With 275 national and regional plans, choosing a health care plan will not be easy and take time, but the benefits are clear. And if nothing else, federal employees and retirees will educate themselves about what their plan offers because insurance matters most when there is an emergency or catastrophe.

Federal employees and retirees have from Nov. 8 through Dec. 13 to check in with your current plan, explore others and maybe make a few changes.

This exclusive e-book jumpstarts your research and plants the seeds of your knowledge base that tools from the Office of Personnel Management and from the private sector can help germinate and grow.