If you are independently wealthy you can skip this. If not, read on …

The federal health insurance and benefits open season started Monday. It ends Monday, Dec. 14. Plenty of time, right?

The decision can wait, right?

Besides, if you are happy with your health plan, why bother to shop?

The good news is that all of the health plans in the FEHBP are good-to-excellent. If you think otherwise, join those of us in the private sector. You’ve got 30 plus choices. Maybe too many for some people.

But only a handful of eligible change plans each open season. Most people stick with the same-old-same-old plan, year after year. And while they are all good, some are better than others (for you). And some are simply too expensive. You pay too much in premiums for what you get.

And enrolling in the “wrong” health plan can easily cost you $1,000 to $2,000, maybe even more, next year. What do you know about your plan’s drug coverage? Is your doctor in the network? Can you and your spouse save money by opting into one of the new Self-Plus-One (S+P1) plans, rather than a traditional family plan. You might be unpleasantly surprised.

So how do you pick the best plan (or plans). Ask the guy who wrote the federal health insurance book. Literally wrote it. That man is Walton Francis. He’s author of Checkbook’s Guide to Health Plans for Federal Employees. He’s our guest on today’s Your Turn radio show. Walt has made a study of benefits, premiums, deductibles, networks and HMOs vs. fee-for-service plan. Chances are your agency has signed up for the computer version of Checkbooks Guide to Federal Health Plans. You can use it, at home or work, to shop around and find the best options for you and yours.

So listen to us today at 10 a.m. EST. We are streaming at FederalNewsRadio.com and can also be heard in the Washington area at 1500 AM. If you have questoons submit them before showtime to me: mcausey@federalnewsradio.com. Or you can call in during showtime at 202-465-3080.

Nearly Useless Factoid

The phrase “The Man”, which is used to denote the person in charge, dates back to at least 1918. It originated in the southern U.S. states to describe a person or group in authority.

Source: Wikipedia

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