Federal Employee Health Benefits Glaucoma Screening Act

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, visual health and oral health are integral to our general health, as the House well knows. Oral and eye diseases are progressive and become more complex over time. Our ability to eat, see, read, learn, and communicate all depend on good visual and oral health.

Periodic eye and dental examinations are an important part of routine preventive health care. Many visual and oral conditions present no obvious symptoms. Therefore, individuals often are unaware that such problems exist.

There are safe and effective measures to prevent the most common eye and dental diseases. That is why early diagnosis and treatment are important for maintaining good visual and oral health and why a vision and dental benefit should be made available to Federal employees and annuitants.

We know that in 1987 the Office of Personnel Management stopped plans in the Federal Health Benefits program from adding new vision and dental packages. OPM did so for various reasons. However, the decision was made over 15 years ago, and it is time to take a fresh look at how we can meet the visual and oral health needs of Federal employees.

In the long run, preventive care, through periodic examinations and doctor visits, will help keep down long-term vision and dental costs due to early detection.

To further improve the bill, during subcommittee consideration of H.R. 3751, the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Davis) offered an amendment requiring OPM to include glaucoma screening and hearing benefits in its study.

The amendment would require OPM to study the feasibility of providing hearing benefits to Federal employees and retirees. Currently, over 28 million Americans suffer hearing loss, half of whom are under the age of 50. Hearing loss is not just a problem affecting adults. Thirty- three children are born every day with some form of hearing loss. With early detection and treatment, these children can be taught in regular classes, saving a school system as much as half a billion dollars during a 12-year education.

Like vision and dental benefits, most insurance plans do not provide hearing benefits, such as coverage for hearing aids. We believe the Federal Government should consider taking a lead in this area.

In addition to hearing benefits, the gentleman from Illinois' (Mr. Davis) amendment required OPM to include

glaucoma screening in its study. This amendment was offered to better understand H.R. 3268, which was introduced by the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Cummings).

H.R. 3268 would extend the same glaucoma screening coverage provided by Medicare to Federal employees who are in high-risk populations.

The studies conducted by OPM under H.R. 3751 will go a long way in helping the Federal Government to craft a better dental, vision and hearing benefit for Federal employees.

Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 3751) to require that the Office of Personnel Management study and present options under which dental and vision benefits could be made available to Federal employees and retirees and other appropriate classes of individuals, as amended.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on H.R. 3751, the bill under consideration.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself as much time as I might consume.

Mr. Speaker, on behalf of the Committee on Government Reform, I rise in support of H.R. 3751, an important piece of legislation for all Federal employees. This bill requires the Federal Government to analyze available options to provide those who work in the civil service with better dental and vision benefits. These benefits may be provided through the existing structure of the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program or as stand-alone additional coverage.

Specifically, H.R. 3751 requires the Office of Personnel Management to study and to submit a report to Congress on how the government can provide dental and vision benefits to Federal employees.

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the gentlewoman from Virginia (Mrs. Jo Ann Davis), the distinguished Chair of the Subcommittee on Civil Service and Agency Organization, for offering H.R. 3751; and I certainly congratulate her today for moving the bill to the floor today. Along with the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Tom Davis), the chairman of the full Committee on Government Reform, as well as my distinguished colleague, the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Davis), the ranking member of the Subcommittee on Civil Service and Agency Organization, the gentleman from Virginia (Mrs. Jo Ann Davis) is a leader in the Congress in representing the Nation's integral and steadfast Federal employees.

Every single day, civil servants protect the Nation's streets. They teach our children, they deliver the mail, they treat the sick, the injured. They perform countless other duties that help make America thrive.

H.R. 3751 a terrific step towards providing these individuals with the health benefits that they have earned and deserve. I urge its adoption.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 3751, a bill to require the Office of Personnel Management to study and recommend options for enhancing the dental, vision and hearing benefits available to Federal employees. As the Federal Government strives to recruit top talent around the Nation, this issue plays a significant strategic role in attracting and retaining the very best to serve our country.

Currently, the dental, vision and hearing offerings available to those covered by the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program (FEHBP) can be described as inadequate at best. The Government's employees are often without proper dental care as part of their health insurance coverage. In fact, most plans in the FEHBP either do not offer dental and vision care, or cover only very minimal, basic procedures. While some plans do offer a supplemental dental package, they come at the cost of a very high premium.

By contract, dental and vision benefits offered to many employees in the private sector are more generous. A 2002 study by the Society for Human Resource Management determined that 96 percent of private sector firms offered dental coverage benefits. Furthermore, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that these private plans usually cover 100 percent of routine procedures and 50-80 percent of more expensive procedures.

According to the Office of Personal Management, Federal employees and retirees cite improved dental coverage as their most desired benefit enhancement. With these benefits so widely available in the private sector, the Federal Government cannot afford to ignore this issue, or it will lose the war for talent more often than it will win. The Government depends greatly on its competitive benefits packages to attract well-qualified candidates, and should explore the possibility of enhancing such benefits.

Putting more money into the system is not necessarily the answer, and this bill does not call for that. It simply requires the Federal Government's personnel experts, OPM, to study how to resolve this problem.

Whatever it reveals, the goal of the report is to recommend options for improving the availability of dental, vision and hearing benefits to employees in a way that fits within the current budgetary constraints. I urge all members to support H.R. 3751.