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OFFICE OF PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT

Federal Funds

General and special funds:

SALARIES AND EXPENSES

(INCLUDING TRANSFER OF TRUST FUNDS)

For necessary expenses to carry out functions of the Office of Personnel Management pursuant to Reorganization Plan Numbered 2 of 1978 and the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978, including services as authorized by 5 U.S.C. 3109; medical examinations performed for veterans by private physicians on a fee basis; rental of conference rooms in the District of Columbia and elsewhere; hire of passenger motor vehicles; not to exceed $2,500 for official reception and representation expenses; advances for reimbursements to applicable funds of the Office of Personnel Management and the Federal Bureau of Investigation for expenses incurred under Executive Order 10422 of January 9, 1953, as amended; and payment of per diem and/ or subsistence allowances to employees where Voting Rights Act activities require an employee to remain overnight at his or her post of duty; [$87,076,000, of which not to exceed $1,000,000 shall be available for the establishment of health promotion and disease prevention programs for Federal employees] $85,350,000; and in addition [$94,736,000] $91,236,000 for administrative expenses, to be transferred from the appropriate trust funds of the Office of Personnel Management without regard to other statutes, including direct procurement of [printing] printed materials [for annuitants], for the retirement and insurance programs[, of which $3,500,000 shall be transferred at such times as the Office of Personnel Management deems appropriate, and shall remain available until expended for the costs of automating the retirement recordkeeping systems, together with remaining amounts authorized in previous Acts for the recordkeeping systems]: Provided, That the provisions of this appropriation shall not affect the authority to use applicable trust funds as provided by section 8348(a)(1)(B) of title 5, United States Code: Provided further, That, except as may be consistent with 5 U.S.C. 8902a(f)(1) and (i), no payment may be made from the Employees Health Benefits Fund to any physician, hospital, or other provider of health care services or supplies who is, at the time such services or supplies are provided to an individual covered under chapter 89 of title 5, United States Code, excluded, pursuant to section 1128 or 1128A of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1320a-7-1320a-7a), from participation in any program under title XVIII of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395 et seq.): Provided further, That no part of this appropriation shall be available for salaries and expenses of the Legal Examining Unit of the Office of Personnel Management established pursuant to Executive Order 9358 of July 1, 1943; or any successor unit of like purpose: Provided further, That the President's Commission on White House Fellows, established by Executive

Order 11183 of October 3, 1964, may, during the fiscal year ending September 30, [1997] 1998, accept donations of money, property, and personal services in connection with the development of a publicity brochure to provide information about the White House Fellows, except that no such donations shall be accepted for travel or reimbursement of travel expenses, or for the salaries of employees of such Commission. (Independent Agencies Appropriations Act, 1997.) [For an additional amount for the necessary expenses of the Office of Personnel Management $210,000, to remain available until expended: Provided, That of the amount provided, $210,000 is designated by Congress as an emergency requirement pursuant to section 251(b)(2)(D)(i) of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985, as amended.] (Treasury, Postal Service, and General Government Appropriations Act, 1997.)

Program and Financing (in millions of dollars)

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The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is responsible for personnel management functions which include the following activities:

Employment service.-The Employment Service Program operates a nationwide system of employment information and assists agencies in managing the dynamics of their work force-recruitment, hiring, internal placement, promotion, and downsizing-through broad policy principles, technical assistance, research, automated systems, and examination services. These operations are carried out through a network of Service Centers throughout the country.

Program performance.-The Employment Service's performance management program consists of six key elements: program goals, strategic objectives, program objectives, customer service standards, outcomes, and performance measures. The organization provides: (1) leadership in the improvement of employment practices and the automation of human resources management (HRM) functions; (2) accurate, timely, and accessible employment information to job-seekers; (3) high-quality, cost-effective staffing policy, assistance, and services; and (4) high-quality specialized HRM policy, assistance, and services. By achieving these goals, the Employment Service expects

General and special funds Continued

SALARIES AND EXPENSES-Continued

(INCLUDING TRANSFER OF TRUST FUNDS) Continued

to improve HRM practices, increase government-wide cost savings, and provide better service to the public.

The Employment Service provides Federal employment information to over seven million people annually. Customer data for 1996 indicate that 91 percent of these job-seekers found the system easy to use, 79 percent got the information they desired, and 79 percent rated the system satisfactory or better. The Employment Service also refers job candidates to Federal agencies that are seeking to fill vacant positions. In 1996, the Employment Service delivered 11,300 certificates of eligible candidates to these agencies.

Executive resources.-This activity provides governmentwide program leadership, policy direction and technical assistance on all aspects of the Senior Executive Service personnel system and comparable executive systems.

Retirement and insurance.—This activity administers retirement and insurance programs for Federal employees and retired Federal employees. These programs include the Civil Service Retirement and Disability Fund, the Employees Life Insurance Fund, and the Employees and Retired Employees

Health Benefits Funds.

Program performance.-In the retirement area, OPM reduced the time to make a first interim annuity payment from an average of 8 days in FY 1995 to 5 days in FY 1996, and by the end of the fiscal year was making most payments within 4 days. The time "to take final action on" an annuity account dropped from 79 days in FY 1995 to 51 days in FY 1996, while the incidence of adjudication errors remained at the same 6 percent achieved in FY 1995.

OPM expanded telephone services by launching "Annuitant Express", an interactive 800 service. In FY 1996, more than 284,000 customers used the service to change the Federal tax withholding from their monthly annuity payments (60 percent of all such changes) and 95 percent reported that the system was easy to use. Ninety-three percent reported that using the system was easier than using a form to change their tax withholding, and 86 percent said that the system was easy to access. In FY 1997, OPM made health benefit open season changes available to annuitants via Annuitant Express and hopes to add electronic funds transfer (EFT) related address changes later in the year.

FY 1996 surveys of OPM customers revealed that more than 90 percent of annuitants were "generally" or "very" satisfied with OPM's processing of their claim and the overall level of service OPM has provided since they retired. Also, 90 percent of retirement customers were "generally" or "very" satisfied with the courtesy and clarity of the responses they received when calling OPM. However, retirement customers also indicated that improvement is needed in the accessibility of OPM's telephone system, and in the quality and timeliness of responses to their written inquiries.

In the insurance area, 95 percent of the FEHBP customers agreed that their health plan compares favorably for value and selection with the private sector, and more than 85 percent rated their overall satisfaction with their plan as being excellent, very good, or good. Over 90 percent believe that the plan guide and brochures that OPM publishes for the FEHBP are clear, factual, and useful.

Eighty-seven percent the FEHBP's fee-for-service plans are meeting their contractual requirements for paying claims on time, with comparable figures for the accuracy of those payments. Internally, OPM reduced the unprocessed balance of claim disputes by more than two-thirds but processing times for these claims remained slightly above the target level of 60 days and only 50 percent of customers were satisfied with

OPM's decision and believed they had received a fair review. OPM upheld the carriers' decision 59 percent of the time.

Ninety-six percent of OPM's life insurance customers who had received life insurance benefits were satisfied with the service they received and 99 percent said informational materials they received were easy to understand, complete, helpful, and accurate.

Investigations.-This activity focuses on assuring applicant and appointee fitness and suitability and oversight of the investigative contract company.

oping and implementing pay and leave administration policy Human resources systems.-This activity includes: (a) develand evaluating the effectiveness of alternative compensation systems; (b) managing employee relations; (c) developing classification policies and systems and designing flexible alterof-the-art data systems for workforce information to support natives to current systems; (d) promoting and providing stateand inform policy decision-making, and providing technical assistance for streamlining personnel recordkeeping and processing procedures; (e) facilitating and supporting Federal work and family programs; (f) providing policy guidance and management assistance in support of agency human resource development programs; and (g) providing leadership and policy guidance for human resources development and training. Merit systems oversight and effectiveness.-This activity includes: (a) direct oversight of human resources management (HRM) in Federal agencies through various methods, including on-site evaluations; (b) administration of the classification appeals and Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) programs to ensure that agencies adhere to the statutory requirements of both laws; (c) assisting agencies in developing merit-based internal HRM accountability systems which support mission accomplishment; (d) assessing the effectiveness of government wide HRM policies and programs; (e) testing and evaluating innovative Federal HRM practices and systems, including demonstration projects under 5 U.S.C. Chapter 47; and (f) administering parts of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

Program performance. The merit systems oversight and effectiveness program performance measures are designed to determine the value added, outcome-oriented impact that the oversight and effectiveness reviews and reports have on clients: the Federal human resources management community and Federal employees. In FY 1997, as part of each review or study of human resources management at Federal agencies, client feedback was solicited on the importance and quality of written reports, and on the professionalism, usefulness and overall quality of the evaluation effort. Preliminary responses indicate that clients highly value the work as shown by a rating of 4 on a scale of 1-5 on the overall quality of agency evaluations, and a rating of 4.5 on the quality of the written evaluation reports. In addition, Merit System Principles Questionnaires were administered as part of agency reviews. to measure employee preceptions of agency observance of each of the nine merit systems principles established by law. Based on preliminary responses, Federal employees report that the merit system is alive and well in key areas like recruitment, fairness, conduct, efficiency/effectiveness, training, and protection of employees from improper political influence and for lawful disclosure of information. However, employees believe that more work needs to be done to better link performance to pay and retention actions as contemplated by the merit principles. The client feedback information is shared with Federal agencies and the information is used to work with them to continuously improve the quality of their human resources management.

Administrative services.-This activity includes: OPM personnel and equal employment opportunity; security, facilities, telecommunications, publishing, acquisitions, and information resources management to support all OPM programs.

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For necessary expenses of the Office of Inspector General in carrying out the provisions of the Inspector General Act, as amended, including services as authorized by 5 U.S.C. 3109, hire of passenger motor vehicles, $960,000; and in addition, not to exceed $8,645,000 for administrative expenses to audit the Office of Personnel Management's retirement and insurance programs, to be transferred from the appropriate trust funds of the Office of Personnel Management, as determined by the Inspector General: Provided, That the Inspector General is authorized to rent conference rooms in the District of Columbia and elsewhere. (Independent Agencies Appropriations Act, 1997.)

This appropriation provides agencywide audit, investigative, evaluation, inspection, and administrative sanction functions to identify management and administrative deficiencies which may create conditions for fraud, waste, and mismanagement. The audits function provides internal agency audit, insurance audit, and contract audit services. Contract audits provide professional advice to agency contracting officials on accounting and financial matters regarding the negotiation, award, administration, repricing, and settlement of contracts. Internal audits review and evaluate all facets of agency operations, including financial statements. Evaluation and inspection services provide detailed technical evaluations of agency operations. Insurance audits review the operations of health and life insurance carriers, health care providers, and insurance subscribers. The investigative function provides for the detection and investigation of improper and illegal activities involving programs, personnel, and operations. Administrative sanctions debar from participation in the health insurance program those health care providers whose conduct may pose a threat to the financial integrity of the program itself or to the well-being of insurance program enrollees. These Inspector General activities resulted in positive financial impact in excess of $71.8 million in FY 1996.

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This appropriation covers: (1) the Government's share of the cost of health insurance for 1,815,000 annuitants as defined in sections 8901 and 8906 of title 5, United States Code; (2) the Government's share of the cost of health insurance for about 10,000 annuitants (who were retired when the Federal employees health benefits law became effective), as defined in the Retired Federal Employees Health Benefits Act of 1960; and (3) the Government's contribution for payment of administrative expenses incurred by the Office of Personnel Management in administration of the act.

This appropriation finances the Government's share of premiums, which is one-third the cost, for Basic life insurance for annuitants retiring after December 31, 1989.

PAYMENT TO CIVIL SERVICE RETIREMENT AND DISABILITY FUND For financing the unfunded liability of new and increased annuity benefits becoming effective on or after October 20, 1969, as authorized by 5 U.S.C. 8348, and annuities under special Acts to be credited to the Civil Service Retirement and Disability Fund, such sums as may be necessary: Provided, That annuities authorized by the Act of May 29, 1944, as amended, and the Act of August 19, 1950, as amended (33 U.S.C. 771-75), may hereafter be paid out of the Civil Service Retirement and Disability Fund. (Independent Agencies Appropriations Act, 1997.)

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