Pay & Benefits
Biden administration forgives $4.5B in student debt for public service workers
The president said that more than 1 million public servants to date have had their federal student debt canceled.
Pay & Benefits
OPM sets up leave transfer program for feds impacted by Milton
Federal workers will soon be able to donate unused leave to their colleagues who need time to recover after Hurricane Milton made landfall in Florida Wednesday.
Oversight
OPM’s retirement backlog has fallen off the agency’s list of top management challenges
The Office of Personnel Management’s inspector general last month reported that the federal government’s dedicated HR agency faces taller tasks in the form of launching a health insurance program for postal workers and verifying enrollees’ eligibility for the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program.
Pay & Benefits
A closer look at 2025 FEHBP premiums
Open Season is just a few weeks away, and costs are increasing this year. What does that mean for federal employees?
Pay & Benefits
Lawmakers consider making military leave more equitable for feds with non-traditional work schedules
Currently, the annual cap on paid leave available to federal employees associated with their service in the National Guard is 15 days, which advocates say works well for traditional weekday work schedules but not for employees who frequently work weekends.
Pay & Benefits
OPM announces leave transfer program for feds affected by Helene
Federal employees will soon be able to donate unused leave to their colleagues who need time to recover after Hurricane Helene caused widespread destruction across the Southeast.
Pay & Benefits
VA proposes grant program offering vets legal services to help obtain benefits
The department’s goal is to assist former service members who were discharged under other than honorable conditions but could still be eligible for VA benefits.
Pay & Benefits
TSP continues upward trek for third straight month
Each portfolio within the federal government’s 401(k)-style retirement savings program saw modest gains in September.
Pay & Benefits
Federal workers will see the largest increase to their health care premiums in recent memory next year
In a year where insurers have expanded coverage for multiple medical treatments, federal employees will see their Federal Employees Health Benefits Program premiums increase by an average of 13.5% in 2025.
Pay & Benefits
Multiple FEHBP carriers will offer 'comprehensive' IVF coverage next year
Biden administration officials said that two nationwide insurers in the federal government’s employer-sponsored health care program will offer $25,000 worth of in vitro fertilization and other fertility treatments.
Pay & Benefits
House takes another stab at a bill reimbursing new veterans for emergency care
Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., is hoping a reintroduced version of the RELIEVE Act will finally close the VA’s emergency care coverage loophole after Congress previously dropped the measure from the fiscal 2024 supplemental funding package.
Pay & Benefits
Lawmakers force a vote on eliminating the windfall elimination provision
Reps. Abigail Spanberger, D-Va., and Garrett Graves, R-La., have secured the 218 signatures needed to force a vote on legislation that would kill two controversial tax provisions affecting some feds’ retirement benefits.
Pay & Benefits
Senate advances $3B VA supplemental bill one day before deadline
The chamber approved legislation by voice vote Thursday to provide the Veterans Affairs Department with an extra $3 billion to cover a surge in veterans benefits costs ahead of a potential service disruption.
Pay & Benefits
How did the VA end up with a $3 billion shortfall? Leaders say staff over-delivered
VA officials outlined how a surge in PACT Act claims outpaced initial budget projections in a Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee hearing Wednesday, days before a processing deadline affecting the benefit payments of 7 million veterans.
Pay & Benefits
House passes $3B VA supplemental budget ahead of Friday deadline
The chamber advanced the multi-billion-dollar stopgap bill by voice vote Tuesday evening, giving the Senate three days to pass the legislation to cover a budget shortfall.
Pay & Benefits
HHS expands health benefits eligibility for 9/11 responders under new rule
The interim final rule, published on the 23rd anniversary of the terror attack, opens eligibility for the World Trade Center Health Program to resolve coverage gaps for Pentagon and Shanksville, Pennsylvania, responders.
Pay & Benefits
Are you financially prepared for retirement?
If you haven’t started, consider making a retirement plan. Now.
Workforce
D.C. lawmaker reintroduces measure to grant whistleblower, OSHA protections to congressional workers
The Congress Leads by Example Act would afford employees of the legislative branch whistleblower and OSHA retaliation protections, along with parental bereavement leave benefits.
Pay & Benefits
All TSP portfolios posted modest gains in August
Each of the federal government’s 401(k)-style retirement savings program’s investment options gained value for the second straight month.
Pay & Benefits