Retirees must use caution choosing health care plans

Dear Sgt. Shaft,

I’m really confused on what to do when I’m finally 65 and Medicare is an option. I am 60 years old and still actively employed by the federal government. I have Tricare because of my retirement from the military. I have FEHBA (Federal Employee Health Benefits Act) as my primary insurance and Tricare as my secondary provider.

It is my understanding that when I turn 65, the benefits change if I’m retired from the federal government. I have been told that a large percentage of the doctors in the Washington area will not take you as a patient because they will get less revenue. Also, a large portion of the Washington-area doctors will not accept Tricare as the primary insurance.

The question I have is, when I retire, should I drop FEHBA insurance and use Medicare B as the primary and Tricare (which is free) as secondary, or should I maintain FEHBA insurance (decline Medicare B) and use Tricare as secondary, or take all three insurances (one free and paying for Medicare B and FEHBA)? What is the best formula?

Thank you,

Michael R.

Washington

Dear Mike,

My sources tell me that the choice of medical coverage is very personal and one size may not fit all. However, you do need to realize that if you decline enrollment in Medicare at age 65, you will not have Tricare as secondary insurance. You will rely completely upon the Federal Employee Health Benefits Program (FEHBP) because you lose your Tricare eligibility if you decline Medicare.

Many federal retirees who have eligibility for Tricare do enroll in Medicare and Tricare for Life (TFL) at age 65 and suspend, not cancel, their FEHBP. That way, if they don’t like Tricare, they can opt out of it and re-enroll in FEHBP during a general enrollment period. If you ever cancel FEHBP in retirement, you cannot get it back.

Farewell and good luck to Linda Springer, who recently announced her departure as the director of the Office of Personnel Management (OPM). Ms. Springer has accepted the position of executive director in the government and public-sector advisory services practice of Ernst & Young LLP. In a farewell statement, she said: “It has been an honor to serve the president and our country these past six years. Over the next several weeks, I hope to see and thank many of the people who have done so much to make my government experience so rewarding.”

Ms. Springer has served as director of OPM since June 2005. Before that, she served the administration as controller of the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and head of the Office of Federal Financial Management.

Thanks to the generosity of major donors including Lockheed Martin, Bank of America Charitable Foundation and BAE Systems, an organization known as Operation Homefront recently welcomed wounded warriors and their families to Operation Homefront Village, its new free transitional housing facility. Soldiers who are being treated at Walter Reed Army Medical Center and National Naval Medical Center Bethesda can recuperate in furnished apartments with their families.

“Lockheed Martin never forgets the sacrifices made by our service members and the debt that we owe them for our freedom,” said Robert J. Stevens, Lockheed Martin president and chief executive. “With this project, we are honored to assist our wounded warriors as they make the transition back to civilian life.”

Many such veterans have yet to complete the disability evaluation process. They may be waiting out the 18 months it often takes for benefit payments to begin; Operation Homefront Village helps keep families together and out of financial crisis. This project follows the success of Operation Homefront Village-San Antonio near Brooke Army Medical Center, which opened earlier this year.

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