Monday Morning Federal Newscast

OPM and the LTC error, contracting conflict of interest proposed rule change, locality pay outside the U.S., and frozen 2011 budgets

Written by Ruben Gomez & Tom Temin
Edited by Suzanne Kubota

This morning’s federal news as heard on WFED:

Some federal workers who have purchased long-term care insurance from Long-Term Care Partners, will have until March 15 to re-enroll. That’s because the provider, a subsidiary of John Hancock, sent letters with wrong information about premiums to more than 71,000 federal enrollees. Notification letters started going out Friday, and participants will start receiving letters with the correct information in December.

Some federal contractors would need to take more steps to prevent conflicts of interest under a new proposal. The draft rule would apply to companies who perform work closely associated with inherently governmental functions. It would require those firms to vet their employees for potential conflicts of interest and report violations to their contracting agencies. Find a link to the rule on the Federal Drive page at FederalNewsRadio.com

Federal employees working outside of the contiguous United States will not get locality pay, at least for the time being. A federal appeals court has ruled that the government can make disparate pay arrangements based on where employees are located. GovExec reports right now, only workers inside the contiguous U-S receive locality pay. Workers outside of that zone receive cost-of-living adjustments that do not count toward retirement annuities.

The White House has told agencies to assume their 2011 budgets will be frozen or even cut by 5 percent as it signals a big push to take on the deficit next year. It’s part of a White House drive to stem the flood of red ink after a year of stimulus spending aimed at boosting the economy. As record deficits continue, White House budget director Peter Orszag says it’s imperative to start curbing the flow of red ink in coming years so as not to erode the fledgling economic recovery.

Multiple deployments, and short times at home between deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan — those are the biggest contributors to an increase in combat stress. The Army has released an updated mental health report, and brass said the increased intensity of fighting in Afghanistan has produced more cases of psychological problems, reports GovExec. The mental health picture for soldiers is Iraq has improved, the report said. At a Pentagon briefing, one Army psychologist, lieutenant colonel Paul Bliese, said time at home, or dwell time, of 24 months is needed for soldiers to recover before a redeployment. But often the dwell time is only a year.

More news links

Obama to China: Uncensored society is healthy

Oshkosh awaits Army contract review (The Milaukee Journal Sentinel)

Obama urges Congress to put off Fort Hood probe

Recession intensifies GenX discontent at work

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