GovExec Daily

Federal employees have a number of options for their health care, but there is one extra perk that is hiding in plain sight. A health saving account can help feds plan for retirement, if done correctly and our guest today has a post on our site exploring this strategy.

Kevin Moss is a senior editor with Consumers' Checkbook. The Checkbook's Guide to Health Plans for Federal Employees is available to many federal employees for free. He's also the author of a post on GovExec.com headlined "Why a Health Savings Account is a Secret Weapon in Saving for Retirement." He joined the podcast to discuss his post and health saving account options for federal employees.

The American Customer Satisfaction Index 2021 Federal Government Report showed citizen satisfaction in government services in a freefall over the last four years, with declines across all driving indicators of satisfaction. The Biden administration is trying to reverse this trend with an Executive Order emphasizing "Customer Experience and Service Delivery."

James Isaacs is President of Cyara, a customer service assurance platform. He joined the podcast to discuss how government can improve customer service.

Last week, Democrats in the House and Senate introduced legislation that would grant federal employees an average 5.1% pay raise in 2023. The plan is similar to previous efforts by the lawmakers to secure a bigger pay raise for federal public servants.

GovExec senior reporter Erich Wagner covers the federal workforce. He joined the show now to discuss the proposed pay raise plan and other workforce stories he has been covering.

The Office of Personnel Management recently issued guidance to agencies seeking to implement the portion of an executive order encouraging improved diversity and inclusion efforts across the government. OPM chief Kiran Ahuja noted in the guidance that agencies "should elevate" diversity and inclusion within their organizations, including by establishing the chief diversity officer or diversity and inclusion officer within their agency.

Shrupti Shah is a Managing Director with Deloitte Consulting LLP where she leads the Behavioral Insights practice. She joined GovExec Daily to talk about how agencies can follow the OPM guidance to further promote equality within the federal government.

On Friday, a federal court in Texas issued an injunction against the White House's COVID-19 vaccine mandate for the federal workforce, pausing the implementation of a requirement for more than 2 million public servants.

GovExec reporter Eric Katz is covering the vaccine mandate and the Safer Federal Workforce Task Force. He joined the show to talk about the injunction and what's next for the vaccine mandate for feds.

The COVID-19 pandemic continues to spread, with the omicron variant straining health care systems and the American public. Health officials have had to adjust to the changing nature of the crisis and strategies are being changed to face new coronavirus-related challenges.

Dr. Anthony J. Santella is a professor of Health Administration and Policy and the COVID-19 Coordinator at the University of New Haven. He joined the podcast to discuss COVID-19 in light of new variants and new policy.

Last week, the Supreme Court blocked the Labor Department's Occupational Safety and Health Administration rule that was to bring a vaccine-or-test requirement for employees at private businesses with 100 or more employees. In a 6-3 decision, the conservative majority on the court said OSHA had overstepped and that COVID-19 was not specifically a workplace risk.

Stephanie Rapp-Tully is a partner and federal employment attorney with Tully Rinckey PLLC's Washington, D.C. office. She joined the show to discuss the Supreme Court decision and its implications.

Last month, the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs released its semiannual Unified Agenda of Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions. The documents lay out a priority set for the Biden administration as it enters into its second year.

Daniel R. Pérez is a senior policy analyst for The George Washington University Regulatory Studies Center. He joined the podcast to discuss a commentary he wrote about The Fall 2021 Unified Agenda.

This week marks a year since President Joe Biden was inaugurated, but the anniversary comes as the COVID–19 pandemic continues to ravage the U.S. and the world. Surging numbers of cases of the Omicron variant are straining health systems as the administration tries to contain the crisis.

Courtney Bublé writes GovExec's Coronavirus Roundup. She joined the show to talk about the state of the pandemic as the Biden administration nears the first anniversary of inauguration.

Immigration policy is one of the most entangled aspects of American governance, complete with a series of overlapping systems. Inevitably, this will produce bureaucracy and complicated implementation of the often-tortuous rules. The legal processes can be stressful, arduous, and frustrating, leading to an anti-immigration administrative culture. In fact, these administrative burdens can be a driving force or even a tool against legal immigration. In a recent paper, our guests today argue that the Trump administration used administrative burdens to achieve a policy outcome in immigration administration.

Dr. Donald Moynihan is McCourt Chair and Dr. Pamela Herd is a professor, both at Georgetown University's McCourt School of Public Policy. They are co-authors of the 2018 book Administrative Burden: Policymaking by Other Means. They are also co-authors on a recent paper titled "Kafka's Bureaucracy: Immigration Administrative Burdens in the Trump Era." They joined the podcast to talk about their research and the immigration system.