The Biden administration is expanding dental and vision benefits to temporary, seasonal, and part-time workers, certain firefighters and emergency response personnel.
The proposed rule issued by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) would extend eligibility to enroll in the Federal Employees Dental and Vision Insurance Program (FEDVIP) to temporary, seasonal, and part-time workers who became eligible for Federal Employees Health Benefits (FEHB) enrollment beginning in 2015. It would also extend eligibility to certain firefighters on temporary appointments and intermittent emergency response personnel who became eligible for FEHB coverage in 2012.
Specifically, the FEDVIP eligibility would be extended temporary workers who work 130 hours per month for at least 90 days and certain firefighters on temporary and intermittent appointments whose schedules usually don’t meet this requirement.
“OPM estimates that as of June 2021 there are approximately 86,000 Federal employees in the impacted categories that are eligible for FEHB that would also be eligible for FEDVIP under this proposed rule,” said OPM.
About 7.3 million individuals are covered under FEDVIP, including retirees and dependents.