Benefits Administration Letter

BACKGROUND:

This is the third in our series of FEDVIP letters. The first, BAL 06-203, introduced BENEFEDS. The second, BAL 06-602, discussed the program in depth. We did not issue a BAL 06-601.

OVERVIEW:

Open Season Materials

The following Federal Employees Dental and Vision Insurance Program (FEDVIP) materials will be available during the 2006 Open Season:

Plan Brochures. The FEDVIP plan brochures are the statements of benefits, exclusions, and limitations. The FEDVIP plan brochures look similar to the Federal Employees Health Benefits (FEHB) Program brochures and follow a standard format for ease in comparison.

Carriers participating in FEDVIP will distribute their plan brochures to Federal agencies. We have provided each FEDVIP carrier with contact information for agency benefits officers and the number of employees at each agency. Each FEDVIP plan will determine the number of brochures to send each agency based on the number of employees at each agency. You should receive FEDVIP plan brochures by November 8, 2006. If you do not receive FEDVIP plan brochures by this date, please contact the carriers. Attachment I includes a list of carrier contacts for plan brochures.

You must keep a supply of brochures on hand for reference and for distribution to employees who decide to enroll or change plans. These brochures must be readily accessible to employees. Maintain close control over issuing plan brochures. Employees should be allowed to take copies home for review. If an employee enrolls or changes plans, he/she should keep the brochure for that plan. The employee should return other brochures to the personnel office. Please note only the officially approved brochures should be distributed to employees.

All plan brochures will be available for downloading from the FEDVIP website: www.opm.gov/insure/dentalvision. Please encourage your employees to use the website as their primary resource. The brochure PDFs are in Adobe Acrobat version 7.0.

Enrollment. Employees must use the BENEFEDS Portal to enroll or change enrollment in a FEDVIP plan. We encourage enrollment through www.BENEFEDS.com. If employees do not have access to a computer, they may call 1-877-888-FEDS (1-877-888-3337), TTY number 1-877-889-5680 to enroll or change their enrollment. These numbers will be available on November 13, 2006. If (and only if) an employee does not have access to the Internet and does not have access to a telephone during normal business hours, he/she may use a paper enrollment form. If you have any employees in this situation, please be sure to alert us by emailing BENEFEDSPortal@opm.gov. We will supply the form to you.

Please see page 11 of BAL 06-602 for more information on enrolling through BENEFEDS.

Note: Employees cannot enroll or change their enrollment in a FEDVIP plan using the Health Benefits Election Form (SF 2809) or through an agency self-service system, such as Employee Express, PostalEase, EBIS, MyPay, or Employee Personal Page. However, those sites may provide a link to www.BENEFEDS.com.

Materials for the visually impaired. Audio cassettes are not available. All of the plan brochures are on the FEDVIP website and are compliant with Section 508 requirements for materials for the visually impaired.

All Federal agencies at the headquarters and installation levels must let visually impaired employees know that the FEDVIP website is available and accessible.

FEHB Guides. These publications are available on our website at www.opm.gov/insure/health. The FEHB Guides provide summary information on FEDVIP plans. They also provide information on program features and enrollment instructions.

FEDVIP website. We encourage you and your employees to visit the FEDVIP website at www.opm.gov/insure/dentalvision for additional information regarding FEDVIP including plan rates, a summary of benefits, links to plan websites, and Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs). The website will be updated regularly with current information. We are unable to offer any additional materials such as videos, PowerPoint presentations, posters, table top tent cards or handouts for you to distribute to your employees this year.

If you have any questions, you can contact OPM at fedvip@opm.gov. For dental and vision information only, please call 1-866-639-3917. This number will be available until November 10, 2006. For enrollment information please contact BENEFEDS as noted above.

Attachment I: The Federal Employees Dental and Vision Insurance Program (FEDVIP) List of Plan Contacts [50 KB]

Download this Letter as a PDF File [50 KB]

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