Tea for two. Should you try it?
Maybe two can’t live as cheaply as one, but Senior Correspondent Mike Causey says the twosome can engineer an immediate $5,000 raise.
If your family totals two people, should you consider the new self-plus-one health plan option?
Does a bear sniff in the woods?
Short answer: Yes and yes!
For the rest of this month the government is offering federal workers the option to switch from family coverage (self-plus-family) to the new self-plus-one (S+1) option. With some plans there is little or no difference in the premiums. In at least one FEHBP plan (the NALC Value Option) the S+1 plan costs about a quarter more (like 2 cents per month more) than the family plan. The family premium is lower than the S+1 premium in the Mail Handlers standard plan too.
In some of the federal health plans for 2016, people switching from family to self-plus-one will save about $100 a year. BUT …
In some plans the savings are dramatic. Provided you shop around. Example:
CAREFIRST BlueChoice Standard’s S+1 option will cost premium-payers $3,111.69 this year, compared to a premium of $5,067.40 for the family plan. The family plan actually costs more than the S+1 option.
The most dramatic savings would be for people who pick the MD IPA high option S+1 plan ($3,775.96) over the MD IPA family plan ($8,869.12). That would be the equivalent of giving yourself a raise of almost $5,000 this year. Just for switching to the new option.
So how, and where, do you shop? What do you look for? When is it NOT worth bothering?
Wednesday at 10 a.m. we go to the source. Walton Francis, editor of Consumers’ Checkbook Guide to Federal Health Plans will be our guest (10 a.m. to 11 a.m. EST) on our Your Turn radio show. Francis has been picking best-buys for years for federal and postal workers, retirees, people with and without Medicare and those with special medical or drug needs.
Checkbook has a very popular on-line guidebook that will custom tailor your hunting trip based in information you supply. Many federal agencies subscribed to the service during the November-December open season last year. Today you can talk to him or email questions (before showtime) to me at mcausey@federalnewsradio.com. Be sure to tell friends and coworkers about the show. If they (or you) can’t listen live, the show will be archived so anyone can listen anytime.
Online Chat: Immediately after today’s live show, Walton Francis and I will adjourn to our hot-line Web chat room. It’s free and open to anyone who wants to sign up. Just click here to sign up: REGISTER NOW
Nearly Useless Factoid
By Michael O’Connell
Aged 3,200 years, the world’s oldest cultivated tea tree is located in Fengqing County in the Lincang City Prefecture of China’s Yunnan Province.
Source: Wikipedia
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Mike Causey
Mike Causey is senior correspondent for Federal News Network and writes his daily Federal Report column on federal employees’ pay, benefits and retirement.
Follow @mcauseyWFED
