"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."
The Congressional Budget Office estimates postal enrollees in PSHB could also see slightly lower premiums since postal retirees will primarily be covered under Medicare Parts A and B. However, some USPS employees and retirees remain wary about their premiums under a new plan.
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.
This Article is From: federalnewsnetwork.com
