With less than a week of shopping days to go, federal and postal workers and retirees still have plenty of time to pick the best FEHBP plan to cover them in 2015. All the plans are good but some, according to insurance expert Walton Francis, cost too much.

We’ve used Francis’ Consumers’ CHECKBOOK Guide in a series of columns on best- buys. All are archived on our home page. We’ve also done three Your Turn radio shows (also archived) with Francis, and will be doing another one this Wednesday before you head out for Thanksgiving.

Meantime, here are some tips from Walt that could save — and in one case actually make — you a lot of money if you shop carefully. First, what about “free” health insurance.

• Free Insurance: He says that “some consumer driven and high deductible FEHBP plans provide you a savings account larger than your actual premium costs after taxes. You can end the year with more money than you started if your medical costs are low.” The CD and HD plans are offered by APWU ,NALC, Aetna, GEHA, CareFirst and MHBP.
• Insurance For Life: Many people who are covered by their spouse’s insurance drop FEHBP. This saves premium costs. However, if you are not enrolled and die suddenly, your nonfederal spouse cannot ever enroll again. “Your best option is to carry an FEHBP family policy and drop the spousal insurance,” Francis says.
• Protect Your Retirement: Remember the five-year Rule, Francis says: “It is not expensive to enroll in the FEHBP for the five years before retirement. Several plans have annual premiums that are about $1,500. These plans cost about $1,000 after tax savings. Some plans give you savings accounts higher than the tax advantaged premium cost.”
• Survivor Annuity Francis says be sure to elect a survivor annuity for your spouse. “If you die and your spouse receives no federal pension at all, your spouse will lose FEHBP health insurance coverage forever. If you die while enrolled as self-only, your spouse will also lose coverage.”

Francis also says to be sure you favorite physician will be part of the preferred provider network of any plan you select for next year. Stay with us for more shopping tips, and be sure to listen to Your Turn Wednesday, at 10 a.m. EST, on www.federalnewsradio.com or in the DC area at 1500 AM.

NEARLY USELESS FACTOID:

By Michael O’Connell

Fredric Baur was an organic chemist and food storage technician from Cincinnati. His crowning achievement was designing the Pringles potato chip can. When Baur died in 2008, his family honored his wishes and buried part of his cremated remains in a Pringles can.

Source: The New York Daily News

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