The committee's name has been updated over the years as it changes leadership. Image: Katherine Welles/Shutterstock.com
By: FEDweek StaffThe House Oversight and Accountability committee has scheduled votes on a series of workplace-related bills, including one targeting coverage of ineligible persons as family members in the FEHB program.
That bill, HR-7868, requires agencies to verify that an employee is eligible to add a family member to their coverage; requires the OPM to consider coverage of ineligible individuals when conducting FEHB fraud risk assessments; requires a comprehensive audit be conducted of employee family members currently enrolled; and requires OPM to disenroll any ineligible individual found to be receiving FEHBP coverage.
Similar legislation (S-4035) recently was introduced in the Senate on the issue, which the GAO has estimated to add $1 billion a year to the cost of FEHB premiums—shared by both the government and enrollees—due to claims from ineligible persons.
The committee also has scheduled voting on:
* HR-7869, to correct an anomaly that could cause lower retirement benefits for some CBP officers related to their inclusion in the special benefits package for law enforcement officers; and
* HR-3019, to require the Justice Department to conduct risk-based assessments of Bureau of Prisons correctional facilities, including requirements to visit facilities with higher risk scores more frequently to evaluate conditions for staff and inmates and release a public report after each inspection to which the BOP would have to respond.
Meanwhile, a newly introduced House bill (HR-7862) would require HUD, GSA and OMB to identify vacant and underutilized federal buildings that would be suitable for residential use development, and would create a grants program to support conversion by states and local governments.
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See also,
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