The full House Government Reform Committee has approved a bill (HR-994) to allow federal retirees (along with military retirees) to pay Federal Employees Health Benefits premiums with pre-tax money—called premium conversion–as is allowed for active employees. The measure, which has been a priority of committee chairman Tom Davis, R-Va., also is before the House Ways and Means Committee, however; in the last Congress, that panel failed to act on the measure even though the Government Reform panel similarly approved it. The Ways and Means committee primarily is concerned about the cost and the precedent the bill would set for granting a similar tax break to private sector retirees, at a potentially much higher cost. The Congressional Budget Office last year estimated the cost in lost tax revenues of $12 billion over 10 years just from extending the benefit to federal retirees.