Search results for how annuitants can save money by choosing self only fehb enrollment

145 articles found

• How Retired Couples Can Save Money by Choosing Self-Only FEHB Enrollment

  For a husband and wife who are both Federal annuitants and who have no dependent children, it is possible to save on premium costs by enrolling separately as self only rather than together as self

• Can you Save Money by Enrolling in FEHB Self Plus One?

  Married couples with no children to cover, and single parents with one child to cover, can enroll as self plus one rather than as a family and, depending on the plan, usually save two or three

• Should I suspend FEHB coverage and just have Medicare Advantage?

  If you join a commercial MA plan, not FEHB Medicare Advantage plans, you can temporarily suspend your FEHB enrollment and stop paying two sets of premiums. Under the suspend option, you pay the Part

• How Much Money Can I Save by Switching FEHB Plans?

  Whether your family's circumstances are "average" or unusual, some HMOs, some national plans such as Blue Cross Basic and GEHA Standard option, and several High-Deductible plans offer big savings

• Should Federal Annuitants Stay Enrolled in the FEHB program after Age 65?

  You could drop FEHB coverage once you enroll in Parts A and B. But this would be a bad decision. Medicare Part B requires you to pay 20 percent of the cost of doctors’ fees, and deductibles, with no

• How the FEHB Program Works

  The Federal Employees Health Benefits Program (FEHB) is an unconventional government program. Instead of giving you one "take it or leave it" choice, the government authorizes plans to compete for

• Limitations on FEHB Enrollment

  Many plans are open to all employees. However, HMOs require that you live or work in their service area, and a few plans require that you work for a particular agency or join a specific union. Most

• Big Changes in How Federal Annuitants Receive Prescription Drug Benefits in 2024 and Beyond

  Major Medicare Part D reforms were enacted in the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (IRA). Some of the legislation’s provisions seek to lower prescription drug costs for both Medicare beneficiaries and

• How to Save Money on FEHB Coverage and Healthcare Costs

  With the average enrollee share of FEHB premium increasing 7.7% next year, most federal employees will pay more for health insurance in 2024. We’ll analyze this premium hike and walk you through

• Are Consumer Driven Health Plans the Right FEHB Plan Type for You?

  Consumer Driven Health Plans (CDHPs) have been around for a while, but we still get a lot of questions about them. Here’s why they’re one of the lowest-cost plans in FEHB. How CDHPs work CDHPs have

• A Closer Look at 2024 FEHB Premiums

  Federal employees and annuitants will, on average, pay 7.7% more in FEHB premiums next year. OPM cites increased cost and use of prescription drugs, emergency room care, and outpatient care as the

• FEHB Enrollment Category

  This entry indicates your premium category. Premiums are not the same for GS, FDIC, SEC, and several other types of eligible employees. GS part-time employees pay part of the employer share of the

• What's New in FEHB for 2024

  Every year it’s important to review what’s new in FEHB. As in previous years, there are significant premium, benefit, and plan availability changes that will affect both active and retired federal

• What Federal Annuitants Need to Know about Medicare Part D for 2024

  Federal annuitants will have higher healthcare costs in 2024. The enrollee share for FEHB premiums is rising 7.7%, and the standard Medicare Part B premium is increasing 5.9%, or $9.80, to

• How to Balance Risk When Choosing a FEHB Plan

  Since you do not know in advance how high your medical bills will be, there is no way to know which plan will leave you with the lowest total cost. You must gamble just as you do with any insurance,

• 2024 FEHB Program Changes

  The average 2024 premium will increase 7.7% for enrollees. This is considerably higher than historical experience in the FEHB, but is similar to most private employer cost increases and largely

• Spousal Insurance

  My husband is retiring and we are trying to decide if he should be put on my insurance plan. My concern is, if I were to pass away would he still be covered or would he have to find his own? Any

• Should I Purchase a FEDVIP Dental or Vision Plan?

  The Federal government offers standalone "FEDVIP" dental and vision plans, separate and distinct from the FEHB program. The FEDVIP program shares the same Open Season dates as the FEHB program, but

• High Deductible Health Plans

  I am confused regarding the difference between a consumer directed health plan with a health reimbursement account and a high deductible health plan that can have a health savings account. What sets

• 13 FEHB Open Season Tips

  Getting "Free" Health Insurance—Some Consumer-Driven and High Deductible FEHB plans provide you a savings account larger than your actual premium cost after taxes. You can end the year with more

• How to use Checkbook's Guide to Health Plans for Federal Employees

  We prepared the Guide because we know that choosing the right plan can be difficult, even if you have time to read hundreds of pages in plan brochures. The coverage details are hard to understand and

• How to Get FEHB Plan Information

  The OPM website has plan brochures and a great deal of other useful information. There are three additional ways to get brochures: Attend health fairs Call the plan Visit the plan website You change

• FEHB & Medicare Advantage

  Federal retirees have Medicare Advantage (MA) plans to consider joining. Our analysis shows that some of these offerings are an outstanding value. Aetna, APWU, Compass Rose, Kaiser, GEHA, MHBP, Rural

• How to Coordinate a FEHB Plan with Other Insurance

  You cannot use our cost rankings directly if you have health insurance coverage from another source. The best FEHB plan for you depends on the cost and benefit structure of the other plan, though

• Should I Join a High Deductible Plan in the FEHB Program?

  Over a dozen national and some local carriers offer High Deductible plans (HDHP), with at least two or three of these plans available to most enrollees. HDHPs offer spectacular savings opportunities

• FEHB & Medicare Part D

  The Medicare Part D prescription drug program benefits millions of Americans. It fills a major hole in Medicare that lasted 50 years. But, historically, it would rarely benefit federal retirees who

• Expect to see Improved Fertility Coverage from FEHB Plans in 2024

  OPM released their annual carrier call letter that outlines the goals and initiatives federal employees can see from FEHB plans in 2024. One of the biggest changes is fertility coverage. From the OPM

• Medicare

  I'm a retired Federal employee with FEHB health insurance. My insurer is telling me I have to use Medicare part A. I don't want to use it because that's taxpayers money. I paid for insurance coverage

• TRICARE

  Would it be advantageous for me to enroll in TRICARE (I am retired military) rather than remaining with my FEHB plan? In general, TRICARE is a better choice than any FEHB plan, because its benefits

• Should I Use Non-Preferred Providers With My FEHB Plan?

  You face far higher costs if you use non-preferred providers in most plans, though many plans remove this cost if you have Medicare Parts A & B. Plans not only charge you more for deductibles,

• Reasons Why You Should Enroll in Medicare Part B

  The most common question we receive every Open Season from retirees and soon-to-be retirees is whether to take Part B and pay the extra premium. Given that there is a penalty if you delay Part B

• FEHB Plan Brochures

  You can download PDF copies of plan brochures at the Checkbook, OPM, and plan websites, and either use them online or as print copies. Plan brochures are necessary to determine what benefits each

• What Federal Employees Need to Know About FEHB Premium Conversion

  Federal employees shelter their share of the FEHB plan premium from income taxes through what is called "Premium Conversion." Employees have the right to opt out of this program. This increases very

• What Part-Time Employees Need to Know About the FEHB Program

  Many career Federal employees work part-time schedules. In these cases, most government agencies do not pay the regular share of the premium. Instead, employees receive a pro rata amount based on

• How can Checkbook's Guide to Health Plans for Federal Employees help me?

  Checkbook's Guide to Health Plans for Federal Employees gives you vital shopping information that you cannot get from any other source. It tells you how much money you can save by changing—or by

• Weight Loss Drug Coverage from FEHB Plans and Medicare

  Weight-loss drug popularity has skyrocketed. Between 2020 to2022, the number of prescriptions has risen to around 9 million in the U.S. With celebrity attention, positive clinical trials, and even

• FEHB Plan Quality

  For traditional fee-for-service insurance plans, service quality used to be a minor issue. The main service concerns were how easily you could get help from plan representatives regarding coverage

• FEHB Plan Catastrophic Limits

  The most important reason for buying health insurance is to protect you against financial catastrophe. You may, therefore, wish to approach plan selection by comparing plans based on potential

• Medicare Basics - The Four Parts of Medicare - A, B, C, D

  Medicare Part A—Hospital Insurance—When you become eligible to join Medicare, you'll be enrolled in Part A. Most people don't pay an extra premium as you've been paying for Part A through paycheck

• Why FEHB Premiums Vary

  The General Schedule (GS) employee and retiree share of the annual premium varies widely among plans. In national plans it ranges from about $1,400 to almost $4,000 for individuals, and from about

• What the End of the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency Means for FEHB Coverage

  On May 11, 2023, the Department of Health and Human Services ended the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency (PHE). As a result, some FEHB benefit provisions enacted by OPM will change going forward. OPM

• When is the 2024 FEHB Open Season?

  The 2024 FEHB Open Season will run from November 13, 2023 through December 11, 2023. Open Season starts every year on the Monday of the second full work week in November and ends on the Monday of the

• FEHB Tax Savings for Federal Employees

  There are major tax advantages for health insurance. The employer share of health insurance—paid by agencies for employees and by OPM for retirees—is part of employee compensation but by law is

• Plan Code

  This is a code assigned by OPM, unique to each plan in each geographic area. Use it to be sure you have the right plan and to enroll. Codes ending in a "1" or a "4" are for individuals, and in a "2"

• FEHB Plan Accreditation

  We report whether or not plans are accredited by NCQA, URAC, or AAAHC. These organizations have procedures to determine whether plans meet the organizations accreditation standards. The standards

• Disputed Claims for FEHB Plans

  Along with the customer satisfaction survey results, we have another indicator of service quality for fee-for-service plans. We checked disputed claims on file at OPM. A disputed claim is a case in

• Why Every Federal Employee Should Consider a Health Savings Account

  High Deductible Health Plans (HDHP), which include Health Savings Accounts (HSA), are one of the cheapest health plan options available to federal employees. With an increase in HSA contributions for

• Deductibles, Copayments, and Coinsurance in the FEHB Program

  You can use cost sharing details to assist you in choosing a plan by pinpointing strengths and weaknesses for items of particular importance. If you are especially concerned about a broad area of

• Should I Use Preferred Providers With My FEHB Plan?

  We rate plan costs based on the assumption that you will always or almost always want to use preferred providers, also known as staying in network. Your cost is always lower, usually far lower, when

• What You Need to Know About the FEHB Program and Health Savings Accounts (HSA)

  Both Health Reimbursement Arrangements (HRAs) and Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) provide significant tax advantages, beyond those available through Premium Conversion and FSAs. The simpler case