Here are your instructions for typesetting, printing, and distributing your 2003 FEHB brochure.

You and your OPM contract specialist have finished negotiating benefit changes for year 2003 and are working on the text of your 2003 FEHB brochure. When you agree on final brochure text, your OPM contract specialist will email you a copy of the negotiated text. Please review the final text carefully and completely because it is your responsibility to:

ensure the accuracy of the benefits, limitations and exclusions in the text, and

make sure the page numbers in the Table of Contents, Summary Page, Index, and text are correct. Note: The front cover does not have a page number; begin numbering with page 2.

Enclosure 1 is a sample rate page. Use this to set up the back cover of your brochure. Your contract specialist will give you your rates when they are available.

Developing your brochure

1. As soon as you and your OPM contract specialist agree on the brochure text, your contract specialist will email final text to you. After that, you may not change the text on your own.

2. Use the enclosed formatting instructions to typeset your brochure.
   • Review Enclosure 2A (fee-for-service) or Enclosure 2B (HMO). Use these representative sample brochure cover and text pages for formatting, font size, and shading percentages. Do not use these enclosures to develop content. For text changes, use the "Working copies of pattern brochures" on www.opm.gov/carrier.

   • Review Enclosure 3 for more guidance about typesetting the brochure cover. Note: Covers vary slightly depending on whether your plan has one or two options, one or more rating areas, a company logo, or accreditation, and on whether you need a special notice on your cover. Nevertheless, we expect that information common to all plans will be displayed uniformly on all FEHB brochure covers.

Printing your brochure

3. After the above steps, when you are assured that the brochure is properly typeset and is accurate and complete, you may have the brochure printed. Review Enclosure 4; it includes these printing specifications:
   • Size: 17" x 11" folded to 8 1/2" x 11". Fold may be glued or saddle stitched at manufacturer's option. Single leaves connected with a lip (i.e., binding stub) are not allowed.

   • Ink color: Standard Black

   • Paper color: White

   • Paper type and weight: Offset Book -- sub 40 or 50, Chemical Wood Writing, sub 20

   • Printing: Head to Head

   • Margins: Not less than 0.5" any margin

Distributing your brochures

4. Carefully review Enclosure 4; it has detailed distribution and shipping specifications. Note: Complying with our shipping instructions will help assure that your brochures arrive at their destinations in excellent condition and are accepted by the agencies.

5. Fee-for-service carriers use the Brochure Quantity Form (a sample is included at Enclosure 5A) to determine how many brochures to send and where to send them. Your OPM contract specialist will send you the list in the next few weeks.

   HMO carriers use the Brochure Quantity Form (a sample is included at Enclosure 5B) to determine how many brochures to send. Your OPM contract specialist will send you the completed form in the next few weeks.

   Use the appropriate shipping label (Enclosure 6) to distribute the printed brochures. Print the labels on pink paper. Labels must show how many brochures you are shipping to each location.

6. By October 4, 2002, email your FEHB brochure in PDF format to us at anvicom@opm.gov, using an Adobe Acrobat 4.0 compatible file. Please name the file using your FEHB brochure number located at the bottom right corner of your FEHB brochure cover. For example,
   • Blue Cross and Blue Shield Service Benefit Plan would be numbered 71-005, and
   • Secret Service Benefit Plan would be 72-011, while
   • MD-Individual Practice Association, Inc. would be 73-100.

7. We will post your PDF formatted brochure on our web page before Open Season. See Enclosure 7 for details on creating the PDF version of your brochure.

8. Ship your brochures for receipt by October 14, 2002. Send brochures to:
   1. Your OPM contract specialist.

   2. National Computer Systems, which is OPM's annuitant distribution center. Use the Cedar Rapids shipping label.

   3. Federal agencies. Federal agencies' headquarter offices will contact HMOs directly to order brochures and tell you where to send them.

9. We will attach a copy of your printed FEHB brochure as Appendix A to your 2003 FEHB contract.

10. Next summer, when reconciling community-rated plans' rates, our actuaries will use the number on the Brochure Quantities Form that your OPM contract specialist calculates to determine how much we will reimburse for printing costs. This is also the number experience-rated plans may charge against your FEHB contract.

Sincerely, Abby L. Block Assistant Director    for Insurance Programs

Enclosures

• 1 - Sample Rate Sheet  [Word File]  [PDF File]
• 2A - Fee-for-service brochure example  [Word File]  [PDF File]
• 2B - HMO brochure example  [Word File]  [PDF File]
• 3 - Additional Guidance for Typesetting Brochure Cover; 4 - Printing, Distributing, and Shipping Specifications for FEHB Brochures; 5A - Brochure Quantity Form for Fee-for-service plan; and 5B - Brochure Quantity Form for HMO plan  [Word File]  [PDF File]
• 6 - Shipping Labels  [Word File]  [PDF File]
• 7 - Instructions for Creating PDF Versions of your FEHB Brochure  [Word File]  [PDF File]

Download this Letter as a PDF File (97K File)