FEHB Call Letter Due Soon

The Office of Personnel Management is due to issue soon its annual “call letter,” in which it outlines the coverage features it wants in the Federal Employees Health Benefits program the following year. In recent years, OPM has used the call letter to encourage health carriers to offer alternative forms of coverage, such as the “consumer-driven” plans now offered by several carriers as well as the “high deductible health plans” that were introduced last year. The letter is the start of a months-long process that results in the announcement each autumn of new premium rates and coverage terms for the succeeding calendar year.