Estimates of Participation Made

In its request for bids, OPM indicated that it expects a relatively small percentage of employees would participate at the outset but that participation would grow significantly after several years. It projected that of an eligible population of 1.8 million, 225,000 would open health care accounts and 90,000 would open dependent care accounts in 2003, and that those numbers would rise to 306,000 and 144,000, respectively, after four years. It noted that the largest agency with such a program already established, the U.S. Postal Service, has only an 8 percent participation rate. However, participation is double that rate among employees of the judiciary branch who also have such accounts available, and participation among the several financial regulatory agencies that also already have FSA programs is higher still. Agencies that have already implemented their own FSAs will be able to choose to participate in the government-wide program or retain their own program.