Federal Employee Dental and Vision Benefits Legislation
Updated 05/28/05

The Federal Employee Dental and Vision Benefits Enhancement Act of 2004 (S. 2657) was introduced by Senators Susan Collins (R-ME), chairman of the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee, and committee member Daniel Akaka (D-HI) last July. The bill passed the Senate in November and the House in December. On December 23, 2004, the President signed the Federal Employee Dental and Vision Benefits Enhancement Act of 2004, making it Public Law (108-496.)

The Federal Employee Dental and Vision Benefits Enhancement Act of 2004 gives federal employees, retirees, and their families access to voluntary dental and vision health insurance. The law promotes a federal long-term care insurance program in which the government will use its purchasing power to negotiate rates, but not pay a share of premiums. It requires the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) to select an array of companies and insurance packages to give federal workers options for supplemental insurance. As many employees and retirees have limited coverage through their medical plans, the act directs OPM to develop information "so that employees have a clear understanding of the choices available to them."

In its annual "Call Letter" OPM set a timetable, stating that it would issue a request for proposals by late summer of 2005, select dental and vision carriers by the end of the year and conduct an open season for enrollment in the new plans in spring 2006. OPM explained that it would develop model dental benefit provisions for Federal Employee Benefit Plan (FEHBP) carriers, who offer primary coverage, so that they can better coordinate with the secondary federal employee dental coverage.