Search results for should i purchase a standalone fedvip dental or vision plan

168 articles found

  • Should I Purchase a FEDVIP Dental or Vision Plan?

    The Federal government offers standalone "FEDVIP" dental and vision plans, separate and distinct from the FEHB program. The FEDVIP program shares the same Open Season dates as the FEHB program, but

  • Dental Care

    I am a new employee and I have the Blue Cross Basic plan. I've reviewed the plan and it seems to cover dental as well as medical. But I have always thought I needed separate dental and vision. Others

  • What You Need to Know About Vision Care in the FEHB Program

    All FEHB plans pay for medically necessary care of your eyes, such as cataract surgery. Many pay for annual refractive examinations to determine your prescription for eyeglasses or contact lens, and

  • What You Need to Know About Dental Care in the FEHB Program

    Plans' dental benefits differ widely in details, and many of the brochures use technical terminology such as "gingival" (gum, in English), "alveolar" (the part of the jawbone that holds teeth in

  • Will My FEHB Plan Pay for That?

    Most plans limit reimbursement for most of the following services. Current employees can cover any of them through a Flexible Spending Account. Dental care—Only some plans cover dental care. We

  • Medicare Basics - The Four Parts of Medicare - A, B, C, D

    Medicare Part A—Hospital Insurance—When you become eligible to join Medicare, you'll be enrolled in Part A. Most people don't pay an extra premium as you've been paying for Part A through paycheck

  • Dental Plan Type

    There are three different plan types. 1. There are "official" benefits in some FEHB plans that go beyond an accidental injury benefit. 2. There are "unofficial" benefits in many FEHB plans that cost

  • A Closer Look at 2024 FEHB Premiums

    Federal employees and annuitants will, on average, pay 7.7% more in FEHB premiums next year. OPM cites increased cost and use of prescription drugs, emergency room care, and outpatient care as the

  • How Much Money Can I Save by Switching FEHB Plans?

    Whether your family's circumstances are "average" or unusual, some HMOs, some national plans such as Blue Cross Basic and GEHA Standard option, and several High-Deductible plans offer big savings

  • How to Choose the Best FEHB Plan For You and Your Family

    There are three important steps to follow to narrow down the selection of plans: Use the Guide's yearly cost comparisons, which are personalized based on the information you tell us, to find the

  • How to Balance Risk When Choosing a FEHB Plan

    Since you do not know in advance how high your medical bills will be, there is no way to know which plan will leave you with the lowest total cost. You must gamble just as you do with any insurance,

  • FEDVIP Eligibility

    Non-career USPS employees that have worked 130 hours per month for the last 90 days are eligible to enroll in FEDVIP dental and vision plans.

  • Should I Use Preferred Providers With My FEHB Plan?

    We rate plan costs based on the assumption that you will always or almost always want to use preferred providers, also known as staying in network. Your cost is always lower, usually far lower, when

  • Reasons Why You Shouldn't Enroll in Medicare Part B

    Here are a few scenarios why retirees should consider not taking Part B. High Income Couples and Individuals that pay IRMAA—If you fall into one of the high-income categories (more than $103,000

  • Miscellaneous

    I'm not very healthy and could easily have expenses of many thousands of dollars next year. So I don't think that your rankings based on average costs are what I should use. What should I do? A good

  • FEHB Plan Benefits

    I need good psychiatric benefits. What plan is best? The mental health parity requirement—which theoretically allows unlimited mental health services at the same cost as physical health

  • Reasons Why You Should Enroll in Medicare Part B

    The most common question we receive every Open Season from retirees and soon-to-be retirees is whether to take Part B and pay the extra premium. Given that there is a penalty if you delay Part B

  • How can Checkbook's Guide to Health Plans for Federal Employees help me?

    Checkbook's Guide to Health Plans for Federal Employees gives you vital shopping information that you cannot get from any other source. It tells you how much money you can save by changing—or by

  • Should I Join a High Deductible Plan in the FEHB Program?

    Over a dozen national and some local carriers offer High Deductible plans (HDHP), with at least two or three of these plans available to most enrollees. HDHPs offer spectacular savings opportunities

  • 13 FEHB Open Season Tips

    Getting "Free" Health Insurance—Some Consumer-Driven and High Deductible FEHB plans provide you a savings account larger than your actual premium cost after taxes. You can end the year with more

  • Medicare and Provider Selection

    We rate plan costs based on the assumption that you will always or almost always want to use preferred providers, also known as staying in network. However, network problems largely disappear if you

  • Should I Use Non-Preferred Providers With My FEHB Plan?

    You face far higher costs if you use non-preferred providers in most plans, though many plans remove this cost if you have Medicare Parts A & B. Plans not only charge you more for deductibles,

  • Orthodontic

    All of the FEDVIP dental plans have a substantial orthodontic benefit. Orthodontic expenses are the perfect dental expense for combining a dental plan with an FSA account for expenses the plan

  • Vision Copays

    These are the extra amounts, if any, that you will have to pay for a refractive exam, lenses, or frames. In cases where a plan offer a combined rate for lenses and inexpensive frames together, we

  • Vision Care

    All plans cover the cost of medically necessary vision care. A "yes" means that the plan, in addition, will pay for refractions and roughly half or more of the cost of glasses or contact lenses;

  • How to use Checkbook's Guide to Health Plans for Federal Employees

    We prepared the Guide because we know that choosing the right plan can be difficult, even if you have time to read hundreds of pages in plan brochures. The coverage details are hard to understand and

  • Laser Vision Discount

    Plan arranged discount with affiliated providers of Laser treatment for correcting your vision.

  • Annual Premium Vision

    This is the amount you will pay even if you don't use the plan.

  • Dental Cost Average

    This shows the total cost, including both premium (after tax savings through "premium conversion") and out of pocket expense, if your dental costs, for both preventive and restorative services, are

  • Dental Cost None

    The standalone dental plans charge an extra premium. However, dental benefits provided by FEHB plans require no extra premium. The amount shown reflects the tax-preferred discount you receive

  • Dental Cost High

    This shows the total cost, including both premium (after tax savings through "premium conversion") and out of pocket expense, if your dental costs, for both preventive and restorative services, are

  • Dental Published Premium

    This shows the premium you pay, even if you have no dental bills. It does not reflect the tax-preferred discount you receive (approximately one third) if you participate in premium conversion.

  • Maximum Dental Benefit

    Maximum coverage for dental service provided by the plan. NA indicates that the plan has no dental coverage. UNLIM means there is no maximum benefit limit for the dental benefits provided under the

  • Dental Cost Low

    This shows the total cost, both premium (after tax savings through "premium conversion") and out-of-pocket expense, if your dental costs are entirely for preventive services, such as annual

  • Out of Network Vision

    This indicates that the plan offers a benefit at non-affiliated providers, but that the benefit is reduced.

  • Customer Satisfaction Ratings of FEHB Plans

    Our Guide shows plan-by-plan customer satisfaction ratings reported by OPM. These ratings come from a 2023 survey in which a standardized questionnaire was sent to a sample of each plan’s members.

  • Why Every Federal Employee Should Have a Flexible Spending Account (FSA)

    Flexible Spending Accounts (FSAs) provide a way to shelter even more health care spending from taxes. FSAs allow you to shelter the out-of-pocket costs that you incur for copayments, coinsurance,

  • FEHB Plan Brochures

    You can download PDF copies of plan brochures at the Checkbook, OPM, and plan websites, and either use them online or as print copies. Plan brochures are necessary to determine what benefits each

  • FEHB Plan Quality

    For traditional fee-for-service insurance plans, service quality used to be a minor issue. The main service concerns were how easily you could get help from plan representatives regarding coverage

  • How to Get FEHB Plan Information

    The OPM website has plan brochures and a great deal of other useful information. There are three additional ways to get brochures: Attend health fairs Call the plan Visit the plan website You change

  • FEHB Plan Accreditation

    We report whether or not plans are accredited by NCQA, URAC, or AAAHC. These organizations have procedures to determine whether plans meet the organizations accreditation standards. The standards

  • How to Coordinate a FEHB Plan with Other Insurance

    You cannot use our cost rankings directly if you have health insurance coverage from another source. The best FEHB plan for you depends on the cost and benefit structure of the other plan, though

  • How to Save Money on FEHB Coverage and Healthcare Costs

    With the average enrollee share of FEHB premium increasing 7.7% next year, most federal employees will pay more for health insurance in 2024. We’ll analyze this premium hike and walk you through

  • How to Maximize the Full Potential of Your HSA

    To maximize the full potential of the HSA, you'll want to try to preserve the plan contribution as much as possible and have it grow year over year along with future plan contributions. Remember,

  • How Health Insurance Works

    Individuals and families buy automobile, life, fire, and health insurance policies to protect themselves from catastrophic financial harm from rare events. No one buys "food insurance" because food

  • Are High Deductible Health Plans the Right FEHB Plan Type for You?

    For most federal employees, High Deductible Health Plans (HDHPs) will be the cheapest FEHB plan type. Here’s how they work. HDHP Overview HDHPs have much higher deductibles than traditional HMO and

  • What's a Point of Service FEHB Plan?

    Some HMOs provide a Point of Service (POS) option under which you may, by paying a deductible and coinsurance, use any doctor or hospital. This benefit is essentially identical to the fee-for-service

  • Flexible Spending Accounts

    For most employees, Health Care Flexible Spending Accounts (FSAs) provide a way to shelter even more health care spending from taxes. FSAs allow you to shelter the out-of-pocket costs for copayments,

  • FEHB Tax Savings for Federal Employees

    There are major tax advantages for health insurance. The employer share of health insurance—paid by agencies for employees and by OPM for retirees—is part of employee compensation but by law is

  • Should I Join an HMO in the FEHB Program?

    HMO plans provide not just insurance, but also a different approach to health care delivery from traditional fee-for-service medicine. Therefore, although cost and benefit comparisons are the key