Health Premium Pressure

The Office of Personnel Management was able to hold down average premium increases in the Federal Employee Health Benefits Plan this year by dipping into financial reserves. But that didn't help all participants in the plan. Some federal employees and retirees in California saw steep increases in their premiums, the San Francisco Chronicle reports, because, for technical reasons, giant HMO Kaiser Permanente didn't benefit as much as other FEHBP providers from OPM's move.