Federal workers affected by partial shutdown to be billed for dental, vision coverage

By Lisa Rein and Eric Yoder January 23 at 8:12 PM

The 800,000 federal employees furloughed by the partial government shutdown and working without pay were warned Wednesday that they must pay their dental and vision premiums beginning this week or they could lose their coverage.

The workers are not at risk of losing their health insurance benefits, which will stay in effect through the duration of the shutdown — and for as long as a year — even if they are not receiving a paycheck, with their accumulated premiums deducted from their pay once their agency reopens.

However, that protection does not extend to vision and dental insurance, and starting with their second missed paycheck at the end of this week, employees will be billed directly for premiums for dental and vision coverage. If the shutdown continues for another two weeks into a third missed pay period, the company that provides long-term care insurance to federal workers also will start billing them directly.

The shift in benefits, included in an updated memo Wednesday by the Office of Personnel Management, will be another financial hit to employees, many of whom already are struggling with severe cash flow problems as the shutdown slogs past the one-month mark.

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