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GEHA HDHP V.S. Aetna HDHP, any experiences?
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Medicare and Health Care
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Under its HDHP, Aetna contributes $67.50/month for self or $125/month for family (called a premium pass-through). The govt does not contribute to your HSA account.
I just noticed that I gave an incorrect amount that Aetna contributes to the HSA account for self. It should have been $62.50 per month, not $67.50. Sorry. phauser2011-12-18 20:24:57
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phauser wrote:Under its HDHP, Aetna contributes $67.50/month for self or $125/month for family (called a premium pass-through). The govt does not contribute to your HSA account. Yeah, well, it still sounds like someone is contributing to the HSA account. Answers my question either way. :) davidg19822011-10-27 12:21:18
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upandup, this occurred to me as to why the insurance might give a credit on future work reflecting what the primary fehb insurance had paid for preventive dental care. I read in the news that govt insurance programs require carriers meet certain levels of benefits paid as a percentage of premiums charged. If a carrier found itself a little off from that proportion, they could increase benefits as in the manner mentioned here, ie, by paying more than expected. They would not be required to do this per the individual claim, but by doing it, they would tend to satisfy the overall requirements of the program. Sound reasonable?
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OUtside,
Concerning the way Metlife is handling the coordination of benefits when Fehb/Aetna is paying for preventive dental care. as primary.....
The "benefit" (or credit) to which you are referring, has continued, recently covering our portion of a charge for a dental filling, and a charge for an additional problem-related dental exam (3rd exam for the year). I have tried to find something on the web that would explain this, but with no luck. I was wondering if maybe there is a difference in how the coordination of benefits works in different states. We live in Florida.
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It's very interesting. I was expecting to have seen how it would work in action with GEHA as FEHB primary and United Concordia as FEDVIP secondary, but the claim for a couple of fillings hasn't been processed by either carrier.
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Question: If I switch HDHPs can you transfer the money from GEHA's HSA Bank to Aetna's Chase bank?
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Mind Explorer wrote: Question: If I switch HDHPs can you transfer the money from GEHA's HSA Bank to Aetna's Chase bank? Money in an HSA is yours. You can transfer it any time you want, regardless of whether you switch or not. Just make sure to do a trustee-to-trustee transfer to avoid tax issues.
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upandup wrote: Mind Explorer wrote: Question: If I switch HDHPs can you transfer the money from GEHA's HSA Bank to Aetna's Chase bank? Money in an HSA is yours. You can transfer it any time you want, regardless of whether you switch or not. Just make sure to do a trustee-to-trustee transfer to avoid tax issues. Is that what a "roll over" is?. I want Aetna for their dental.Mind Explorer2013-11-15 04:01:45
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It's a rollover if you get issued a check from HSA Bank and then deposit it into your Chase HSA. I recommend a "Trustee To Trustee Transfer"--you never get the check. It goes from HSA Bank to Chase HSA. It makes taxes easier, and there are no limits on how many times per year you can do it.
A rollover will work, but it's more work for you.
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With Aetna's crazy premium increase, I decide to ditch them eventually. GEHA HDHP is currently on the top of my list. Any insights for Carefirst HDHP or MBHP HDHP?
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My husband and I made the switch from AETNA HDHP to GEHA HDHP.
I switched this year and my husband switched the prior year. So far, so good. AETNA had raised their premiums until it forced us to make the change. I liked Aetna's customer service better, but GEHA seems to be more reasonable in their prescription costs, at least for generics. We havent had any large expenditures yet, but so far, we have been satisfied.
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Originally Posted by: phauser  GEHA seems to be more reasonable in their prescription costs, at least for generics. I had Aetna prior to switching to GEHA for 2020. The prescription benefit for Aetna was non-existent. The craziest thing was that a 90 day supply via mail order was five or six times more expensive than a 30 day supply from the pharmacy. It drove me to GoodRX. |
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Originally Posted by: upandup It's very interesting. I was expecting to have seen how it would work in action with GEHA as FEHB primary and United Concordia as FEDVIP secondary, but the claim for a couple of fillings hasn't been processed by either carrier. Is the consensus that METLIFE is the only FEDVIP plan that doesn't waste the benefit that would have been paid if there was no primary ? I don't understand how Metlife can do this, but the rest of them can't / don't. I have Metlife standard but GEHA's HDHP allownace is higher than MetLife rates, so the MetLife doesn't do anything I guess unless I have a cavity or something.
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I just went to the dentist for an exam, cleaning, and X-rays and it looks like GEHA picked up the whole bill... except for the $11 COVID surcharge :(
Incidentally, my GEHA card has an "Aetna" logo on it, so I wonder if Aetna is somehow administering this plan for GEHA? I used to work for a private company that was "self insured" but the plan was administered by Aetna.
I'm going back in a couple weeks for a filling and a crown... wonder if GEHA will cover any of the filling? Stay tuned... |
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Originally Posted by: someoldguy I just went to the dentist for an exam, cleaning, and X-rays and it looks like GEHA picked up the whole bill... except for the $11 COVID surcharge :(
Incidentally, my GEHA card has an "Aetna" logo on it, so I wonder if Aetna is somehow administering this plan for GEHA? I used to work for a private company that was "self insured" but the plan was administered by Aetna.
I'm going back in a couple weeks for a filling and a crown... wonder if GEHA will cover any of the filling? Stay tuned... The GEHA HDHP covers preventative. i think they pay $20 for a filling.
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teeeej, I'm not clear about what you asked about in your question, but I think it might be along the lines of a question I have, which is this.
Let's say your fehb plan does not have coverage for dental per se, but it does give you HSA funds that you can use for dental. If you have a FEDVIP dental plan which pays as second (or as primary when the FEHB plan does not have any dental coverage, as in this example), can the FEDVIP require you to pay from your HSA fund before it pays its dental benefits?
There is a similar issue with HRA accounts, where you don't receive actual cash that you own directly but can draw certain amounts for health related expenses.
In either case, how would the FEDVIP know how much you have available to use and how would they coordinate your doing so before it is their turn to pay? In the case of an HRA, there could be a limit on how much you use for dental, how would FEDVIP know if there is any left?
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Originally Posted by: OUtside teeeej, I'm not clear about what you asked about in your question, but I think it might be along the lines of a question I have, which is this.
Let's say your fehb plan does not have coverage for dental per se, but it does give you HSA funds that you can use for dental. If you have a FEDVIP dental plan which pays as second (or as primary when the FEHB plan does not have any dental coverage, as in this example), can the FEDVIP require you to pay from your HSA fund before it pays its dental benefits?
There is a similar issue with HRA accounts, where you don't receive actual cash that you own directly but can draw certain amounts for health related expenses.
In either case, how would the FEDVIP know how much you have available to use and how would they coordinate your doing so before it is their turn to pay? In the case of an HRA, there could be a limit on how much you use for dental, how would FEDVIP know if there is any left? No that it not what I'm asking. And there's certainly no reason that you would required you to spend out of an HSA. Also, the FEDVIP knows what FEHB pays because you send the FEHB EOB to the FEDVIP insurer. See this post - https://forum.federalsou...&m=429459#post429459 - where employees have had the FEHB plan cover dental work. Typically the FEDVIP plans just don't pay anything in that case - but for whatever reason - Metlife gives you credit fort hat if you have further dental expenses like a filling, or perhaps a 3rd annual cleaning. There is a second documented circumstance of this happening in more recent history - https://www.bogleheads.o...c.php?p=4872717#p4872717 - This makes the Metlife FEDVIP plan more financially beneficial, but it's not something that they seem to market or that you hear about often. Edited by user Monday, September 14, 2020 9:38:23 AM(UTC)
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Remember that if you have an High Deductible Health Plan (HDHP) with a Health Savings Account (HSA) you cannot also have a Flexible Savings Account (FSA) but you can have a limited FSA for vision and dental.
I have the GEHA HDHP which offers limited dental coverage (see above). I also got a dental plan and set up one of these limited FSA's. We'll see how it works... I'm having some dental work done that will not be fully covered by dental insurance so I'll have to tap the FSA.
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To teeeez's point '..there's certainly no reason that you would required you to spend out of an HSA.', I understand what you are saying, but I'm asking, can the FEDVIP ask you to pay on the dental bill prior to their paying on it? In other words, can they ask you to pay either out of pocket or from the HSA or PCA account (whichever one you might have).
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Originally Posted by: OUtside To teeeez's point '..there's certainly no reason that you would required you to spend out of an HSA.', I understand what you are saying, but I'm asking, can the FEDVIP ask you to pay on the dental bill prior to their paying on it? In other words, can they ask you to pay either out of pocket or from the HSA or PCA account (whichever one you might have).
My experience is that FEDVIP pays the dentist. I don't see why you couldn't pay yourself and be reimbursed if that's what you want to do. But I wouldn't pay out of an HSA in that case, because the IRS might have issue with you using HSA for an expense that got reimbursed by insurance. Edited by user Saturday, September 19, 2020 3:50:40 PM(UTC)
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