House Oversight and Accountability Chairman James Comer claimed, without evidence, that the insurance program for federal employees is “riddled” with ineligible participants.
Republicans on the House Oversight and Accountability Committee are demanding documents and a briefing from the Office of Personnel Management related to recent government watchdog concerns that the agency isn’t doing enough to minimize the risk of fraud in the federal workforce’s health insurance program.
Earlier this month, the Government Accountability Office released a report on fraud risk within the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program where it found that although OPM has taken some steps in 2018 to check the eligibility of federal employees and family members enrolled in the insurance plan, more must be done. The lack of a comprehensive way to guard against continued enrollment of ineligible dependents, such as divorced spouses or children who have aged out of their parents’ insurance coverage, could be costing the government between $360 million and $1 billion per year, GAO found.