OPM announced last week that 690,000 federal employees and annuitants enrolled in the new supplemental dental and vision plans (FEDVIP) during the recent initial Open Season. OPM also reported that FSAFEDS enrollment has grown to 226,000 as a result of the Open Season, which is a 26% increase in employees who have a health care or dependent care flexible spending account.

Steve Barr reports in today’s Washington Post that one of OPM Director Linda Springer’s new objectives is to explore “whether a program could be created to offer short-term disability insurance to federal employees.”

Welcome to 2007! There are a few recent Government Accountability Office (GAO) reports that may catch your interest. On December 19, the GAO released a report on prescription drug manufacturer research and development efforts that clearly caught the attention of incoming House Government Reform Chairman Henry Waxman. No doubt, a GAO report on improvements needed in FDA oversight of direct to consumer advertising also will resonate with the incoming Congress. Finally, last Friday, December 29, the GAO released a report on the profitability of the federal government’s long term care insurance program carrier, Long Term Partners LLC.

During the past year, I blogged quite a bit about the generic version of the anti-coagulant drug Plavix battle between Bristol Myers and Apotex. In the latest rounds, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit on December 8 affirmed the preliminary injunction that the district court awarded Bristol Myers against Apotex’s continued marketing of the generic version in the U.S. The lower court did not require Apotex to withdraw the generics that it had already sold, however, and neither did the appellate court. Earlier this week, a Canadian appellate court rejected an Apotex attempt to sell the generic version in Canada. The U.S. district court now will consider whether Apotex violated Bristol Myers’ patent on Plavix.

I also blogged about the theft of a Veterans Affairs Department laptop computer that held personal data on millions of veterans. That case ended with the recovery of the computer, and the FBI determined that the information had not been abused. On December 21, President Bush signed the Veterans Benefits, Health Care, and Information Technology Act of 2006 , Pub. L. No. 109-461, that tightens up information security at that Department, among other things.

Laura Landro wrote this week in the Wall Street Journal about the extension of the online social networking phenomenon, e.g. My Space, to health care issues, such as diabetes. She notes a dedicated web site called Dailystrength.org. She also notes that the American Cancer Society and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control are using a social networking site call Second Life as a bully pulpit. I had never heard of Second Life until I read this article. Second Life is a site where you can live a second life as an avatar — over 2,000,000 users (not me). Landro reports that “The CDC has held some virtual health fairs on the Second Life Web site where visitors can learn about subjects like pandemic flu resources.” Creative.

Ihealthbeat.com makes available an interview with former U.S. health IT czar Dr. David Brailer who makes predictions about health care IT in 2007.

As part of the Tax Relief and Health Care Act of 2006 (H.R. 6111), which President Bush signed on December 20, Congress extended for another calendar year (2007) the current mental health parity law. This law generally requires group health plans, including FEHB plans, which offer mental health benefits, to place the same annual and lifetime coverage dollar limits on mental health coverage as they do for other medical services. Since 2001, the U.S. Office of Personnel Management has required broader mental health parity for FEHB plan coverage provided that the member uses network doctors and facilities and cooperates with the plan’s medical management requirements. The Washington Post reports that the 110th Congress which takes office next week may enact a more expansive mental health parity law.

HHS has freshened up its health information technology web site so that it has a look similar to its health care transparency web site. HHS also has added physician fees to its Medicare consumer initiatives web site. As Medicare pays fees to physicians based on a resource based relative value schedule, there is not a lot of variation in the fees for particular services other than regional adjustments. CMS suggests that you may want to use the chart to find a lower priced region to have your colonoscopy procedure (I’m not making this up), thereby reducing the coinsurance.

The Internet provides a wealth of information. I learned today the federal government’s Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) produces an annual Medical Expenditure Panel Survey. The survey was recently updated with 2004 data. The AHRQ website explains that

The Medical Expenditure Panel Survey, which began in 1996, is a set of large-scale surveys of families and individuals, their medical providers (doctors, hospitals, pharmacies, etc.), and employers across the United States. MEPS collects data on the specific health services that Americans use, how frequently they use them, the cost of these services, and how they are paid for, as well as data on the cost, scope, and breadth of health insurance held by and available to U.S. workers. MEPS currently has two major components: the Household Component and the Insurance Component. The Household Component provides data from individual households and their members, which is supplemented by data from their medical providers. The Insurance Component is a separate survey of employers that provides data on employer-based health insurance.

For example, here’s a link from the Insurance Component to a 2004 table showing the Percent of private-sector employees in establishments that offer health insurance by firm size and State. The survey also discloses regional variations in health insurance premiums. It’s the holiday season. Enjoy!

According to Government Health IT magazine, the Veterans Affairs Department has begun to collect from consenting patients genetic information that it will link to the patient’s electronic health record. “VA officials expect that the large-scale project will reveal links between certain diseases and the genetic makeup of the individuals who are prone to them. It also could increase scientists’ understanding of the effects of genetics and the environment on people’s health.”

Thanks to Google Alerts, I ran across this recent article discussing at a very high level the pros and cons of extending the FEHB Program to “everyone else.”