WASHINGTON CONSUMER CHECKBOOK HEALTH HOW TO

We adjust our estimates for the tax advantages that reduce the after-tax premium cost to most employees (but not retirees) by about one third.We rate plans according to how well each covers low, average, or high medical expenses, analyzing coverage of all major types of cost.

We rate plans for each coverage group employees in different pay systems, annuitants with or without Medicare, former spouses, families of various sizes, children at age 26, part-time employees, and former employees.We compare limits on out-of-pocket costs based on the actual coverage allowed by each plan, not just what the plan seems to say before you read the fine print.

We compare plans for insurance value in dealing with unforeseen medical expenses, not just for the routine costs you can predict.

Ratings of plan costs that take into account premiums, catastrophic limits, and estimates of likely out-of-pocket costs for medical expenses of every kind.

Wherever you live, we rate all the plans in your community. We also compare several dozen plans that pay all or most of your Medicare Part B premium if you join their Medicare Advantage plan, and that also provide enriched benefits for doing so.

Ratings for all of the about 156 FEHB plans available to Federal employees and retirees, including about 20 national plans, over 135 health maintenance organization plans (HMOs) and other local options, including two dozen Consumer-Driven and High Deductible plan options.

Federal agencies also save, over a thousand dollars on average, for every employee who switches to a lower-cost plan using our advice.

WASHINGTON CONSUMER CHECKBOOK HEALTH HOW TO

We show employees and retirees how to save thousands of dollars in unnecessary costs. It summarizes thousands of facts about the plans to simplify your choice. It tells you how much money you can save by changing-or by staying in-your FEHB plan. How can Checkbook's Guide to Health Plans for Federal Employees help me?Ĭheckbook's Guide to Health Plans for Federal Employees gives you vital shopping information that you cannot get from any other source.

Washington consumer checkbook health