Daily News: November 13, 2023

Now open

Annual benefits enrollment period begins
A variety of health, vision and dental coverage is available to USPS employees during the Nov. 13-Dec. 11 open season period.

Open season, the once-a-year opportunity for Postal Service employees to make changes to their health coverage or choose a new plan, is Nov. 13-Dec. 11.

USPS wants employees to evaluate their options to ensure they have the coverage they need without paying for services they don’t.

Last year, approximately 42,000 employees made changes to their benefits during open season. On average, these employees saved $180.

This year, employees can choose from a variety of health, vision and dental coverage options through the Federal Employees Health Benefits (FEHB) Program, Federal Employees Dental and Vision Insurance Program (FEDVIP) and flexible spending accounts (FSAs).

Eligible noncareer employees can choose the USPS Health Benefits Plan (USPSHBP).

Employees can go to the Open Season LiteBlue page to review their health plan, find out what’s available and compare multiple plans side by side through Checkbook’s Guide to Health Plans for Federal Employees.

To enroll or change coverage in FEHB, USPSHBP or FSAs, employees should go to PostalEASE or call 877-477-3273 (select option 1). Employees can use the BENEFEDS website to enroll or make changes to their FEDVIP coverage and the FSAFEDS site to enroll in an FSA.

USPS employees can receive updates and reminders by texting BENEFITS to 39369.

For assistance, employees can call the HR Shared Service Center at 877-477-3273 (select option 5). The Federal Relay Service number is 800-877-8339.

The Postal Service will provide additional information and reminders throughout open season.

Library webinars

Topics cover use of research tools
Employees can learn how to use Lexis and IBISWorld through four seminars on Nov. 16 and Nov. 17.

The USPS Corporate Library will host webinars on using Lexis and IBISWorld, online research tools available through the library’s Online Resources Blue page, on Thursday, Nov. 16, and Friday, Nov. 17.

The four sessions are open to all employees:

• Thursday, Nov. 16, noon Eastern: “Using Lexis for Legal and Legislative Research” will demonstrate how to use Lexis to access cases, bills, laws and regulations; run topical searches; and more. Register through Zoom.

• Thursday, Nov. 16, 2 p.m. Eastern: “IBISWorld: Overview and New Product Enhancements” will offer a guide to timely, informed market research on more than 1,500 industries and more than 5,000 companies. Register through Zoom.

• Friday, Nov. 17, noon Eastern: “Conducting Business and Financial Research on Lexis” will demonstrate how to use LexisNexis Dossier to generate prospecting lists of companies, customized by industry, geographic location or other criteria, as well as how to search for financial information in Lexis. Register through Zoom.

• Friday, Nov. 17, 2 p.m. Eastern: “News Research on Lexis” will provide instructions on creating effective searches and alerts from a collection of over 40,000 national, regional and local news outlets, as well as business sources. Register through Zoom.

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining each session.

To learn how to use any of the USPS Corporate Library’s other research tools, email a librarian at reference.library@usps.gov.

Employees can also visit the library’s Training Resources Blue page, which provides links to guides, tutorials and training for its online resources.