Vision and dental blues

Some federal employees would be willing to trade other benefits, such as their generous leave time, for subsidized vision and dental insurance.

The April 18 Pay and Benefits column asked readers for their thoughts on federal benefits. The clearest message sent by readers was that dental and vision benefits are at the top of federal employees' most wanted benefits list.

"In order for us to clearly see our way through and be able to swallow what life dishes out, we need top-notch vision and good teeth," a Labor Department employee in New York said.

No one said they would leave the government because it doesn't offer vision and dental coverage, but readers underscored how valuable those benefits would be.

"I took my position because of my job description," a liquid propulsion engineer at NASA wrote. "It's something I couldn't do in the private sector, where I'd likely be pigeonholed. This was enough to offset the 20 percent to 25 percent lower pay I get as a federal employee instead of as an engineer for a big aerospace company. I'd really like, though, the great dental and vision benefits I earned for just a few months as an intern at Boeing a few summers back."

According to an Office of Personnel Management document, OPM stopped allowing health insurance companies to increase their dental and vision benefits for federal workers several years ago. OPM wanted Federal Employees Health Benefits Program (FEHBP) companies to focus on hospital, surgical and other medical benefits and to keep premiums low.

Despite OPM's stance, some federal health plans already offer dental benefits as part of their standard package, so employees in areas covered by those plans have the option to get coverage. An Indian Health Service doctor from the Northwest reported that his FEHBP plan, Group Health Cooperative, includes both dental and vision coverage.

But plans with good dental benefits are not available to all federal employees, since coverage varies by region. Many plans don't offer dental coverage, offer limited coverage with high deductibles or offer dental coverage as a separate package for which an employee has to pay extra.

Some employees said the separate packages are not worth the expense. "The supplemental plans offered (at staggering costs) are not comprehensive, and in the long run you save money by not paying the monthly supplemental charge and merely pay for the dental fees yourself," a Defense Logistics Agency employee said.

Some readers were willing to sacrifice other benefits for subsidized dental coverage, with most suggesting a reduction in leave benefits in return for dental and vision plans. "The 26 days (5 weeks) annual leave I earn is more than enough," a Forest Service database manager said. "I work irregular hours with flextime, comp time, and credit hours so getting time off is no problem. I would gladly give up a week of annual leave each year for vision and dental care."

Other people said there shouldn't have to be any trade-off. "The federal government should be ashamed of its lack of dental and vision coverage," said an assistant counsel at the Navy. "These are musts, and should at least be offered as an option as soon as possible."

In its new white paper on federal pay modernization, OPM said employers, including the government, need to look at four types of rewards for recruiting and retaining employees and getting them to perform well. The four types are compensation, benefits, learning and development and work environment. OPM is focusing on the compensation system right now. The agency has no plans to boost dental benefits.

But OPM Director Kay Coles James told National Treasury Employees Union representatives at a conference in March that she supports flexible spending accounts, a benefit offered by 69 percent of private sector employers, according to the Society for Human Resource Management's 2002 benefits survey. Flexible spending accounts allow employees to stow a certain amount of money each year, say $5,000, in tax-free shelters for medical expenses (and sometimes child care). Employees could put the money toward dental and vision care. Flexible spending accounts are not as generous a benefit as subsidized coverage, but the accounts would save employees at tax time. Proponents say the cost to the government would be low.

Several readers said they would prefer flexible spending accounts over additional mandates in the federal health plan, which would drive up costs. Others said they would prefer full dental coverage but would settle for flexible spending accounts.

Comments from Pay and Benefits Watch readers on other subjects will serve as fodder for future columns, including columns on relocation benefits, parental leave and other benefits issues. Stay tuned.