Happy Easter!  The Federal Times takes its shot at assessing the impact of the health care reform law on the FEHB Program.  Without a doubt, the most visible immediate impact will be the increase in the dependent children eligibility cap from age 22 to age 26 which takes effect on January 1, 2011, according to OPM. Moreover, this new law also permits married dependent children to continue their enrollment. Under the current law, children under age 22 lose FEHB coverage if they marry.

The fact is that there are a mountain of changes in this new 2,000 plus page law impacting health insurers, including those in the FEHB Program, which phase in over the next seven to eight years.  Here’s a link to the Kaiser Family Foundation’s implementation timeline. As you can see, 2014, the year that the health insurance exchanges are scheduled to become operational, is a big year. For more background, the Congressional Research Service has published a report on the taxes and fees created by the new law, such as the 40% excise tax on high cost plans and the health insurer fee.