(a) OPM shall establish periodic agreements with the Social Security Administration regarding Postal Service annuitants and their eligible family members for purposes of:
(1) Determining whether Postal Service Medicare covered annuitants and Medicare covered members of family of those annuitants satisfy the Medicare enrollment requirements at § 890.1604; and
(2) Determining which Postal Service annuitants and family members of such annuitants may be eligible to enroll in Medicare Part B under section 1837(o) of the Social Security Act.
(b) OPM shall identify Postal Service annuitants and their eligible family members who may be covered Medicare individuals from OPM's stored enrollment data. OPM will provide identifying information about these annuitants and their eligible family members to the Social Security Administration via secure data transfer for the purposes as outlined in the periodic agreements.
(c) OPM shall establish periodic agreements with the Department of Health and Human Services, the United States Postal Service, the Department of Veterans Affairs, and other Federal agencies as needed to share data and information as is necessary to carry out 5 U.S.C. 8903c and this subpart.
(d) These agreements shall specify, at a minimum, the purpose and legal authorities that govern the elements of information or data to be shared, the process that will be used for sharing the information or data, the frequency of sharing the information and data, and the permitted uses and redisclosure of the information and data.
(e) The agreements established under paragraph (c) of this section shall, to the greatest extent practicable, ensure that data is shared for the following purposes:
(1) To determine which Postal Service employees or Postal Service annuitants may be eligible to enroll in a PSHB plan; and which family members may be covered;
(2) To determine which Postal Service Medicare covered annuitants and their Medicare covered members of family may be subject to the enrollment requirements described in § 890.1604; and
(3) To create a system for data sharing as needed for carrying out 5 U.S.C. 8903c and this subpart.
(f) If a source agency has provided information or data, regarding a Postal Service Medicare covered annuitant or Medicare covered member of family, which establishes a basis that the individual may be ineligible for PSHB enrollment or coverage, OPM will provide the individual with written notice that will contain at a minimum:
(1) An explanation of the PSHB enrollment requirements and exceptions described in § 890.1604 and the specific information or data provided to OPM from the source agency that was the basis for the notice;
(2) The source agency's contact information where the individual may ask questions or contest the accuracy of the information or data on which OPM based the notice;
(3) An explanation of the required process and timeframe(s) for providing OPM with evidence that the individual is engaged in a dispute with the source agency identified in the notice for the purposes of seeking the source agency's correction of the information or data, affecting the individual's PSHB eligibility, provided to OPM pursuant to the agreements described in this section;
(4) That the individual will remain enrolled or covered under PSHB while the individual is engaged in disputing the information or data with the source agency, as described in paragraph (f)(2) of this section;
(5) That the individual will be disenrolled or removed from PSHB, as described in § 890.1608 and subject to reconsideration, within 60 days of the date of the notice if the individual does not provide sufficient evidence, in the discretion of OPM, as described in paragraph (f)(3) of this section; and
(6) That the individual will be disenrolled or removed from PSHB, as described in § 890.1608 and subject to reconsideration, within 60 days of the notice, notwithstanding evidence of a dispute, if the information or data OPM receives from the source agency continues to provide no basis for OPM to establish that the individual satisfies PSHB enrollment requirements.
(g) OPM will issue an initial decision in accordance with § 890.1607(b)(3). If an individual will be disenrolled or removed from PSHB based on the information or data from the source agency, in paragraph (f) of this section, the individual will be notified in writing that the disenrollment or removal, as applicable, is subject to reconsideration pursuant to § 890.1607, and that such reconsideration is limited to a review of the source agency's data or information, received pursuant to an agreement under this section or 5 U.S.C. 8903c(e)(3)(C) that was before OPM at the time it effectuated the disenrollment or removal action.
[88 FR 20403, Apr. 6, 2023, as amended at 89 FR 85030, Oct. 24, 2024]