I am the person who mentioned NALC above. Again, I am not certain it is the APWU people mentioned but it is also a Cigna PPO.

The OON mental health coverage is through Optum Behavioral. My DD sees a therapist and a psychiatrist. Neither accepts insurance. We got 60% back for the therapist and I think a little higher for the psychiatrist. There is a $150 deductible for the year as well, but that's one visit LOL!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have APWU (American Postal Worker's Union). Don't be confused, it's open to any feds. It's a high-option Cigna plan. Love it.

Have you tried to access mental health through this? I have it as well and my understanding is there is no benefit. The OP noted he/she needed that. I have not been reimbursed anything in the past. I could be missing something. Anyone else tried to access mental health through APWU?

Sorry, I should have specified OON mental health, as I have specific providers.

Anonymous wrote:We have APWU (American Postal Worker's Union). Don't be confused, it's open to any feds. It's a high-option Cigna plan. Love it.

Have you tried to access mental health through this? I have it as well and my understanding is there is no benefit. The OP noted he/she needed that. I have not been reimbursed anything in the past. I could be missing something. Anyone else tried to access mental health through APWU?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is Aetna a new option for the gov't? Just googled it to find the fed plan and am I reading it right -- $500/month for the open access HMO for ONE person?? I have the BCBS Standard PPO (or PPO-ish at least) plan now and I pay something like $75/paycheck so $150 a month. Is Aetna THAT much better? I had Aetna at my last job and really liked it, but I'm not sure that $350/month extra is worth it?

The Aetna self+family basic premium (which I have had for years) is $155 a pay period. https://www.opm.gov/healthcare-insurance/healthcare/plan-information/premiums/2016/nonpostal-hmo.pdf

The Aetna basic (HMO open access) for just self is $68.99 payperiod.

Anonymous wrote:Is Aetna a new option for the gov't? Just googled it to find the fed plan and am I reading it right -- $500/month for the open access HMO for ONE person?? I have the BCBS Standard PPO (or PPO-ish at least) plan now and I pay something like $75/paycheck so $150 a month. Is Aetna THAT much better? I had Aetna at my last job and really liked it, but I'm not sure that $350/month extra is worth it?

The Aetna self+family basic premium (which I have had for years) is $155 a pay period. https://www.opm.gov/healthcare-insurance/healthcare/plan-information/premiums/2016/nonpostal-hmo.pdf

We have been using GEHA high deductible with HSA for a few years -- it's significantly cheaper than BCBS and works for us. They had made some administrative errors recently, but they were fixed after some work on our end. Overall coverage has been satisfactory and the money saved over BCBS has been worthwhile.