Contractor Will Run Open Season

The contractor running the FSA program also will be responsible for administering the open seasons during which employees may elect to join and designate money to be set aside on a pre-tax basis. The first open season is to start May 1, 2003, and cover an enrollment period of the last six months of 2003. The contractor will provide educational materials, collect forms and run a call center. That follows the precedent set under the contract creating the Federal Long Term Care Insurance Program, in which a partnership of contractors, not OPM or individual agency personnel departments, is responsible for carrying out administrative functions.