I am pleased to announce that NTEU members will again have access to Consumers’ Checkbook’s online Guide to Health Plans for Federal Employees and Annuitants.  All NTEU members who currently or are planning to participate in Federal Employees Health Benefit (FEHB) plans or the Federal Employees Dental and Vision Insurance Program (FEDVIP) are eligible to use this online guide.

            The guide is available through NTEU’s web site, www.nteu.org, in the “Member Benefits” section throughout Open Season (November 9 – December 14, 2009).  It will remain available throughout 2010 for NTEU members who are new hires or are current enrollees with a qualifying life event change.  The online guide was developed by Consumers’ Checkbook, a nonprofit organization that has published an annual paperback version of its guide for more than 30years.

            This online guide is an innovative way to obtain reliable, useful information about the many health plans available under the FEHB and make fast, easy, personalized plan comparisons.  The guide compares and ranks plans based on total costs including account premiums and estimated out-of-pocket costs (e.g., deductibles, co-payments, and prescription drugs); and on the yearly maximum that an enrollee could possibly have to pay out-of-pocket.  The guide will also offer comparisons of the FEDVIP dental and vision plans available to federal employees.  The site has been praised for its ease of use.  Members will be able to compare plan costs, review quality ratings, consider plan features, and gauge plan flexibility on issues like choice of doctors and other factors.