Not much news since the last post due to the New Year’s holiday weekend. I’m taking a deep breath as the Congressional leaders continue their efforts to merge the House and Senate health care reform bills. The House reconvenes on January 12, and the Senate reconvenes on January 19.

January 1, 2010, was the date on which the 2008 Mental Health Parity Act’s provisions and the 2008 Genetic Information Non-Disclosure Act, Title I (“GINA”), became applicable to the FEHB Program. The mental health parity changes, which principally apply to plans with out of network coverage, can be examined in the 2010 plan brochures. The FEHB Program has provided generous in- network mental health benefits for nearly ten years under an OPM initiative.

The GINA law’s impact on the FEHB is even more nuanced because FEHB plans have never engaged in placing restrictions in enrollment, such as modifying premiums, based on member’s health status, past, current, or projected.