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Return to Article: Federal health premiums to rise only slightly

• 20862
  

  I beg to differ! What dictionary are these people looking at when they use the word "slightly"....my HMO increased from 120.88 to 180.00 a pay period! To say the least, I cancelled it!

  GovExec.com reader Posted January 29, 2007 2:14 PM
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  My premiums doubled, and went up 30 percent last year - so I'm not sure where these great rates are. I belong to an HMO. The high option has sky-rocketed in price. However, the standard option benefits are much reduced, and it's unlikely I could ever get by the co-pay/deductibles. So basically I would be paying a lot for catastrophic coverage and still end up responsible for 20 percent of the bill. It's ridiculous.

  GovExec.com reader Posted November 8, 2006 3:34 PM
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  I just saw what the new Federal Employees Dental and Vision Insurance Program (FEDVIP) will cost, and it's a lot! According to OPM's Web site, the premiums for a self and family plan in my area will be in the neighborhood of $1,300 per year, more or less, depending on the plan chosen. However, the plans all come with an "annual maximum benefit per person" of $1,200, and only cover from 30 percent to 50 percent for orthodontic care, 100 percent for preventive care, and lesser percentages for intermediate and major care. The vision program seems a little better, if you need glasses, because the premiums for the year are approximately the same cost as a new pair of glasses. You are limited to one examination, one set of lenses, and one frame per year, for the most part, again depending on which plan you choose. I hope OPM will provide more information before open season begins, because as it now appears, the optional dental plans are not a great deal for federal employees. Then again, anything would be an improvement over the lousy dental coverage we currently have!

  GovExec.com reader Posted October 3, 2006 3:45 PM
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  Hmm, supposedly this is supposed to be the lowest premium increase in years. I have to say that is a load of hooey. I just saw what my FEHB benefits are going to cost me. My premiums have increased by nearly $40 a pay period. I belong to an HMO. This is ridiculous.

  I have yet to see what benefits I'll actually have because the 2007 brochures aren't posted yet. It would be nice to see the brochures so I could make an informed decision about changing my plan. Do I drop high option, take standard and then opt for the new dental/vision insurance as well? Don't know yet, as I can't see what I'm really going to get. This option would cost me more by the way, as I pay for the family's insurance.

  GovExec.com reader Posted September 29, 2006 11:42 AM
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  There's no need to focus on such an arcane topic as the Federal Employees Health Benefit Program (FEHBP) trust fund reserve as it pertains to increasing enrollee health care premiums. Simple fraud and oversight of the FEHBP within OPM contributes substantially to the problem. For whatever reason, OPM has never had a serious interest in deterring hundreds of millions of dollars of annually recurring and fraudulent overcharges to its FEHBP by participating health care contractors.

  Instead, since Patrick McFarland became inspector general in 1990, OPM annually helps the IG identify a small sample of participating FEHBP carriers whose contract costs can be subjected to compliance audit. The Office of Inspector General rarely audits a carrier without approval by OPM.

  OIG auditors identify hundreds of millions of dollars in fraudulent contract overcharges to the government by health maintenance organizations while examining just a portion of the contractor universe. But once the audit is complete, OPM sorts among the auditor findings selecting those it will accept for dollar recovery and those it will not. As much as half of auditor dollar findings are dismissed by OPM and lost to the government without contention by the IG.

  Such predictably recurring contract fraud is not difficult to discern, but OPM's program office lacks pre-emptive monitoring and control mechanisms. Further, since 1990, IG McFarland has forbidden his staff from conducting substantive inspection and evaluation of OPM operating program policies, procedures, or management practices as legislatively mandated. It appears to be impolitic. The subsequent lack of appropriate oversight by OPM and its IG for a $30 billion per year insurance program lets the taxpayer, and ultimately the enrollee, be taken to the cleaners.

  Ken Huffman Posted September 21, 2006 3:47 AM
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  To have an $11 billion reserve simply means that the program charged us far too much in the past! Why did we have the double digit increases for the past few years when there is a reserve of $11 billion? I think the financial analysts at OPM need to explain the reserve and why the reduced premium isn't for the employees and not the employer? Overcharges for the past few years fell most heavily on the employees! That over-payment now is being used to reduce the employer portion of the premium and not being returned to the employees that paid the excess charges.

  This is another example of the great government hoax that they provide low cost insurance! The government has reduced its contribution to the plan over several years and the return of the reserve to the government is far greater than to the employee that paid a much larger increase than did the government for the last five years -- at least!

  This simply is a reduction in pay for government employees!

  Taxpayer Posted September 20, 2006 6:19 AM
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  OK. Now tell us what these guys are cutting from the plans.

  GovExec.com reader Posted September 20, 2006 5:47 AM