Data Suggest Low Participation

Office of Personnel Management officials believe that while enrollment in the current open season for participation July 1-December 31 will be low, participation will rise in the autumn open season for the 2004 calendar year when an educational campaign will be conducted. But they also note that in medium and large private sector employers, the take-up rate is only about 20 percent, while in the U.S. Postal Service, which has had its own program for several years, the figure is about 8 percent, and in the federal courts system, which also has a similar program, it’s around 16 percent. The Congressional Budget Office has estimated that 10 percent of employees will enroll in the first year and that participation will grow to 20 percent over five years.