Friday, October 26, 2012

Viva FEHBP!

Govexec.com recently undertook an unscientific survey of federal employee attitudes towards our beloved Federal Employees Health Benefits Program. Govexec.com reports today that "More than 90 percent of respondents to an October Government Executive poll characterized their FEHBP coverage as “good” or “satisfactory.” The question received more than 1,200 responses." Here's an interesting tidbit from the report
Another long-standing complaint from enrollees, and one that several Government Executive readers mentioned, was the lack of a self-plus-one option. FEHBP offers self-only and family coverage; those enrollees with spouses and no dependents must choose the family plan if they want coverage extended to their spouse. Some enrollees have balked at having to pay more for the family plan when they don’t have children, but Francis said a self-plus-one option would not be cheaper for enrollees. “If they got their wish, they would pay higher premiums,” Francis said, because that demographic consists largely of older, empty-nesters, who are more expensive to insure than a young couple with children. “OPM actuaries have confirmed that over and over,” Francis said.
The FEHBlog has heard the same opinion from OPM's actuaries.  Although it's not an apples to apples comparison, the premiums in the FEDVIP program which does allow for a self and one option logically step up from self only to self and one to self and family at the top. Of course, the FEDVIP law allows for the self and one option while the older FEHBP law does not. Conngress would have to change the FEHB law in order to create a self and one option.

No comments: