Any Federal Employees On Here?

[TangoJuliet]

For those of you that work for the government you know that it is open season for 2009. I wanted to switch from BCBS to something different. I was wondering if anyone had any of the following plans and if so what do you think of them?

APWU Health Plan - High Option

National Association of Letter Carriers

Mail Handlers - Standard Plan

 

[jarfykk]

Heard good things about the newly available SAMBA plan(s). Heard negatives from my in-laws about long processing times for NACL. No info on the others but will follow the thread, open season time.

 

[Kirby]

Federal employee, but I have my insurance through my parents since I'm still a student.

 

[Drakkon]

Why switch from BCBS? Are you on a PPO or HMO plan? I never had any trouble at all with them and their network of docs and coverage far exceeds the others i looked at...haven't seen specifics for the ones you listed...

 

[TangoJuliet]

Originally posted by: Drakkon
Why switch from BCBS? Are you on a PPO or HMO plan? I never had any trouble at all with them and their network of docs and coverage far exceeds the others i looked at...haven't seen specifics for the ones you listed...

I am on a PPO plan. My co pays had gone from $5 up to $20 for doctor visits and prescription drugs went up from $10 to $35. I had thought that maybe one of the other plans offered better options but after looking closer it seems that the plan I have is probably the best.

Right now I pay this (BCBS Basic):

Catastrophic Limit Per Person
$5,000

Catastrophic Limit Per Family
$5,000

Calendar Year Deductible Per Person
None

Hospital Inpatient Per Admission Deductible/Copay
$100/day x 5

Hospital Inpatient Room & Board Charges
Nothing

Primary Doctor Office Visits
$25

Specialist Office Visits
$30

Rx Deductible Per Person
None

Rx Generic Local Pharmacy
$10

Rx Brand Local Pharmacy
$35

The NALC Plan is

Catastrophic Limit Per Person
$4,000

Catastrophic Limit Per Family
$4,000

Calendar Year Deductible Per Person
$250

Hospital Inpatient Per Admission Deductible/Copay
$100

Hospital Inpatient Room & Board Charges
Nothing

Primary Doctor Office Visits
$15

Specialist Office Visits
$15

Rx Deductible Per Person
None

Rx Generic Local Pharmacy
25%

Rx Generic Mail Order
$12

Rx Brand Local Pharmacy
25%

Rx Brand Mail Order
$35

Rx Mail Order --Supply Size Per Copay
90 days

The BCBS Basic plan has no yearly deductible while the NALC plan has a $250 per person deductible. Even though the co-pays are lower with NALC I would still be paying more with the deductibles. However the NALC plan offers Non-PPOs but I don't go to any doctors that aren't participating so that really doesn't matter.

 

[dabuddha]

I'm on BCBS atm but I'm thinking of changing. I haven't had a chance to look at all the various options yet.

 

[robphelan]

i used to work for MHBP - really good folks.

 

[Codewiz]

I used to carry the APWU Health Plan - Consumer Driven Plan. It is a great plan if you aren't sick much. The high plan would probably be good paired up with the FSAFEDs spending account.

My wife and I switched to BCBS because we were planning to have a child and you can't beat BCBS for pregnancy and child birth. We have only had to pay one copay the entire pregnancy and that is all we will have to pay.

 

[dud]

Up to 2008 BCBS (either standard or basic) was the best value for health insurance. What 2009 holds for us ... I don't know. My agency has yet to have it's annual health fair.

Years ago we used to have 10 to 20 good options for health insurance but that all changed around 2000. Instead of 10-20 companies we find our choices down to a handfull.


I plan on staying with BCBS and opening a Flexible Spending Account to set aside some pre-tax dollars to go towards offsetting the (getting) higher cost of insurance.

 

[TangoJuliet]

dud, how does the flex spending account work?

 

[TangoJuliet]

looks like I'm going to be sticking with BCBS because of the high deductibles of the other insurances. Can anyone recommend a good dental insurance now?

 

[Vette73]

Originally posted by: TangoJuliet
looks like I'm going to be sticking with BCBS because of the high deductibles of the other insurances. Can anyone recommend a good dental insurance now?

Have you looked to see what plans offer dental in their health plan? Dental/Vision is not really covered by the fed, they just let you buy through them.