GOP lawmakers seek to explore health reform's impact on FEHBP

Government Executive.com: "Sixteen Republican representatives wrote to Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Edolphus Towns, D-N.Y., to demand that he schedule hearings on reform proposals' potential impact on the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program." The letter asks for clarification on if FEHBP would meet requirements for a "qualified health benefits plan" and would be a qualifying plan under health care reform. Towns said plans have five years to become compliant with minimum standards for coverage and that FEHBP changes, if any, would be minor and easy to accomplish (Rosenberg, 11/4).

UPI reports that some House Republicans are pushing an amendment to the House health care reform bill that would require lawmakers to enroll in a government-run public option. It would bar lawmakers from participating in FEHBP (11/4).

The Hill: "Instead, members would have to rely on the Health Insurance Exchange and the public option plan House Democrats are proposing in their latest healthcare reform effort" (Romm, 11/4).

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This article was reprinted from khn.org with permission from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. Kaiser Health News, an editorially independent news service, is a program of the Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonpartisan health care policy research organization unaffiliated with Kaiser Permanente.