Is Your Health Plan Dropping Out of the FEHB?

Will your existing insurance carrier be around in 2015? Are new plans available to you? Here is a listing of new plans and those that have dropped out of the federal program.

Open season is the time for federal employees to check their health insurance plans carefully to look for changes that may be important to you.

Here is a change that will certainly impact some readers: According to the Office of Personnel Management, there are five health insurance plans dropping out of the Federal Employee Health Benefits Program (FEHB). These five plans are:

  • United Healthcare of the Midwest, Inc. – Discontinuing coverage in Illinois and Missouri
  • Coventry Health Care – Discontinuing coverage in Maryland
  • Total Health Care USA – Discontinuing coverage in Michigan
  • Anthem Healthkeepers, Inc. – Discontinuing coverage in Virginia
  • Optima Health Plan – Discontinuing coverage in Virginia

For those who may be impacted by these changes, this OPM document provides more detailed information. The document is also attached at the end of this article.

There are also new plans that are entering the FEHB. Here is a listing of those plans along with the enrollment codes:

New Plans Entering The FEHB Program

State Plan Name Plan Type 3 Digit Plan Code Location of Areas
District of Columbia UnitedHealthcare Insurance Company HMO L91, L92 Entire District of Columbia
Florida UnitedHealthcare Insurance Company HMO LV1, LV2 Miami, Orlando, and Tampa areas
Georgia UnitedHealthcare Insurance Company HMO LV1, LV2 Atlanta area
Illinois UnitedHealthcare Insurance Company HMO L91, L92 Chicago area
Maryland UnitedHealthcare Insurance Company HMO L91, L92 Entire State of Maryland
Michigan Priority Health HMO LE1, LE2 LE4, LE5 Lower Peninsula in Michigan
Pennsylvania Keystone Health Plan West HMO NP1, NP2 Western Pennsylvania
Texas UnitedHealthcare Insurance Company HMO L91, L92 San Antonio area
Virginia UnitedHealthcare Insurance Company HMO L91, L92 Northern Virginia
Virginia Innovation Health Plan HMO LQ1, LQ2 Northern Virginia

Readers who are not under the Postal Service programs will generally pay more for their health insurance in 2015. Depending on which set of figures may be the most accurate, the average reader will pay either 3.2% more in 2015 or 3.8% more. OPM previously announced an average increase in rates of 3.2%. Employee contributions are higher in 2015 because the government calculates its contribution as a percentage of the average plan, and when many federal employees choose an above-average plan, they will pay more for the insurance.

In either case, the increase for an employee is probably higher than the rise in the government’s portion of the premiums which will go up 3 percent in 2015. Generally, Uncle Sam pays about 70 percent of the health insurance premiums for federal employees.

Plans Leaving the FEHB in 2015

About the Author

Ralph Smith has several decades of experience working with federal human resources issues. He has written extensively on a full range of human resources topics in books and newsletters and is a co-founder of two companies and several newsletters on federal human resources. Follow Ralph on Twitter: @RalphSmith47