According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, nearly 50 million Americans are enrolled in Medicare Part D plans. With the passage of last year’s Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, reforms to Medicare Part D will be enacted, so everyone – including federal annuitants – enrolled in the plan will have to pay attention to the changes.

Kevin Moss is a senior editor with Consumers’ Checkbook. Checkbook’s Guide to Health Plans for Federal Employees is available now. He’s also a GovExec contributor and his latest post site is headlined “How Changes to Medicare Part D Will Impact Federal Annuitants.” As part of our #MoneyMonday series, he joined the podcast to discuss the changes to Medicare Part D.

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Joe Biden released his $6.9 trillion budget proposal for fiscal 2024 on Thursday. The White House is trying to sell the budget as one that makes government “equitable, effective and accountable” and one that cuts waste, fraud and abuse in spending.

Eric Katz and Courtney Bublé joined the podcast to discuss the FY24 budget documents released by the White House.

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The way people work and manage has changed over the last few years, with hybrid and remote work becoming an increasingly important part of life. Creating a culture that works in remote environments will be key to the future successes of any remote team. Our guests today have a recently-released book on the ways that leaders can design teams and culture from a distance, as well as ways to nurture employee engagement in those environments.

Kevin Eikenberry and Wayne Turmel are the authors of the The Long-Distance Team: Designing Your Team for Everyone's Success, the latest in the Long-Distance Worklife series. They joined the podcast to discuss the book and building a team culture for remote work.

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Joe Biden campaigned for the presidency with a promise that he would rebuild the federal workforce that the Trump administration had “hollowed out.” Two years later, that promise has been mostly unfulfilled, with some agencies reversing the trend and others still rebuilding at a sluggish pace.

Eric Katz joined the podcast to discuss his series on Biden's attempts at rebuilding the workforce and his three-part series examining those attempts.

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As public officials declare that the COVID-19 pandemic is no longer controlling American life, big organizations like Disney and Amazon are asking their employees to come back to in-office work. With the shift to remote work over the last three years, employees and management may not see eye-to-eye on return-to-office policies.

Stacie Haller is chief career advisor at ResumeBuilder.com. She has spent over 30 years in staffing and recruiting, career counseling, and job search coaching. She joined the podcast to talk about a new ResumeBuilder.com survey on return-to-office policies.

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The rocky financial environment of the last year has left some Thrift Saving Fund participants frustrated. With the different options available for TSP participants, the International Fund might be overlooked as compared to other funds.

W. Lee Radcliffe is the author of the book TSP Investing Strategies: Building Wealth While Working for Uncle Sam. He has a post on our site headlined “Don’t Overlook This Unloved Fund When Investing in the TSP.” He joined the podcast to talk about the TSP and the I Fund.

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Forward-thinking organizations have bandied about the idea of a four-day workweek for years, but a new study out of the United Kingdom has brought some insight into the implementation and implications of the possibility. With the constantly-changing workplace and the COVID-19 changes affecting work-life balance, the four-day workweek experiment demands further scrutiny. 

Kathleen Quinn Votaw is the CEO of TalenTrust, a strategic recruiting and human capital consulting firm. She’s also the author of two books, Dare to Care in the Workplace: A Guide to the New Way We Work, and Solve The People Puzzle: How High-Growth Companies Attract & Retain Top Talent. She spoke to the podcast about the U.K. four-day workweek study.

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The Vacancies Act allows an incoming President 300 days in which to temporarily and unilaterally fill positions with "acting" officers. Recently, the Government Accountability Office found that Charlotte Dye, the General Counsel for the Federal Labor Relations Authority and two other officials in other agencies were in violation of the Vacancies Act rules. In Dye’s case, this could affect federal employees with business before the FLRA.

Dan Meyer is an attorney and Managing Partner of Tully Rinckey’s D.C office. Before the Merit Systems Protection Board, he has successfully represented special agents and law enforcement personnel. He joined the podcast to discuss the Vacancies Act.

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Early in February, a train carrying toxic chemical material derailed in eastern Ohio, starting a fire with smoke that engulfed the town of East Palestine. A series of decisions by authorities created an evacuation zone in the community, as well as a controlled release of toxic fumes. Cleanup is ongoing, but questions remain about the safety of the train, the tracks and the conditions. One of the agencies tasked with safety regulations around hazardous materials, the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, has been without a confirmed head since the end of the Trump administration. 

Courtney Bublé joined the podcast to discuss the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration.

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The future of public service work is unclear. Just in the last few years, the COVID-19 pandemic has upended in-office work, the way people meet and communicate. But, the merit system and its reinforcement of expertise in government work is – and will remain – key. 

Daniel Chenok is the executive director of the IBM Center for the Business of Government and Donald F. Kettl is professor emeritus and former dean of the University of Maryland School of Public Policy. Both are fellows of the National Academy of Public Administration. They’re also authors of “The Federal Workplace Is Changing Rapidly, But Merit Principles Must Remain Untouched,” the latest in a series looking at the challenges and urgency of modernizing the civil service.

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