Administrative Sanctions
Under the authority of the Federal Employees Health Benefits Amendments Act of 1988 (5
USC § 8902a) and the Governmentwide
Nonprocurement Debarment and Suspension Common Rule (Executive Order 12549 and 5 CFR Part
970), the Administrative Sanctions Branch debars from participation in the Federal
Employees Health Benefits Program (FEHBP) health care providers who have 1) lost professional
licensure; 2) been convicted of a crime related to delivery of or payment for health care
services; 3) violated provisions of a federal program, or 4) are debarred by another
federal agency.
These sanctions are intended to protect the integrity of the FEHBP as well as the
health care interests of persons who obtain their insurance coverage through the program.
Debarment assures that FEHBP funds will not be paid to sanctioned providers, either
directly or indirectly. If FEHBP subscribers choose to continue obtaining services
from debarred providers, they will be solely and personally responsible for the resulting
costs. However, the Office of the Inspector General administers the debarment program to assure that subscribers will be covered for services obtained in good faith and
without knowledge that a provider with whom they dealt had been debarred.
The names of health care providers who have been debarred by OPM are published in the
General Services Administration's "Governmentwide
List of Parties Excluded from Federal Procurement and Nonprocurement Programs," which is accessible on the Internet at http://www.ARNet.gov/epls.
The Office of the Inspector General also holds membership in the Interagency Committee
on Debarment and Suspension, which is comprised of debarring officials from agencies
governmentwide. The Interagency Committee has coordinative and advisory roles with regard
to unified federal policy about administrative sanctions. More information about the
governmentwide debarment and suspension system is available on the Interagency Committee's Website at www.dot.gov/ost/m60/grant/net.htm.
