WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Senator Rick Scott and Senator Tom Carper announced the bipartisan FEHB Protection Act to stop fraud within the Federal Employee Health Benefits (FEHB) program, the largest employer-sponsored health insurance program in the country which covers eight million federal employees, retirees and family members. The FEHB Protection Act will codify Government Accountability Office (GAO) and Office of Inspector General (OIG) recommendations to require the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) to verify eligibility before adding family members, additionally, the bill requires an audit and removal of those ineligible for the program to ensure taxpayer dollars are used wisely and program benefits are protected for truly eligible individuals. This legislation follows a study conducted by the GAO at Senator Scott’s request, which revealed that OPM’s mismanagement of the FEHB program allowed ineligible individuals to obtain employer-sponsored health coverage at the hefty price tag of approximately $1 billion in taxpayer dollars every year.

Senator Rick Scott said, “Under years of mismanagement by OPM, the FEHB program has knowingly allowed $1 billion of taxpayer money every year to be wasted with no plan or mechanism to stop it. That is unacceptable and must be fixed. There must be zero tolerance for individuals intentionally exploiting and defrauding the federal government. I’m proud to lead the effort to stop fraud and waste in the FEHB program and be joined Senator Carper on this commonsense and bipartisan legislation.”

Senator Tom Carper said, “As government officials, we must be good stewards of taxpayer dollars. Today we are introducing the FEHB Protection Act to make good on that promise by ensuring that only eligible individuals are enrolled in the Federal Employees Health Benefits program. By confirming eligibility, we have the potential to save taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars annually. I look forward to working with my colleagues and OPM to ensure they have the resources and tools needed to end improper payments and root out fraud in the FEHB.”

 The FEHB Protection Act:

• Requires the Office of Personnel Management to:

• Verify eligibility when adding a family member;
• Include ineligible members as a fraud risk when OPM does their annual fraud risk assessment; and
• Complete a comprehensive audit of FEHB for ineligible family members

• Provides the Office of Personnel Management explicit authority to remove individuals found to be ineligible

MORE…

• Politico: GAO: Billions wasted on federal health insurance program
• Sens. Rick Scott and Ron Johnson Demand OPM Take Action to End Wasteful Spending, Fix Federal Employees Health Benefits Program
• Sens. Rick Scott and Ron Johnson Urge GAO to Report Potential Risks in Federal Employees Health Benefits Program

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