Both Houses of Congress will be in session this coming week. The Hill’s closer look at next week is here.  The Senate Homeland and Govermental Affairs Committee recently announced its subcommittee structure. Here’s the blurb on the subcommittee with FEHB Program oversight responsibilities:

The Subcommittee on the Efficiency and Effectiveness of Federal Programs and the Federal Workforce, under the Chairmanship of Jon Tester (D-Mont.) and Ranking Member Rob Portman (R-Ohio), will oversee the management, efficiency, effectiveness and economy of all agencies and departments in the federal government, including the federal workforce and federal programs. The subcommittee has a broad authority for conducting oversight across the federal government and for seeking to improve the efficiency of federal programs. In addition, the Subcommittee is responsible for exploring policies that promote a skilled, efficient and effective federal workforce which will, in turn, work to ensure efficient and effective management of federal programs.

The full Committee will hold an organizational business meeting on Tuesday.  On the House side, the Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee will hold a hearing this Wednesday on fostering innovation to curb fraud, waste, and abuse in health care.

Federal News Radio reported last week that OPM Associate Director for Human Resources Nancy Kichak resigned last month. Ms. Kichak for many years was the FEHB Program’s chief actuary and she performed admirably in that capacity. The FEHBlog is sure that OPM will miss her.

Finally, take a look at this AMA News article about the difficulties that doctors face in getting patients to adopt good health care habits. The article describes a technique called “motivational interviewing.”