Search results for what you need to know about the fehb program and health savings accounts

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• 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

• 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

• What You Need to Know About Vision Care in the FEHB Program

  All FEHB plans pay for medically necessary care of your eyes, such as cataract surgery. Many pay for annual refractive examinations to determine your prescription for eyeglasses or contact lens, and

• What You Need to Know About Dental Care in the FEHB Program

  Plans' dental benefits differ widely in details, and many of the brochures use technical terminology such as "gingival" (gum, in English), "alveolar" (the part of the jawbone that holds teeth 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

• 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 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'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:

• 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

• 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

• 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

• 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

• 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

• 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 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

• 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

• 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

• 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

• 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

• 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

• 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,

• 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 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

• 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 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,

• 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

• 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

• 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

• 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

• 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

• 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.

• 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

• 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

• Hearing Aid Benefits in the FEHB Program

  All plans cover medical problems, such as infections, that affect any part of your body, including your ears. All plans cover routine hearing testing for children. Almost all will pay most of the

• 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

• 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

• 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

• 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

• Clinical Quality of Care for FEHB Plans

  We also report ratings from OPM on how plans compared for clinical quality of care. These data are from the Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set (HEDIS), which are standardized

• 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

• 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

• Surgical Procedures & Disease Management

  If someone is going to have major surgery, say a hysterectomy, is there a better plan for this and managing any care/complications? In the case of planned surgery, we recommend four things. First, if

• 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

• 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

• 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