Federal Workforce
Views on Need To Offer Health Insurance to Temporary Employees Gao ID: GGD-86-78FS June 4, 1986Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on whether the government should offer health benefits to temporary employees.
GAO found that: (1) current law excludes temporary federal employees from health benefits coverage; (2) most private-sector organizations do not offer health benefits to temporary employees; (3) most federal agencies believe that many temporary employees would not be interested in health benefits and there is little need to offer them as a recruitment or retention tool; (4) some unions believe that the federal government should offer health benefits to temporary employees; (5) it could not estimate the potential cost of offering health benefits to temporary employees; and (6) the government's share of employee health insurance premiums in fiscal year 1985 averaged $1,123 per covered employee.