GovernmentExecutive.com

The Office of Personnel Management is accepting late enrollments from people who experienced technical difficulties when they tried to sign up for new federal dental and vision insurance.

Open season to enroll in the new Federal Employees Dental and Vision Insurance Program ended Monday, but the program's Web site, Benefeds.com, and phone lines have been flooded by a high level of traffic, OPM said, making it hard for some people to get through. They will have until Friday, Dec. 15, to sign up.

"This opportunity may be extended further if volume warrants," stated a notice on the Benefeds.com site Monday afternoon.

OPM is adding computer and phone capacity as part of its efforts to address the problem, a spokesman said.

Employees who are late to sign up because of problems with the Web site or phone line will not see a delay in the insurance, the spokesman said.

This is the first year that current and retired federal employees have had the option to sign up for supplemental vision and dental insurance during the open season. There is no government subsidy for this type of insurance.

Biweekly premiums for family dental plans range from around $20 to $55 and feature 100 percent coverage for preventative dental work and varying coverage for other procedures. Family vision insurance will range from about $8 to $16 every two weeks.

The OPM spokesman declined to say on Monday how many employees had signed up for the new benefits. The Washington Post on Friday reported that about 325,000 people have enrolled.

COMMENTS

• To call the dental and vision programs benefits is going too far. These are not benefits! These programs simply are the government negotiating private policies for its workers, similarly to the long-term care policies you can get through the government. I checked on the LTC programs and could get better rates outside the government for more coverage than I was likely to use. What the government offers is not a benefit! If the government does not subsidize it - OPM should not offer it. Where is the centralized management of prescription drugs by Medicare? A much larger program and "benefit" for the American public. OPM is touting benefits that really are not benefits. The dental program I evaluated was worthless unless you assume you are going to get an entirely new mouth -- highly unlikely! Taxpayer Posted December 18, 2006 9:43 AM
• I was among those unable to enroll in coverage at the last minute -- my own fault! However, what did occur to me was what crappy service surely must await us if this is the best the program can offer. Besides, I have been "self-insuring" for both vision and dental for my entire career -- what do I need these jokers for? Oh yes, with the advent of FSAs I had finally been able to have everything fixed at the dentist. So again – what do I need those BeneFed-friends-of-Bush-that-wanna-take-your-money people for? Cracked & Wired Posted December 14, 2006 10:11 AM
• The government does not subsidize these programs, so why is the signup limited to a set time period? It seems that OPM can only operate in a set time period that generates a peak load problem that justifies more staff than necessary. I can buy insurance anytime during the year except for the insurance offered by the government, even if it is unsubsidized. What is wrong with this picture? Maybe we need more competence in the handling of benefits and payroll because the payroll people cannot handle any change that occurs other than at the end of a pay period. Thank God the private sector knows how to operate any time for anything. Taxpayer Posted December 12, 2006 6:41 AM