Originally Posted by: sandhill 
So I'm a little confused about this verbiage in the MHBP brochure about their Medicare Advantage plan: "Suspended FEHB coverage to enroll in a Medicare Advantage plan:If you are an annuitant or former spouse, you can suspend your FEHB coverage to enroll in a Medicare Advantage plan, eliminating your FEHB premium. (OPM does not contribute to your Medicare Advantage plan premium.) For information on suspending your FEHB enrollment, contact your retirement office. If you later want to re-enroll in the FEHB Program, generally you may do so only at the next Open Season unless you involuntarily lose coverage or move out of the Medicare Advantage plan’s service area." So, you actually have to suspend your FEHB coverage?
Also, their brochure refers to the Aetna Medicare Advantage Plan for MHBP Standard Option and it would appear that the code for that plan (according to OPM's website) is Z24R (although it seems generic and not specifically for MHBP.) However, Checkbook shows 454R as the code for MHBP - Std (Medicare Advantage). And on Checkbook, 454R links to the same brochure as MHBP Standard and does not appear to be a Medicare Advantage plan.
I'm lost ...
First, what Bob Loblaw already posted about this is true. Second, it may seem strange that the MHBP is using the Aetna Medicare Advantage option to deliver its own MA variant for the Standard plan, but it really isn’t. The truth is that the Mail Handlers Union is just the sponsor of the MHBP. The network, the secure member website, the payment processing system and the plan design are all handled by Aetna. Since Aetna already has an up-and-running Medicare Advantage option, it makes sense to make it available to other plans which it administers…….just as United Healthcare offers its Retiree Advantage option to five of its existing health plans. The codes Z24, Z26 and Z25 belong to the Aetna Advantage plan (as in Self, Self+1 and Self+Family). No need to get confused about this part. If you enroll in the MHBP Standard plan, you enter the plan’s own codes (454, 456 or 455) not the Z codes mentioned above. When you have completed step one and waited several days for that to go through, you then complete step two by calling the MHBP and providing them with your Medicare info to enroll in the Aetna Medicare Advantage option.
Be aware that the MHBP requires that you pay $42 in annual affiliate dues to the union. And the Self+1 dues for the Standard plan are more expensive than the Self+Family option! Finally, the Self+Family option, with or without the MA variant, is more expensive than either the Aetna Medicare Advantage plan or the top three United Healthcare MA plans.
Edited by user Thursday, November 11, 2021 4:59:43 AM(UTC)
| Reason: Updated cost info for the MHBP.
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