OPM loosens restrictions on life, health insurance for Katrina victims

The Office of Personnel Management is relaxing requirements on many insurance and health benefits for employees affected by Hurricane Katrina.

For the Federal Employees' Group Life Insurance Program, OPM is waiving the requirement for a death certificate to obtain insurance settlements. The agency said it will accept a written statement from agencies that the insured employee was killed by the hurricane. If a statement is not available, then OPM will consider additional sources like newspaper and Internet accounts.

The first step for agencies with missing employees is to immediately e-mail the insurance group at fegli@opm.gov, and provide the missing employee's name and any additional information that is available, including job title, agency where last employed, and date of birth. Agencies should do this even if not all the information is available to certify coverage and submit a claim.

In a letter to agencies, OPM Deputy Associate Director Kathleen McGettigan asked agency officials to annotate FEGLI claim forms with any information about affected employees. She said these forms should indicate that they are a "Katrina claim" so FEGLI administrators can expedite them.

Agencies should send claim forms, with "Katrina claim" clearly marked on the envelope, to:

OFEGLI
P.O. Box 2627
Jersey City, N.J.
07303-2627

If agencies are using an overnight service, then claims should be sent to:

OFEGLI
2 Montgomery Street
Jersey City, NJ
07302-3802

In addition, OPM is asking contracted providers of the Federal Employees Health Benefit Program that serve clients in the Gulf Coast region to "demonstrate maximum flexibility" in fulfilling the needs of affected federal workers.

OPM wants providers to relax the requirement for employees to give notification within two business days of an emergency medical service. It requested that providers be more lenient when it comes to the level of benefit they provide to out-of-network caregivers.

The agency also asked FEHB providers to offer immediate payment for work-related injuries sustained by employees in the hurricane and to obtain reimbursement from the Office of Workers' Compensation Programs, rather than have the employees go through the OWCP themselves.

Blue Cross Blue Shield of America's Federal Employee Program, one of the largest health care providers to government employees, will "absolutely" comply with all OPM's requests for participants in affected areas, said Fred Plumb, executive director for Federal Employee Programs Operations.

In addition, Plumb said the insured will be able to receive coverage if they are relocated to Houston or other areas. BCBSA provided similar services for customers in the wake of the Oklahoma City bombing and the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

Employees affected by the hurricane who are enrolled in the Federal Long Term Care Insurance Program, which provides insurance for nursing home or in-home care, will not have their policies canceled if they miss premiums. Normally, if employees are more than 30 days overdue on premiums, their plans are terminated. McGettigan said OPM "will work with these enrollees at a later time to bring their accounts up to date."

The National Finance Center in New Orleans processes some agencies' Flexible Spending Accounts. As a result, a small number of employees who have FSAs, which allow employees to make pretax salary contributions to pay for medical and dependent care expenses, might experience irregularities. McGettigan said to contact fsa@opm.gov if this occurs.