Today, Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Director John Berry, responded to Dr. Coburn's letter to OPM last month asking they provide a legal basis for its decision to extend the Federal Employee Health Benefits program to temporary firefighters. 

A few excerpts:

• “OPM did not assess whether there were health coverage options available to the firefighters outside of the FEHBP...”

• “OPM estimates 5,000 to 8,000 firefighters would be eligible to participate in the FEHBP this fire season.”

• OPM “estimate[s] the ten-year cost [of this change] to be in the range of $184-295 million.”

Text of OPM's letter, here.