The Office of Personnel Management began phasing in other new insurance options last November. OPM eliminated caps on basic and Option B insurance, according to Eliza Bethune-King, State's life insurance officer in the Office of Employee Relations. Option B coverage remains controlled by the employee's salary and is available only with basic insurance coverage. A new change, however, will allow employees to choose unreduced Option B coverage for a premium when they retire. The government contributes only to employees' basic insurance.
Employees pay the full cost of optional insurance.
More details about the life insurance open season will be provided via Department Notices and cables. Perry Named to Central African Republic Robert C. Perry, a career member of the Foreign Service, is the new U.S. Ambassador to the Central African Republic. Before assuming this position, Ambassador Perry was deputy chief of mission in La Paz. He attended the Senior Seminar, State's advanced professional de-velopment program for senior foreign policy officers, and the National War College. He entered the Foreign Service in 1968 and was detailed to the Agency for International Development in Vietnam as a rural development officer.