Washington, DC – Today, Congresswoman Julia Brownley (D-CA) reintroduced the Fix FEDVIP Age Act, legislation aimed at addressing an existing gap in federal benefits by allowing children of federal workers and retirees to remain eligible for health care coverage under the Federal Employee Dental and Vision Insurance Program (FEDVIP) until the age of 26.
“Millions of federal employees, retirees, and their families rely on FEDVIP for dental and vision needs, including many workers at Naval Base Ventura County. A gap in current law forces children of federal workers to lose their coverage at age 22, solely because of their parents’ employment status. My bill fixes this inequity, expanding access to these essential benefits until age 26, just like the Affordable Care Act and TRICARE. This bill strengthens our federal workforce and ensures the health of their children,” said Congresswoman Brownley.
Background
One of the most popular and widely known benefits of the Affordable Care Act allows children to stay on their parents’ health insurance until age 26. However, under current law, while children of federal employees and retirees can stay on their parents’ health insurance plan under the Federal Employee Health Benefits (FEHB) Program until age 26, those same children lose dental and vision coverage four years earlier, at age 22, due to an oversight in FEDVIP. The Fix FEDVIP Age Act seeks to correct this disparity.
Across the country, 8.2 million people rely on the Federal Employees Health Benefits (FEHB) Program for their healthcare and 3.5 million utilize FEDVIP for their dental and vision care.
Read the full text of the bill, here.
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Issues: 119th Congress, Healthcare