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"...Participants in the FEHB program and the new PSHB program will both see their insurance premiums rise significantly starting in plan year 2025. On average, FEHB participants will face a 13.5% premium hike, while PSHB participants will see their premiums rise by 11.1%.
It’s a much larger premium increase, on average, than what feds have seen for many years. For 2024, FEHB enrollees’ premiums rose by an average of 7.7%. And in 2024, premiums went up by 8.7%. ..."
"The agency is creating the Postal Service Health Benefits (PSHB) Program as a separate entity from the Federal Employee Health Benefits (FEHB) program, as required under the Postal Service Reform Act signed into law last year. ...Dimondstein, however, said there’s been some “angst” among current retirees unaware that they are exempt from a requirement for all future retirees to enroll in Medicare Part B.
“Retirees who are not in Medicare B now, are not going to be forced to be in Medicare B once this law matures, but some people don’t know that,” Dimondstein said.
The National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association (NARFE) is asking OPM to prevent as much disruption as possible in moving nearly 2 million FEHB enrollees to new health care plans offered under PSHB."
A USPS retiree told OPM that, “When I made my decision to retire, I was never told that someday I’d be forced into a different insurance plan that might cover less and cost me more.”
“We base our decision to retire on what’s available to us at the time and should never be forced to accept anything less,” the retiree wrote.
