Federal Employees Health Benefit Plan: U.S. Government’s Answer to Health Insurance Needs of Civilian Employees
The United States Federal Government is committed to uplift the standard of living of every American citizen. The individuals behind the governance of the country, from the President down to the ordinary federal employee, are committed to bring the necessary services that common Americans need. Access to private and public education systems, scholarship and grants to poor yet deserving American students, basic social services such as health, and other essential needs are just some of the tasks that the federal government is bound to follow as stressed in the Constitution.
The government is formed by bureaucracy. It is subdivided into several departments and agencies with each of them handling a particular task to effectively serve the American people. Each department and agency is composed of several federal employees who will manage and do the work assigned to them.
A federal employee is always included in the recipe of effective governance in the United States. Without them, the bureaucracy will start to deteriorate since there is no single employee who will take charge of some assignments that need to be done in the government. The services that are supposed to be delivered to the public will come into a halt. No transactions that will be finished, no projects that will be started, and no more federal government for the American people.
To avoid experiencing the aforementioned worst-case scenario, the United States government ensures that its employees are entitled to an appropriate salary (based on their position and capability) and several benefits that are also given to private employees. Housing loans, maternity leave benefits (for pregnant women employees), and health insurance for them and their dependents.
A federal employee is entitled to a sufficient health coverage through the Federal Employees Health Benefit Plan. It is a system in which a federal employee is entitled to several health benefits. It permits various health insurance companies and employee-based organizations such as labor unions to enhance health care and associated plans to be offered to federal employees.
The plans under the Federal Employees Health Benefit Plans are available to government during a so-called open enrollment period. In case of a new employee, you must first pass the probationary status before you become eligible to the open enrollment. Once approved, a federal employee will be fully covered in any plan that he or she selected without limitations with regards to pre-existing health conditions. Such conditions are not covered by private health insurance plans, since the cost of treatment for pre-existing conditions is expensive, thus making it a risk on the part of the insurer.
After the end of the plan term, a federal employee can make several changes to his or her status such as marriage, divorce, change in employment status of his or her spouse, adoption of a child, birth of a child, or during the yearly open season when he or she can enroll or shift from one plan to another.
The plans are offered by either an accredited government labor union or a private health insurance company. There are also plans that are based on the managed health care type, such as HMO and PPO. There are other options that you may consider, and these are all within your financial capability as a federal employee.
As a federal employee, you will not have to worry about whether the Federal Employees Health Benefit Plan will protect you financially from sudden medical emergencies and continue working for the federal government.
