Fond Du Lac Times

Today, Congressman Glenn Grothman's bill, the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program (FEHB) Protection Act, passed out of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform with bipartisan support. The bill now awaits consideration on the House floor.

The legislation aims to reduce government waste by enhancing oversight of the FEHB program. It seeks to ensure that eligible federal employees and their dependents receive benefits they have paid for while reducing improper payments.

"With a renewed focus on government efficiency, now is the time to examine all programs big and small," said Grothman. "Improper payments are rife within the federal government and on top of being a gross misuse of taxpayer’s money, they can threaten the viability of programs that people who play by the rules depend on. The FEHB Protection Act will cut waste with commonsense changes, like adding eligibility checks and fraud risk assessments. I look forward to this legislation coming before the full House for a vote so we can save taxpayers up to $5.2 billion over the next decade."

The Federal Employees Health Benefits Program (FEHBP) covers approximately 8.2 million individuals, including 2.2 million federal employees, 1.9 million retirees, and an estimated 4.1 million family members costing approximately $59 billion in combined annual premiums paid by both the government and enrollees.

A December 2022 Government Accountability Office report highlighted concerns about insufficient controls for verifying eligibility of covered family members in FEHBP. This issue costs taxpayers an estimated $250 million to $3 billion annually due to fraudulent and improper payments.

To address these issues, the FEHB Protection Act mandates federal agencies verify employee eligibility when adding family members to their health coverage plan under FEHBP. The bill also requires that the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) consider coverage of ineligible individuals during fraud risk assessments and conduct comprehensive audits of currently enrolled employee family members' eligibility documentation.

Additionally, OPM must disenroll or remove any ineligible individual found receiving FEHBP coverage. The bill proposes centralizing FEHBP administration at OPM and continuing oversight funding for OPM's Inspector General to prevent future fraud.

U.S. Rep. Glenn Grothman serves Wisconsin’s 6th Congressional District in Congress.