Best federal employee health insurance option for families?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Have been pleased with GEHA, high deductable plan

Glad so many people are repeating this. Makes me feel less cray for dropping Tricare Select (no premiums, $150 deductible) for the GEHA HDHP. (I am young and healthy).

[Anonymous]

Bump. New federal employee here, married with two kids. Generally healthy. Please recommend a health insurance plan.

[Anonymous]

We’ve had AETNA both BCBS plans. We had a serious health situation arise a few years ago and BCBS is playing the we can’t find your dad game to not cover it. We switched to GEHA which actually has slightly better coverage and far fewer hassles.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We’ve had AETNA both BCBS plans. We had a serious health situation arise a few years ago and BCBS is playing the we can’t find your dad game to not cover it. We switched to GEHA which actually has slightly better coverage and far fewer hassles.

Fax not dad- hahah!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Kaiser is okay for routine preventive care as well as genuinely emergency treatment -- you'll be covered at any ER if you need an emergency cath. The real problem is treatment post-stabilization, which Kaiser will say kicks in quickly. If you're in an area where there are Kaiser-affiliated preferred hospitals, like here with VHC or RHC, Kaiser may try to transfer you and say they'll stop paying if you stay where you are. Once you're at VHC or RHC, Kaiser will insist that you're treated only by Kaiser's doctors. This means that that Kaiser hospitalists or intensivists will coordinate your care, determine what tests and consults you get, and direct your overall treatment (God help you). It also means you'll have to be seen by Kaiser specialists, not the hospital's own service.

Wow, totally disagree with this based on personal and family experience. Kaiser was great for cancer treatment and did consults with top doctors at Johns Hopkins for the treatment plan. Paid for a top (non-Kaiser) surgeon recognized as best in the area for his specialty. My friends and family have had great experiences with Kaiser , and for a major medical condition, you will spend SO much less time on dealing with billing issues than PPOs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Kaiser is okay for routine preventive care as well as genuinely emergency treatment -- you'll be covered at any ER if you need an emergency cath. The real problem is treatment post-stabilization, which Kaiser will say kicks in quickly. If you're in an area where there are Kaiser-affiliated preferred hospitals, like here with VHC or RHC, Kaiser may try to transfer you and say they'll stop paying if you stay where you are. Once you're at VHC or RHC, Kaiser will insist that you're treated only by Kaiser's doctors. This means that that Kaiser hospitalists or intensivists will coordinate your care, determine what tests and consults you get, and direct your overall treatment (God help you). It also means you'll have to be seen by Kaiser specialists, not the hospital's own service.

Wow, totally disagree with this based on personal and family experience. Kaiser was great for cancer treatment and did consults with top doctors at Johns Hopkins for the treatment plan. Paid for a top (non-Kaiser) surgeon recognized as best in the area for his specialty. My friends and family have had great experiences with Kaiser , and for a major medical condition, you will spend SO much less time on dealing with billing issues than PPOs.

Hopkins and Children's are both hospitals Kaiser will send patients to. I have no problem going to Kaiser doctors - the old stereotypes aren't true anymore. Getting a job as a physician at Kaiser is hard to do now- doctors who are sick of insurance or procedure based billing are flocking there

[Anonymous]

We are longtime feds and have been happy with GEHA STD for our family. We have 3 kids and no major health issues.

Note this thread is quite old so plans may be different now versus in older replies.

[Anonymous]

Kaiser. You pay for doctors and nurses there. Not billing specialists.

Though the HDHP plans can be good values if you fit a certain low risk profile.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Love Aetna Open Access. Low cost and every one of our existing providers takes it. Big network of specialists too.

We have Aetna and have been happy. I think it depends on whether or not you need non standard care and if you really want a particular doctor. I will say when I was pregnant the first time, my doctor quit delivering and went to gyn only (that was fun) because the insurance premiums (med malpractice) were the cost of a Maserati - yes annually. Second pregnancy doctor told me he was dropping BCBS because his office had trouble with reimbursement. They eventually received payments but it sounded like it took forever. I was able to switch to Aetna and they covered everything. DH has a hereditary heart issue and wanted to see a certain doc. Luckily he was covered under Aetna.

If you have a doc you love, call the office and ask what insurances they plan to take next year. Otherwise I’d you and young and healthy Kaiser.

[Anonymous]

I've been sticking with BCBS-Basic. The basic plan (as opposed to standard) is cheaper, doesn't have a deductible, and has much easier to understand out-of-pocket costs (fixed copays instead of percentage-based coinsurance). The biggest problem is that you need to make sure you only see BCBS providers.

In general, CareFirst has treated us well. My wife, on a non-federal CareFirst plan, had a major health issue requiring multiple surgeries, months of therapy, and medical costs approaching $300k. CareFirst assigned a case manager, which I thought might end up working against us to deny care. But the case manager was actually great. It was super helpful to have someone to call that would help you find a provider, get approval to go over certain coverage limits, and address billing problems that arose.

[Anonymous]

Kaiser. If you need a pediatrician and are DC proximate, Dr. Baldwin at the West End center should be on your list.