Search results for how health insurance works

94 articles found

• How Health Insurance Works

  Individuals and families buy automobile, life, fire, and health insurance policies to protect themselves from catastrophic financial harm from rare events. No one buys "food insurance" because food

• 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

• 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

• 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

• Outpatient Mental Benefits in the FEHB Program

  OPM has long required that plans pay the same benefits for physician visits or hospital stays whether due to either physical or mental illness. This requirement is called "parity," and, at face

• 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

• 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

• FEHB Plan Benefits

  I need good psychiatric benefits. What plan is best? The mental health parity requirement—which theoretically allows unlimited mental health services at the same cost as physical health

• 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

• 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

• What's the Difference Between a HSA and a HRA?

  There are two different savings accounts associated with HDHP and CDHP plans, HSA and HRA. Here's how they compare:

• 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

• 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

• What are HSA Catch-Up Contributions?

  If you're 55 or older and not yet on Medicare, you can contribute an additional $1,000 per year to your HSA as a catch-up contribution. The catch-up contribution is in addition to the annual maximum

• Are High Deductible Health Plans the Right FEHB Plan Type for You?

  For most federal employees, High Deductible Health Plans (HDHPs) will be the cheapest FEHB plan type. Here’s how they work. HDHP Overview HDHPs have much higher deductibles than traditional HMO and

• How to Maximize the Full Potential of Your HSA

  To maximize the full potential of the HSA, you'll want to try to preserve the plan contribution as much as possible and have it grow year over year along with future plan contributions. Remember,

• 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

• 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

• 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

• 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

• 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

• International Health Coverage

  I am recently retired, looking to select a health plan that will work for my wife and I. Both of us have selected Medicare A and B. The past 10 years we have had our health plan with Kaiser. However

• How to Choose the Best FEHB Plan For You and Your Family

  There are three important steps to follow to narrow down the selection of plans: Use the Guide's yearly cost comparisons, which are personalized based on the information you tell us, to find the

• 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,

• Our Methods and Data Sources

  We compare plans in terms of their likely dollar cost to you, including both the “for sure” expense of the premium and the out-of-pocket (OOP) expenses you face for costs the plan does not pay. We

• Customer Satisfaction Ratings of FEHB Plans

  Our Guide shows plan-by-plan customer satisfaction ratings reported by OPM. These ratings come from a 2023 survey in which a standardized questionnaire was sent to a sample of each plan’s members.

• Mental Health

  All plans cover low-cost mental outpatient care provided that the plan approves both the provider and the number of visits. Rarely are many visits approved. This entry indicates the amount

• 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

• Health Alliance Medicare Advantage

  If you enroll in this FEHB plan, Medicare Parts A and B, and the Health Alliance Medicare Advantage plan, you will receive Medicare Part B premium reimbursements and lower out-of-pocket costs for

• Expected Health Care Usage

  We present ratings by average, low, or high expected health care use. Unless you are quite sure that your health care situation is unusual, we strongly recommend selecting "average". However, if you

• Reasons Why You Shouldn't Enroll in Medicare Part B

  Here are a few scenarios why retirees should consider not taking Part B. High Income Couples and Individuals that pay IRMAA—If you fall into one of the high-income categories (more than $103,000

• 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

• Prescription Drug Coverage

  I take a number of prescription drugs and I would like to find out which plan would cost me the least out of pocket cost. Is there a way to do this? Our results comparing plans include substantial

• 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

• 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

• Miscellaneous

  I'm not very healthy and could easily have expenses of many thousands of dollars next year. So I don't think that your rankings based on average costs are what I should use. What should I do? A good

• 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

• Average Cost Year

  Your costs for health care include more than just insurance premiums. Our "Estimated average yearly costs for families like yours" also includes what you have to pay for the part of costs not covered

• 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

• Yearly Cost Estimate

  Your costs for health care include more than just your insurance premiums. "Estimated yearly costs" include not only your premiums but also what you have to pay for the part of costs not covered by

• Nursing Care Benefits in the FEHB Program

  There are four kinds of nursing care: Skilled care while in a hospital. Skilled care in a special extended or skilled care facility. Care in your own home provided by visiting nurses. Custodial care

• 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

• 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

• Most You Can Pay

  Insurance plans have a stated limit on what you might have to pay in a year for premium, hospital, doctor, drug, and other medical costs. But some plans have loopholes that may leave you paying

• 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

• Will My FEHB Plan Pay for That?

  Most plans limit reimbursement for most of the following services. Current employees can cover any of them through a Flexible Spending Account. Dental care—Only some plans cover dental care. We

• 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

• Should I Join an HMO in the FEHB Program?

  HMO plans provide not just insurance, but also a different approach to health care delivery from traditional fee-for-service medicine. Therefore, although cost and benefit comparisons are the key

• 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

• Types of FEHB Plans

  Plans are of three main types: Preferred Provider Organization (PPO) and Fee-for-Service (FFS) plans, High Deductible (HDHP) and Consumer-Driven (CDHP) plans Health Maintenance Organization (HMO)