April 29, 2008
A summary of daily news relevant to the federal workforce produced by the Partnership for Public Service.
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Senate Special Committee on Aging to Hold a Hearing on Wednesday Entitled Leading by Example: Making Government a
Model for Hiring and Retaining Older Workers
Chairman Kohl (D-WI) will hold a hearing on improving the hiring and retention of older workers within the federal government. Over the next five
years, more than half a million permanent full-time federal employees-or about one-third of the full-time federal workforce-will be eligible to
retire. In ten years, more than 60 percent of the federal workforce will be retirement-eligible. Wednesday's hearing will cover policy recommendations
that would remove obstacles to continued employment past retirement age and create additional incentives, such as flexible working options, to
allow the federal government to better utilize the valuable skills and experience of older workers.
WHEN: Wednesday, April 30 at 3:00 p.m.
WHERE: 216 Hart Senate Office Building
WHO: Max Stier, President and CEO, Partnership for Public Service;
Barbara Bovbjerg, Director, Education, Workforce and Income Security Issues, U.S. Government Accountability Office; Robert Goldenkoff, Director,
Strategic Issues, U.S. Government Accountability Office; Nancy Kichak, Associate Director, Strategic Human Resources Policy, U.S. Office of Personal
Management; Thomas M. Dowd, Administrator, Office of Policy and Development and Research, Employment and Training Administration, U.S. Department of
Labor; and Chai R. Feldblum, Co-Director, Workplace Flexibility 2010
The hearing will be webcast from the committee webpage: www.aging.senate.gov.
A Serious Look at Expensive Drugs
The Washington PostBy Stephen Barr
The Office of Personnel Management is undertaking a review of how
much federal employees and retirees pay for certain types of expensive, specialized prescription drugs that help treat such diseases as cancer,
multiple sclerosis and hepatitis.
Employers and insurance companies determine the share of prescription-drug costs that are passed along to patients, and those decisions sometimes
can create thousands of dollars in out-of-pocket costs for federal employees and retirees.
"We do not want people who are seriously ill being put in the position of being subject to extreme costs," said Nancy H. Kichak, an OPM associate
director. "It is our responsibility, and we do work very hard at it, to make sure there is some limit to what folks have to pay in a serious illness."
The OPM's review grew out of a complaint from someone enrolled in Kaiser Permanente's mid-Atlantic plan that her drug costs had soared and from
discussions with Kaiser, Kichak said in an interview.
The health maintenance organization, effective in January, changed the charge for specialty drugs, known as Tier 4 coverage, from a co-payment, or
a flat rate, to coinsurance, or a percentage of each medication's total cost. The shift to coinsurance had been cleared by the OPM.
Kaiser picked up "rumblings" from patients and physicians who were concerned about the benefit change early in the year, according to Sandra
Gregg, vice president of communications for Kaiser in the mid-Atlantic region.
Some enrollees in the Kaiser plan did not see or did not pay attention to an announcement of the benefits change, while doctors were surprised to
hear from patients about the higher drug costs, Gregg said.
On April 1, Kaiser decided to suspend the coinsurance system for the rest of the year. The company also decided to reimburse enrollees for the
difference between their coinsurance and co-payment rates. By April 9, Gregg said, the company had engaged the OPM and was preparing material to send
to enrollees.
From 700 to 800 Kaiser enrollees have prescriptions for Tier 4 drugs, and some were taking multiple medications that could have cost $300 for each
refill. "We stopped it before it had a chance to spin out of control," Gregg said.
Under the co-pay system, enrollees spend from $7 for a generic drug at a Kaiser pharmacy to $65 for a brand-name medication purchased at a
commercial pharmacy, she said.
The change from the flat rate, first reported by the New York Times, raised questions of fairness because it appeared some enrollees were being
singled out and required to pay more than others. "It seems to go against the philosophy of having a group plan with the risks spread out over all of
the enrollees," said David B. Snell, director of retirement benefits at the National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association.
Kichak said the OPM has had no complaints about Tier 4 pricing from federal enrollees in other health plans, but "this whole thing has given us a
new viewpoint, and we have started looking at other carriers."
An Incentive for Volunteer Service
Legislation that would permit federal employees to use two sick-leave days each year to perform volunteer community service was introduced by Rep.
James P. Moran Jr. (D-Va.) yesterday.
Moran announced his bill at the start of National Volunteer Week, an annual celebration of volunteers and their contributions.
It was established by presidential proclamation in 1974.
Numerous companies have time-off policies in support of community service, Moran said, citing Wells Fargo, Toro, CDW and Wegmans as examples.
"This legislation is about providing our civil service with a benefit on par with what is being offered by some of the more desirable workplaces in
the U.S.," Moran said.
Under the bill, federal employees could volunteer to serve at organizations that qualify for the Combined Federal Campaign, the government's
annual charity drive, or at groups approved by the Office of Personnel Management.
Save the Date for Food Drive
The nation's largest food drive to combat hunger will be conducted May 10 by the National Association of Letter Carriers in more than 10,000
cities and towns, the union has announced.
The union's annual "Stamp Out Hunger" drive is its 16th. Mail carriers collected 70.7 million pounds of food last year, the union said.
Donors are asked to leave non-perishable products -- such as canned meats, soups, cereals, pasta and rice -- in a bag near
their mailbox on May 10 before the letter carrier arrives. Donations will be delivered to food banks, pantries and shelters that serve the area where
they are collected, union president William H. Young said.
What's Hip in Government? All Things Green
Federal Times
By Tim Kauffman
Anyone doubting the scope of the federal government's commitment to environmental stewardship need only to have toured the General Services
Administration's booth at the agency’s annual exhibition last week.
Solar panels and wind turbines on display showcased GSA's efforts to equip federal buildings with clean sources of energy. Rows and rows of
eco-friendly office and cleaning supplies offered a glimpse of the green products available for purchase on GSA's federal supply schedules contracts.
Marketing materials encouraged the thousands of federal employees at the event to telecommute and to drive hybrid vehicles.
"Whether it's the real estate, whether it's the technology, whether it's the maintenance, or just the basic products agencies use, we have an
ability to inform and influence that really no other agency has," GSA Administrator Lurita Doan said at the event.
And agencies are taking notice. They face tough new eco-friendly standards affecting their buildings, vehicles and office purchases, and the Bush
administration is measuring their progress.
A report issued last week shows most agencies are showing progress. They've expanded their purchases of green products, exceeded renewable energy
mandates and begun integrating their environmental priorities into all management and operational decisions.
The report from the White House Office of the Federal Environmental Executive covers fiscal 2004-06, before President Bush set more ambitious
conservation goals in a January 2007 executive order. According to the latest administration scorecard, which tracks progress on the goals in the year
since the order was issued, most agencies continue to improve.
Agencies are required to reduce overall energy consumption by 3 percent a year, gradually increase the percentage of renewable energy used from 3
percent to 7.5 percent by 2012, and cut water consumption by 2 percent annually. Fourteen agencies met or exceeded these goals last year, the
administration said.
The combination of increasingly ambitious conservation mandates from Congress and rising costs for electricity and fuel have peaked demand for
energy-efficient products and services, officials say. The price for a barrel of oil ballooned from $65 to $114 in the past year and is expected to
reach $150 by year's end, said Mark Ewing, GSA's energy director.
"As a federal procurement official, it's becoming increasingly tough to project your utility budget in this kind of market," Ewing said.
One way to mitigate the cost of power is to invest in technologies that allow power to be generated on site, Ewing said.
In June, GSA will unveil a vast array of solar panels at the Denver Federal Center that will generate one-fourth of the center's power and
generate enough electricity when the federal buildings aren't in use to power more than 140 nearby homes. The 3,000 solar panels cover six areas of
land.
At the Frederick C. Murphy Federal Center in Waltham, Mass., the northeast headquarters of the National Archives and Records Administration, solar
panels covering the roof have generated enough energy to save 462,000 pounds of coal-fired emissions since coming online in late 2006.
In about six months, GSA will outfit the roof of the Tip O'Neill Federal Building in Boston with three types of wind micro-turbines in a test that
could lead to the technology being installed at other offices. Ewing said the Boston facility was chosen because of state incentives that will cover
half the cost of installing the turbines.
Energy conservation is just one way agencies are getting green. They're also becoming increasingly aware of the environmental attributes of the
products they purchase.
Doan said GSA has been selling green products and services for years, but only recently have agencies begun to seek out and request those
services. In fact, this year’s GSA Expo was the first to feature training on environmental and green procurement solutions.
The types of green products purchased by the government runs the gamut from light bulbs and furniture to cleaning supplies and computers, said
Dana Arnold, chief of staff at the Office of the Federal Environmental Executive. Many everyday products qualify as green even though it might not be
obvious, such as newspapers and soda bottles that are made from recycled content.
"We buy and use these products every single day, either for personal use or for home use, and no one thinks about [the fact that] they’re a
green product," Arnold said.
The government has been buying green products for more than 20 years, although various divisions or offices within an agency largely acted
independently of one another when making decisions about purchasing green products. The president's 2007 executive order sought to make those efforts
more coordinated and effective as they relate to facility management, construction, information technology and vehicle fleet management.
Although there is increased interest among federal employees in being more environmentally responsible, Arnold said, there
remain perceptions among many that green options don't work as well as nongreen alternatives and are inconsistent with requirements to purchase from
mandatory sources such as minority-owned businesses.
VA Launches Vet Benefits Outreach Call Center
Federal Daily
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) will open a new outreach program on May 1 to ensure that nearly 570,000 recent combat
veterans know about the VA medical services and benefits to which they are entitled. The "Combat Veteran Call Center" will operate in two phases, VA
said in a statement. In Phase I, calls will go to an estimated 17,000 veterans who were sick or injured while serving in Iraq or Afghanistan. VA will
offer to appoint a care manager to work with them if they don't yet have one, the agency said. In Phase II, calls will target and inform 550,000
combat veterans who have been discharged from active duty but who have not contacted VA for services, VA said. "We will leave no stone unturned to
reach these veterans," said Edward Huycke, chief of the Veterans Affairs-Department of Defense coordination office.
FDA Faulted for Approving Studies of Artificial Blood
The Washington Post
By Rob Stein
A new analysis concludes that the Food and Drug Administration approved experiments with artificial blood substitutes even after studies showed
that the controversial products posed a clear risk of causing heart attacks and death.
The review of combined data from more than 3,711 patients who participated in 16 studies testing five different types of artificial blood,
released yesterday, found that the products nearly tripled the risk of heart attacks and boosted the chances of dying by 30 percent.
Based on the findings, the researchers questioned why the FDA allowed additional testing of the products to go forward and why the agency is
considering letting yet another study proceed.
"It's hard to understand," said Charles Natanson, a senior investigator at the National Institutes of Health who led the analysis, which was
released early by the Journal of the American Medical Association so the data could be presented at an FDA meeting on the subject. "They already had
data that these products could cause heart attacks and evidence that they could kill."
An FDA official defended the agency, saying it had carefully weighed the risks and benefits of each study individually and had convened this
week's two-day meeting to address the very concerns raised by the analysis.
"FDA independently was aware of essentially the same concerns that have been raised, and indeed that is the reason we have convened this
scientific workshop and is the reason why we have made careful decisions about allowing some studies to proceed and others not to proceed," said Jay
S. Epstein, director of the Office of Blood Research and Review. "Our point of view is that FDA has been highly vigilant in its oversight."
An artificial blood substitute that has a long shelf life and does not need refrigeration could save untold lives by providing an alternative to
trauma patients in emergencies, especially in rural areas and in combat settings.
But attempts to develop such products have been marred by repeated failures and fraught with controversy, in part because some products have been
studied under rules allowing researchers to administer them without obtaining consent from individual patients. Such trials were permitted based on
the argument that there was no alternative because trauma patients are often unconscious and time is often too limited to obtain consent from a family
member.
To read the entire article, click here.
