Reimbursement for Katrina “Excess” Cellular Phone Charges - Clarification

The Office of Commissioned Corps Force Management and the Office of Commissioned Corps Operations, in collaboration with the Katrina Travel Office, have verified that the eligibility criteria used by Katrina Travel for reimbursement of official duty phone expenses incurred during the hurricane deployments of 2005-2006 are consistent with the rules authorizing payment.

The Joint Federal Travel Regulations (JFTR) govern the way in which the Commissioned Corps of the U.S. Public Health Service (PHS) authorizes payment for travel and transportation expenses for its officers. The JFTR authorizes the reimbursement of official phone calls made while officers are deployed. The PHS consulted with the Per Diem, Travel and Transportation Allowance Committee regarding cellular phone usage and they provided two specific conditions for reimbursement to occur. They are: (1) the phone call must be for official communications only, which may include up to one call to the officer’s home/family per day (HHS limits the amount to up to $5.00/day); and (2) only the exact expenses that are in “excess” of the cellular plan minutes can be reimbursed. For example, if the cellular call did not incur additional expenses because it used the plan minutes, then there is no reimbursement authorized.

Katrina Travel has reviewed and paid all eligible “excess” official duty cell phone claims submitted by officers to date. Officers who incurred official duty phone expenses as explained above, and have NOT yet submitted these to Katrina Travel, should submit applicable bills or receipts along with a letter certifying these expenses. When submitting for reimbursement a detailed receipt must be provided showing the date, phone number and exact charge for each call. The phone calls must be identified by the officer as either business or personal.

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