Congress remains in session on Capitol Hill this week. The House of Representatives is expected to vote on the Fiscal Year 2020 Financial Services and General Government appropriations bill (H.R. 3351), which includes OPM appropriations, early this week. The House Rules Committee takes up the bill tomorrow afternoon. Also as mentioned last week, the Senate Health Education Labor and Pensions Committee will vote on its bipartisan bill to lower healthcare costs (S. 1895) on Wednesday at 10:30 am.

Last Friday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit issued its decision in the OPM data breach case. In 2015 OPM announced a massive breach of federal employee personal data. The American Federation of Government Employees brought a lawsuit for compensatory damages on behalf of group of 38 named plaintiffs and similarly situated class members. The National Treasury Employees Union alleged that OPM violated its members constitutional right to informational privacy for which declaratory and injunctive relief is appropriate. The federal district court dismissed both cases for lack of standing / a remediable injury making federal court jurisdiction appropriate. The district court further held that the plaintiffs’ claims were barred by sovereign immunity, the government’s general protection against lawsuits which had not been waived here. The Court of Appeals held that the plaintiffs did assert standing and that the AFGE claim alleged a cognizable claim for OPM breach of the federal Privacy Act. The Court of Appeals agreed with the district court that the NTEU’s constitutional claim is not cognizable. The case now goes back to the district court although it’s likely that OPM and NTEU may ask the Supreme Court to review the Court of Appeal’s decision. Here’s a link to an article from the Hill on this decision.

The Wall Street Journal reports that

The death rate for cardiovascular disease—which includes heart disease and strokes—has fallen just 4% since 2011 after dropping more than 70% over six decades, according to mortality statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Particularly alarming is that the death rate is actually rising for middle-aged Americans.

The overall cardiovascular-disease death rate is an under-recognized contributor to the recent decline in U.S. life expectancy. While that has been driven mostly by deaths from drug overdoses and suicides, improvements in cardiovascular health are no longer providing a counterbalance. 

According to the article, the cardiovascular death rate is being driven by obesity driven diabetes type 2.  The Journal also provides a list of steps that adults can take to reduce the risk of cardiocvascular disease.  Here’s a link to a similar American Heart Association list. The key step in the FEHBlog’s view is exercising self control and keeping in regular touch with your primary care provider.