mayamaya/Shutterstock.com

Feds Will Pay 4.4 Percent More Toward Health Care Premiums in 2014

Employee contributions rise faster than government’s share.

This story has been updated. 

Federal employees will pay 4.4 percent more toward their health insurance premiums in 2014, the Office of Personnel Management announced Tuesday.

Federal Employees Health Benefits Program enrollees with self-only coverage will contribute an average of $3.28 more per paycheck, while those with family coverage will pay about $7.90 more.

This increase is steeper than the rise in the government’s portion of the premiums, which will go up 3.3 percent. The employee share is increasing faster due to the particular FEHBP plans enrollees have selected, OPM said. Overall, the government pays about 70 percent of employees’ premiums.

Total premiums for non-postal FEHBP enrollees including both the employee and government portion will increase by 3.7 percent in 2014, OPM said. Postal enrollees, who make up about 25 percent of FEHBP, will see an overall increase of 3.8 percent.

The overall increase is slightly more than last year’s, when premiums rose by an average of 3.4 percent. Still, OPM officials said the increase comes as relatively positive news for federal employees, as it marks the first time in more than 30 years FEHBP premiums have increased less than 4 percent for three consecutive years.

The exact change for enrollees will vary from plan to plan. The most popular plan, the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Standard Option, will see a $1.91 increase -- or 2.2 percent -- for self-only enrollees per paycheck; those with family coverage will contribute $4.84 more than in 2013. FEHBP will offer 256 health plans in 2014, 26 more than it offered in 2013.

Premiums in the Federal Employees Dental and Vision Insurance Program will have more favorable numbers for feds, with dental coverage rates increasing by less than 1 percent and vision premiums decreasing by 1.3 percent. 

The recent string of relatively low premium increases for FEHBP enrollees has resulted from positive market trends, as well as the 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, OPM said. ACA -- or Obamacare -- has created more competition that drives down prices, according to OPM officials.

In a letter sent to FEHBP carriers in March to kick off negotiations for 2014 benefits and rates, OPM highlighted prescription drug costs, wellness programs and preventative care as areas that should be addressed for any carrier looking to submit a plan in FEHBP. These provisions have also helped to control costs, OPM said.

While benefits will largely remain the same in 2014, the 2010 health care reform law has led OPM to require more preventative treatments in each FEHBP plan. Such measures include screening and counseling on alcohol misuse, tobacco use intervention for children and adolescents, and Hepatitis C screening.

In the three years prior to 2012, premiums went up by more than 7 percent annually. OPM acknowledged the size of the increases this year will likely serve as little consolation to federal employees, who have had their pay frozen for three consecutive years.

“We’re very sensitive to it,” said John O’Brien, OPM’s director for health care and insurance, at a press briefing Tuesday. “It’s not something we can dance around other than that’s why we worked so hard to keep the premiums down.”

Colleen M. Kelley, president of the National Treasury Employees Union, said the premium hike is another in a long line of hits the federal workforce has taken in recent years.

“Higher health premiums are yet another financial hardship for federal employees and retirees in these tough economic times,” Kelley said. “Any increase in premiums places an undue burden on federal employees given the freeze on federal pay, unpaid furloughs and now the threat of a government shutdown.”

Jon Foley, director of planning and policy analysis for OPM, said FEHBP offers a wide variety of plans, including less expensive options that  can help to “mitigate the impact” of the rate hike. O’Brien added the average increase may end up lower than the 3.7 percent figure -- which assumes all enrollees keep their current insurance plan -- as some participants switch to cheaper options, while very few choose more expensive packages. Typically, about 95 percent of enrollees keep their plan each year.

Open season -- the period in which federal employees can enroll, alter their plan, and add or remove dependents -- will be held from Nov. 11 through Dec. 9.

FEHBP provides $47 billion in health care benefits for about 8.2 million federal employees, retirees and dependents. 

X
This website uses cookies to enhance user experience and to analyze performance and traffic on our website. We also share information about your use of our site with our social media, advertising and analytics partners. Learn More / Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Accept Cookies
X
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Do Not Sell My Personal Information

When you visit our website, we store cookies on your browser to collect information. The information collected might relate to you, your preferences or your device, and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to and to provide a more personalized web experience. However, you can choose not to allow certain types of cookies, which may impact your experience of the site and the services we are able to offer. Click on the different category headings to find out more and change our default settings according to your preference. You cannot opt-out of our First Party Strictly Necessary Cookies as they are deployed in order to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting the cookie banner and remembering your settings, to log into your account, to redirect you when you log out, etc.). For more information about the First and Third Party Cookies used please follow this link.

Allow All Cookies

Manage Consent Preferences

Strictly Necessary Cookies - Always Active

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data, Targeting & Social Media Cookies

Under the California Consumer Privacy Act, you have the right to opt-out of the sale of your personal information to third parties. These cookies collect information for analytics and to personalize your experience with targeted ads. You may exercise your right to opt out of the sale of personal information by using this toggle switch. If you opt out we will not be able to offer you personalised ads and will not hand over your personal information to any third parties. Additionally, you may contact our legal department for further clarification about your rights as a California consumer by using this Exercise My Rights link

If you have enabled privacy controls on your browser (such as a plugin), we have to take that as a valid request to opt-out. Therefore we would not be able to track your activity through the web. This may affect our ability to personalize ads according to your preferences.

Targeting cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.

Social media cookies are set by a range of social media services that we have added to the site to enable you to share our content with your friends and networks. They are capable of tracking your browser across other sites and building up a profile of your interests. This may impact the content and messages you see on other websites you visit. If you do not allow these cookies you may not be able to use or see these sharing tools.

If you want to opt out of all of our lead reports and lists, please submit a privacy request at our Do Not Sell page.

Save Settings
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Cookie List

A cookie is a small piece of data (text file) that a website – when visited by a user – asks your browser to store on your device in order to remember information about you, such as your language preference or login information. Those cookies are set by us and called first-party cookies. We also use third-party cookies – which are cookies from a domain different than the domain of the website you are visiting – for our advertising and marketing efforts. More specifically, we use cookies and other tracking technologies for the following purposes:

Strictly Necessary Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Functional Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Performance Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Social Media Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Targeting Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.