Federal Benefits Open Season - Discussion!

DOI-ONRR / onrr.gov-site

We will use this repo to manage our work on the onrr.gov website

12 stars 3 forks source link

Federal Benefits Open Season - Discussion! #2264

Closed cthomasONRR closed 1 year ago

cthomasONRR commented 1 year ago

Let's post health insurance/vision/dental/etc plans we're happy with here. Also please feel free to post questions so others can answer!

cthomasONRR commented 1 year ago

For health insurance, I'm probably going to stay with BCBS. Never really need/use it.
For vision, I'm probably going to stay with Aetna. I haven't had any issues with basic yearly exams and getting new contacts every year.
For dental, I'm thinking about switching from United Concordia to GEHA High because I have some pretty bad dental issues and looking at orthodontics. United Concordia has drastically cut their in-network providers and I can't find anyone in-network anymore. Anyone have advice on dental?

lpgoldstein commented 1 year ago

I called GEHA High and had them walk me through the cost of everything based on the quote I received from my dentist for worst case scenario. I have TMJ issues that I've been putting off. Anyway that plan looks great if you need work to be done. No dentist is out of network, 3 cleanings, and no limits on how much your dentist can charge them for a cleaning. It brings the cost of my TMJ work from $5000 to $1000 and orthodontia down to $1700. Premiums for the year for my husband and I would be $1200.

lpgoldstein commented 1 year ago

I'm going to go with this plan https://www.uhcfeds.com/health-plans/plan-details.hdhp.80210.selfOnly.biweekly There's a premium pass through of $1500 which takes the deductible down to $2500, and the premium payment for my whole family is around $400 a month. We figured out last year that the money we would save on premiums even including the deductible - saves us around $1500. We will max out our HSA - which never expires and you can invest - but we will probably use it all because I use a lot of non-covered services. It includes preventative dental for kids and an annual eye exam. I will only get dental insurance for my husband and I. If a kid has a cavity - I will directly negotiate the price and it will be cheaper than paying a larger premium. Then I will also max out my dental vision fsa for my dental work.

eelzi-ONRR commented 1 year ago

@lpgoldstein The United HDHP is what I have now - I can't speak much to it yet except that I chose it because it covers all my existing doctors, no referrals needed for most specialists, a flat rate instead of percentage for most appointments and services. One drawback is that physical therapy sessions are limited to 20 per year.

When I was comparing, I considered what I paid out of pocket for knee surgery last year and all the follow-up appointments as an example, and found the same thing you did - that the higher deductible plan worked out in my favor versus paying a higher premium.

I should have a specialist claim and a custom ortho brace go through in the next couple weeks, so if I have any more feedback based on those, I'll let you know!

lpgoldstein commented 1 year ago

@eelzi-ONRR Thank you! I have that same plan but through my husband's work and the coverage isn't as comprehensive as the federal plan. I just need to stop seeing people that are out of network.

cthomasONRR commented 1 year ago

Thanks for everyone's input!!! I appreciate it :) Closing this issue now