2018 Federal Employee Health Benefit

[UberTrish]

What's a normal plan?

[shadogree]

I just switched to GEHA HDHP. I think my 30 years that I need to go before retirement make this a better use of money.

Anyone else with an HDHP?

I plan to switch to a normal plan before retirement.

Best

Me

What is GEHA HDHP? I don't remember that being one of the options, only High and Standard. In the past I've had GEHA Standard insurance.

[evilanne]

HDHP=High Deductible Health Plan, which is required for setting up HSA. It sets us an Health Savings Account that you can also contribute up to a certain amount each year. It is portable plan that you can transfer anywhere and is pretax.

[Buckeyedog]

Looks like they are coming after this too now. Great.
http://www.govexec.com/pay-benefits/201 ... c_today_nl

[Timber82]

Been kicking around the HDHP as well, it worked great for me back when I was single in the private sector, but I now have a kid and wife on my insurance. She is 2 so not to many doctors appointments now but I cant find information on co-pays anywhere.

[mhayes]

Looks like they are coming after this too now. Great.
http://www.govexec.com/pay-benefits/201 ... c_today_nl

Gee, if the government is cutting cost, wish they would cut the funding for the football stadiums.

[DonkeyKong]

LOL.

[Vertigo]

There's a ton of things they could cut instead of our benefits that's for sure.

[sauzajw]

Savings related suggestion for those of you who have the Blue Cross Nationwide plan. I ran with the Blue Cross Standard Self + Family for years until a coworker suggested I look at the NALC High Self+ Family. It's a nationwide plan that I've found to be fairly comparable to the Blue Cross Plan in preferred providers and deductibles, at least in the Western Washington state area. NALC runs through CIGNA and requires a $36 yearly membership fee, however the savings in employee contribution over the previous plan and the preferred provider convenience has worked for me and my family since I switched.

[Sarewy]

I've been looking at the GEHA HDHP. Currently on the BCBS Basic. There are 6 of us (myself, spouse and 4 kids) but we are all pretty healthy. Unless a hospital visit or major accident, we won't even come close to hitting the $3000 deductible. Possibly not even more than the $1500/year premium offset. It is about $40 less a paycheck in premiums so I will probably stash that into the HSA until I'm ready to max it out. That will put about $2500 into the HSA a year minus whatever our health expenses are. Being relatively healthy, why not gain an extra tax sheltered retirement account!

[skiehawk11]

I find the best way to analyze health insurance is simply look at quality of care rankings. I want excellent to outstanding. I then filter from lowest to highest the maximum amount of money I will pay in a year (premium + deductible). And that's the one I go for.

The only caveat to digging in the weeds is if you have a certain condition that requires special attention (chiropractor, etc) as some plans offer better coverage than others in those unique circumstances.

[cswift01]

I've been looking at the GEHA HDHP. Currently on the BCBS Basic. There are 6 of us (myself, spouse and 4 kids) but we are all pretty healthy. Unless a hospital visit or major accident, we won't even come close to hitting the $3000 deductible. Possibly not even more than the $1500/year premium offset. It is about $40 less a paycheck in premiums so I will probably stash that into the HSA until I'm ready to max it out. That will put about $2500 into the HSA a year minus whatever our health expenses are. Being relatively healthy, why not gain an extra tax sheltered retirement account!

I switched over myself to the GEHA HSA. I'm trying to understand, however, do we need a minimum in our HSA account before we begin investing? I couldn't find anything stating that we needed a minimum, but some plans require you to have at least $5000 before you can invest.

I find the best way to analyze health insurance is simply look at quality of care rankings. I want excellent to outstanding. I then filter from lowest to highest the maximum amount of money I will pay in a year (premium + deductible). And that's the one I go for.

The only caveat to digging in the weeds is if you have a certain condition that requires special attention (chiropractor, etc) as some plans offer better coverage than others in those unique circumstances.

I used to do the same. Then I realized one important caveat. People that use the HDHPs are less satisfied with their customer service, even if its the same company. That has led me to believe that people just don't do well on the HDHPs, maybe? In any case, i would suggest to evaluate the company on a normal/standard situation and hopefully that is the way things go with all their accounts.

Thanks,

Me

[cswift01]

HDHP=High Deductible Health Plan, which is required for setting up HSA. It sets us an Health Savings Account that you can also contribute up to a certain amount each year. It is portable plan that you can transfer anywhere and is pretax.

I forgot to mention in my post to not forget that its not only pretax but also pre-FICA, i.e. you literally pay no taxes on this income.

I wish I had done this years ago. I could have already had a good nest egg waiting for my future. I guess there is no day like today, however and given that I'm 37 I will have a few years that I can grow the account.

Best,

Me

[Sarewy]

I've been looking at the GEHA HDHP. Currently on the BCBS Basic. There are 6 of us (myself, spouse and 4 kids) but we are all pretty healthy. Unless a hospital visit or major accident, we won't even come close to hitting the $3000 deductible. Possibly not even more than the $1500/year premium offset. It is about $40 less a paycheck in premiums so I will probably stash that into the HSA until I'm ready to max it out. That will put about $2500 into the HSA a year minus whatever our health expenses are. Being relatively healthy, why not gain an extra tax sheltered retirement account!

I switched over myself to the GEHA HSA. I'm trying to understand, however, do we need a minimum in our HSA account before we begin investing? I couldn't find anything stating that we needed a minimum, but some plans require you to have at least $5000 before you can invest.

Thanks,

Me

Don't quote me on it but I believe GEHA has no minimum investment and they pay your investment fees for you. Aetna has a $2000 minimum and you pay your own fees. I did hear that GEHA has bad customer service.