When it comes to federal benefits plans, dentistry and vision are in their own category.
Average medical insurance premiums are skyrocketing. Federal employees and retirees will have to pay an average of 8.7% more for health insurance in 2023, the Federal Employee Health Benefits Program said last month.
However, for dentistry, prices only increase by 0.21% on average. For visual acuity, the rate drops by an average of 0.41%.
Part of the reason these rates vary independently of the standard health coverage provided by the Federal Employee Health Benefit Program is because they are independent in nature.
Care provided by dentists and optometrists falls under the Federal Employee Dental and Vision Insurance Program. FEDVIP is an independent, voluntary registrant-pays dental and vision program that offers beneficiaries the option of choosing a career. In total, FEDVIP provides dental and vision benefits to a total of 7.5 million federal employees, uniformed military personnel, retirees, and families.
The FEDVIP program shares the same open season dates as the FEHB program, but employees participate separately. The federal government also does not directly contribute to the cost of sight or dental insurance. The beneficiaries pay it all, but the employees receive significant tax savings.
For retirees, it may seem that leaving the civil service will lead to a steep rise in fees, but that is not the case.
The frequency of deductions varies from approximately 25% to 12% per year. A federal employee pays his FEDVIP premium on a biweekly or semi-monthly basis. Federal pensioners pay monthly premiums.
Dental and eye plans use affiliated providers who offer discounts due to the increased business the plans attract. Employees also pay premiums in pre-tax dollars. Almost every federal employee faces a marginal tax rate close to or above his 33%, so the amount an employee spends on dental or eye insurance is not subject to these taxes. Employees receive a discount of approximately one-third on insurance premiums.
According to OPM’s 2023 Benefit Highlights, the 2023 planning year will also offer some new changes.
— The waiting period for orthodontic services has been removed.
— The vast majority of FEDVIP carriers offer services targeted at the health and education of pregnant subscribers.
— Most FEDVIP carriers offer remote dental services.
Consistent with past years, dental carriers have provided ongoing education on the dangers of opioid abuse, ensured the use of inclusive language in communication, and encouraged members to use their preferred names and pronouns. We are committed to ongoing training of our customer service employees.
Twelve dental carriers offer 23 dental plan options available throughout the program. Seven dental carriers offer 14 national dental planning options available to all potential registrants. The five Vision Carriers offer 10 nationwide Vision Plan options available to all potential subscribers.
Things to know before the open admissions season
The open season for federal employees to reenroll or change health insurance for next year begins November 14th and runs through December 12th.
Federal beneficiaries can find more open season information, including the 2023 FEHB Health Plan Comparison Tool, on their website around the first week of November.
Last year, average gross premiums for non-postal workers and pensioners in the FEHB program increased 2.4%, the second lowest increase in over 20 years.
Molly Weisner is a staff reporter for the Federal Times, covering labor, policy, and contracts related to the government workforce. She previously worked at USA Today and McClatchy where she worked as a Digital Producer and The New York Times as a Copywriter. Molly majored in journalism at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
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