stepchild in 5 CFR
894.101; proposal to amend the reference to 5 CFR 890.102c in 5 CFR
894.302 so that it refers instead to 5 CFR
890.102c1 through 8; a proposal to amend 5 CFR 894.201 to use the more
PO 00000

Frm 00002

Fmt 4702

Sfmt 4702

57765

inclusive terminology of enrollee instead of the terms employee and annuitant since TEIs are also enrollees; and a proposal to remove 5
CFR 894.203 since the situations for changing a family member under a self plus one enrollment or changing to a self only enrollment are covered in 5
CFR 894.510 and 5 CFR 894.511. This rule also incorporates italicization of defined terms in 5 CFR 894.502.
Expected Impact of Proposed Changes While this rule expands the number of individuals who are potentially eligible for FEDVIP, OPM does not believe this regulation will have a large impact on the broader dental and vision insurance markets. FEDVIP generally constitutes a smaller percentage of dental and vision insurance carriers overall books of business. OPM has contracted with twelve dental carriers and five vision carriers to offer plans under FEDVIP. There are currently twenty-three dental plan options available across FEDVIP from these twelve dental carriers. Within the five vision carriers, there are currently ten vision plan options that are nationwide and internationally available to all potential enrollees.
OPM estimates that as of June 2021
there are approximately 86,000 Federal employees in the impacted categories that are eligible for FEHB that would also be eligible for FEDVIP under this proposed rule. However, using FEHB
Program eligibility as a proxy for FEDVIP eligibility is limited since OPM
cannot estimate the uptake of the eligible population to enroll in FEDVIP.
Since OPM does not have extensive data on and cannot estimate the potential uptake of newly eligible individuals to determine the impact of this regulation, we are seeking comments on the following:
1. How will the regulation impact changes to enrollment in FEDVIP?
2. How will the allowance of new categories of employees impact FEDVIP?
Regulatory Impact Analysis Executive Orders 12866 and 13563
direct agencies to assess all costs and benefits of available regulatory alternatives and, if regulation is necessary, to select regulatory approaches that maximize net benefits including potential economic, environmental, public health and safety effects, distribute impacts, and equity.
Executive Order 13563 emphasizes the importance of quantifying both costs and benefits, of reducing costs, of harmonizing rules, and of promoting flexibility. A regulatory impact analysis must be prepared for major rules with
E:FRFM19OCP1.SGM

19OCP1