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USPS to Pay Employee Portion of
Health Premiums for
Workers Called to Active Duty
APWU Web News Article #10-05, March 22, 2005
The Postal Service has announced it will pay the employee’s share – in addition to the USPS share – of health insurance premiums for up to 24 months for career USPS employees who are called to active duty. The change was made in response to a request from the APWU in August 2004.
USPS managers have been instructed that the new policy [PDF] took effect March 17, 2005, and is retroactive to Dec. 28, 2002. It applies to qualified career employees activated for military service under Executive Order 12302 or 13223 in Operation Enduring Freedom, Operation Noble Eagle, and Operation Iraqi Freedom. The Postal Service will assume the full cost of employees’ premiums for the time that they perform qualifying military service only.
“These changes are made pursuant to new federal guidance on the extension of coverage, and are made in our continuing efforts to support our employees called to active military duty,” the manager of Labor Relations Policies and Programs wrote to APWU President William Burrus.
The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) has determined that employees who are absent for military service may extend their Federal Employee Health Benefits (FEHB) coverage and their Federal Employee Group Life Insurance protection by using paid leave for eight consecutive pay periods. Employees may use as little as one hour of paid leave per pay period to meet this requirement.
Employees who receive invoices for health benefits premiums should wait to pay them until they return from active duty, the instructions say. “The amount owed will be based on the documentation of eligibility presented at that time, and to the extent possible, will be deducted from pay on a pretax basis, thereby reducing the out-of-pocket cost.”
President Burrus praised the Postal Service’s decision to pay health plan premiums for employees called to active duty. “We applaud the sensitivity shown by management in supporting the postal heroes who are serving their country,” he said.
