Some Benefit Proposals Still to Come

Meanwhile, the budget does not recommend cuts in the core federal benefits of retirement and health insurance, although it does assume savings in the Federal Employees Health Benefits program that would result from “a proposed technical change to the FEHB statute that will be transmitted separately”—presumably designed to increase price competition among plans, since that concept is mentioned elsewhere in the budget. The budget also says the administration will send to Capitol Hill a “Federal Retirement Improvements Act” designed to “correct benefit inequities, simplify program administration and reduce improper payments.” The budget does not specify what such proposals would be, but there has been interest in Congress for example in changing a provision of CSRS retirement law that has the effect of discouraging employees from switching to part-time jobs later in their careers. There also has been interest in better coordinating the benefits of Social Security and federal retirement programs.