November and December present several financial opportunities for mail handlers
First, the Federal Health Benefits Open Season provides an opportunity for career mail managers to make necessary changes to their health insurance coverage through the Federal Employee Health Benefits Program (FEHBP). During this open season, employees can make one or a combination of the following changes to their health insurance: enroll if not already enrolled; cancel registration; or select and change to one of the following options: just me, me and family, or me plus one. all of these open season changes can be made through postalease, which can be accessed online at https://liteblue.usps.gov or by calling 1-877-477-3273, option 1. for most benefits, the open season begins on November 12, 2018 and ends on December 10, 2018 at 11:59 p.m. m Eastern Standard Time.
The USPS has made the Consumer’s CheckBook® for Health Plans available to all postal employees free of charge. You can access Consumer Checkbook’s FEHB plan comparison tool through LiteBlue. The Checkbook Guide summarizes thousands of plan facts to make your choice simple, and it’s free to you as a postal employee. To access the Federal Employee Health Plan Checkbook Guide, log in to the USPS LiteBlue Employee Portal and go to: https://liteblue.usps.go/planselection/. click on the checkbook link under benefits/elections. This online tool takes you through a few simple steps to find the best health plan for you and your family. Find all the plans available to you, ranked by estimated out-of-pocket costs and more.
mail attendants are also eligible for health insurance; Coverage is available under the USPS Non-Career Health Benefits Plan. coverage is subsidized by the postal service through an employer contribution of $125 per pay period. Therefore, for the 2019 plan year, individual coverage for an MHA will require an employee contribution of $60 per pay period. additional costs for family coverage are charged to mha and therefore the subsidized rate for self and family coverage during the 2019 plan year will be $470 per pay period. In addition, for consistency with FEHB plans, the USPS Health Plan for non-career employees offers a one-plus-one subsidized rate of $295 per pay period. The USPS Non-Career Employee Health Benefits Plan will follow the FEHB definition for eligible family members.
Your family members who are eligible and covered by a self and family enrollment are: your spouse (including a valid common law marriage); and their children under the age of 26, including recognized natural children, legally adopted children, and stepchildren; foster children are included if they meet certain requirements. in addition, a child age 26 or older who is unable to support himself due to a mental or physical disability that existed prior to age 26 is also an eligible family member.
An MHA reassigned to a second 360-day term is alternatively eligible for coverage under the Federal Employee Health Benefits Program, but the full cost of such coverage would be the responsibility of the MHA without employer matching contributions. MHAs are encouraged to carefully consider the financial implications of this decision before enrolling in a FEHB health plan.
Also currently available to all eligible fehbp mail handlers, as well as all other career and federal postal employees, are the supplemental dental and vision insurance programs offered through the insurance program. dental and vision for federal employees (fedvip). These plans are optional, with all premiums paid by the employee without any subsidies from the postal service. questions can be directed to customer service representatives at 1-877-888-3337, or more information, including enrollment details, can be found at www.benefeds.com. the fedvip open season period also starts on the 12th of november and ends on the 10th of december 2018.
Supplemental dental and vision plans are also sponsored by the Mail Handlers Benefits Plan (MHBP) and can be used by mail handlers who are npmhu members even if they do not enroll in sponsored health insurance by mhbp. More information about mhbp add-on plans is available on the mhbp website, www.mhbp.com, or by calling 1-800-254-0227.
Second, flexible spending accounts allow employees to set aside a portion of their pre-tax earnings for certain types of health care and dependent care expenses that they may incur during the coming year. fsas are an excellent opportunity for mailers to save money for healthcare and dependent care, and all members are encouraged to investigate this program if they expect to have eligible expenses in these areas.
If you don’t have an fsa, this may be the year to try. start small, if you want. But you can put up to $2,650 in a health care fsa and/or up to another $5,000 per family in a dependent care fsa. using the fsa program can give you significant tax savings. In basic terms, FSA gives you a percentage discount (depending on your tax rate) on your out-of-pocket health care costs, like braces, eyeglasses, hearing aids, deductibles, copays, prescription drugs, and a few others. Expenses not covered by health insurance.
The same applies to the costs of caring for your dependents, which may include day care in a facility or from a private caregiver; late pick-up fees from day care centers, nurseries, and summer camps; or adult day care for an elderly parent. the amount of money you put into an fsa is entirely up to you. Keep in mind, though, that you must use most of the funds in your FSA, or you could lose that money under the newly adopted rules. Participants can carry over $500 of unused funds into the next year for the Health Care FSA. however, any unused balance over $500 will be forfeited at the end of the calendar year and you will need to re-enroll in fsafeds to take advantage of the unused funds transfer. Enrollment can be done online or by phone, similar to how employees currently enroll in the Federal Employee Dental and Vision Program (FEDVIP). visit https://www.fsafeds.com/ or call 877-fsafeds (372-3337) or tty:866-353-8058 for additional enrollment details.
Third, eligible career employees can use the annual leave exchange option to receive a lump sum payment in their paychecks in early January 2019 in exchange for a portion of annual leave otherwise due. would advance to the beginning of the 2019 holiday year. To be eligible, mail handlers must have an annual vacation balance of 440 hours at the end of the 2018 license year and have used less than 75 hours of sick leave during the 2018 license year. Mail handlers who meet the eligibility criteria and wish to exercise this option under the annual leave exchange option must use postalease to conduct elections beginning November 12, 2018, but no later than December 10, 2018 at 11:59 p.m. . m. (cst). If you would like additional information on any of these programs, please use the resources listed in this article.