{"id":22749,"date":"2019-10-07T13:30:49","date_gmt":"2019-10-07T13:30:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/uncategorized\/2019\/10\/07\/why-feds-should-do-a-self-checkup-before-open-season\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T04:59:04","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T04:59:04","slug":"why-feds-should-do-a-self-checkup-before-open-season","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/management\/pay-benefits\/2019\/10\/07\/why-feds-should-do-a-self-checkup-before-open-season\/","title":{"rendered":"Why feds should do a self-checkup before open season"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">When it comes to health care, federal employees are unique among most professionals in the United States. Rather than be restricted to a single provider, they can choose from a variety of insurance options, and they can change their plan every year, if they desire.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And yet, most feds choose to keep the same insurance they held in the previous year, some without considering the value of other offerings. If you ask Reg Jones, former head of retirement and insurance policy at the Office of Personnel Management, that can be their biggest mistake.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cMost employees stay with the plan that they have for one of two reasons: one, they are satisfied with it; second, they just don\u2019t know what to do, so it\u2019s safe to stay where they are,\u201d Jones said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cSome of the people who are in those programs are quite old and may no longer have the ability to research. But the rest of the people should start as soon as open season begins, so they can look at the plan options and prices.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/management\/pay-benefits\/2019\/10\/02\/2020-federal-health-benefit-costs-return-to-a-normal-increase\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"169\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/GettyImages-940167624-Cropped.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">2020 federal health benefit costs increase at a higher rate<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">Federal employees will see a more of a premium increase on their health insurance than in 2019, matching up with the average rate increase seen over the last decade.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Even among plans with almost the same coverage, the prices can increase or decrease based on whether that insurer happens to have largely healthy members. A different insurer with the same offerings may be able to offer feds a better deal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Employees generally have the option to choose from more than 250 health care plans each year, with just over a dozen offered nationwide, and can select a plan for either just themselves, their whole family, or themselves plus a single additional family member.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Evaluating those plans should involve two stages of reflection, according to Jones.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cFederal employees need to look back at the year that\u2019s gone by, and maybe even further, and ask themselves whether the insurance that they have now is providing them with the support that they need \u2014 meaning are they being covered for their bills and to what extent \u2014 and is that the amount they were promised when they signed up for the program,\u201d said Jones.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cLook at yourself now and say, \u2018Is there anything coming up in my future that I know is going to happen?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Feds typically fall into four categories, according to Jones:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Generally healthy employees whose priority is saving money over getting expansive coverage;<\/li><li>Feds who don\u2019t expect any major health problems but have families that may require standard coverage for such health care services as children\u2019s shots;<\/li><li>Employees that have a chronic condition or planned medical expense that can influence the kind of coverage they\u2019ll need; and<\/li><li>Generally older employees that don\u2019t have ongoing medical expenses currently but expect more health coverage could be needed eventually based on family history or statistics.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">According to Jones, employees that have expected medical expenses for the upcoming year \u2014 like a planned surgery or pregnancy \u2014 are \u201cin the best position to analyze plans.\u201d They can adjust upward for one year to a more expensive plan that offers more coverage and then adjust back down the next year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But looking for simply the lowest price available also presents a dangerous pitfall for employees, as those who sign up for such an option could be surprised by the costs of that plan down the road, when they have to put money toward a high deductible or aren\u2019t covered for an unanticipated medical expense.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">According to Jones, a modest price reduction may also not be worth the concessions an employee may have to make, like giving up a doctor that they know and trust but is no longer included in network.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIt makes very good sense\u201d to go to your doctor and ask about the plans you\u2019re considering, to ensure that his or her practice participates, Jones said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Also, \u201cyou want to talk to others \u2014 if you can find them \u2014 who are already using that plan, to learn about their experience and their satisfaction.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In recent years, federal employees have had more specific options for covering their families under the federal system. Rather than only being able to cover just themselves or a full family, feds now have the option to include only one family member on their coverage in cases where, for example, the employee is married with no children or is a single parent. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That said, just because a fed fits within a new plan type does not mean they will automatically save money by signing up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cBecause of the way that the formula works to establish the premiums, there are freak cases where self plus family can be cheaper than self plus one,\u201d said Jones.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Avoiding the pitfalls and finding the right plan requires feds to simply put in a baseline effort.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIt\u2019s work \u2026 it\u2019s work and you have to do it, but you can do it with the assistance of calls to the plan you\u2019re considering to ask them questions,\u201d said Jones.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cOpen your eyes, talk to other people in the federal employee health benefit program and look over materials that OPM will be providing. And give it at least a minimum scan. You don\u2019t have to do a 10-hour analysis to make up your mind.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">OPM also offers an online plan comparison tool for feds to use to explore their options, based on employment type, location and healthcare needs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Open season for 2020 health coverage will run from Nov. 11 to Dec. 9, 2019. Employees can also enroll in vision and dental insurance during that time.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Staying with the same health insurance plan without doing adequate research could be a feds&#8217; biggest mistake, according to insurance expert Reg Jones.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":37870,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":69,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[104,106,11,57,31,15,33,69],"tags":[],"coauthors":[2853],"class_list":["post-22749","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-acquisition-update","category-daily-brief","category-fedlife","category-health","category-home","category-management","category-newsletters","category-pay-benefits"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"DFDYQUWTYFEHVFJNQXRLMH6IJQ","arc_canonical_url":"\/management\/pay-benefits\/2019\/10\/07\/why-feds-should-do-a-self-checkup-before-open-season\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented 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