The USPS says that participants will receive a “crosswalk letter” in late October showing the new plan into which the USPS intends to enroll them. Image: Mariusz S. Jurgielewicz/Shutterstock.com
By: Lacie Harmon, The Federal Benefits GroupIf you’re a Post Office employee or retiree (annuitant), you’ve probably heard by now that the Post Office is set to transition to the Postal Service Health Benefits Plan (PSHB), which the Office of Personnel Management describes as a “new, separate program within the FEHB program”, splitting its group health plan from the rest of the federal workforce in January 2025. This split is a legal requirement resulting from the passage of the Postal Service Reform Act of 2022.
The USPS is doing its best to ensure that employees and annuitants experience very little change to their coverage as a result. In fact, this is a necessity of the law under 5 U.S.C. 8903c(c)(2), which instructs that a health carrier’s “2025 PSHB plan must have equivalent benefits and cost sharing to the carrier’s 2025 FEHB plan”.
Since preparations for the transition have started, there have been a few important announcements, with more expected near the beginning of Open Season, which starts on November 9th and goes until December 11th. Here are the important ones:
1. 32 plans have been granted provisional participation in the new PSHB program. In order to be fully approved, health insurance carriers will need to successfully negotiate their offerings and rates, but it’s very likely that all will do so.
These 32 plans represent approximately 20% of the plans offered under the FEHB, but they include some of the most widely used plans from the national and regional insurers that cover the greatest numbers of participants.
2. Participants will not be required to actively enroll in a new PSHB plan during Open Season. Instead, the USPS plans to automatically “crosswalk” participants into the plan most similar to the one they had under FEHB. And, in cases where there isn’t an equivalent option available, OPM will automatically enroll individuals into the most affordable, no-fee, non-high-deductible plan available in PSHB.
3. While many know about the integration of Medicare Part B in the new plan, there’s been less talk about the fact that PSHB Carriers must now integrate a Part D Employer Group Waiver Plan (EGWP). Part D Medicare is prescription drug coverage and, in the past, has been a choice available to FEHB participants. But under the PSHB, carriers are required to provide prescription drug benefits for Medicare Part D-eligible Postal Service annuitants and their Part D-eligible family members, and no other prescription drug coverage will be available to them.
4. At least one major insurance carrier, FEP Blue Cross Blue Shield, has already sent letters to current participants letting them know that a plan similar to their current plan has been conditionally approved and stating that they’ll share more details on the PSHB benefits and premiums “later this year, in time for Open Season”
5. The USPS reports new plan details will be available as of September 15, and will be sent out via hard mail in the weeks that follow.
6. The USPS says that participants will receive a “crosswalk letter” in late October showing the new plan into which the USPS intends to enroll them. If you agree, there’s nothing to do: you’ll be enrolled in that plan.
7. Details of the new PSHB plans will be offered on a new PSHB centralized online system available in late October, and enrollment in the new plans will be available on that site.
To stay up-to-date on the latest, you can attend PSHB webinars hosted by the USPS every 2 weeks until December 5th here: https://www.keepingposted.org/pshb-lunch-learn-seminars.htm. These webinars include live Q&A, where participants can ask questions about their particular situation.
Lacie Harmon is a Federal Benefits and Retirement Specialist who helps federal employees understand and maximize their benefits, both during employment and retirement years. She teaches regularly at federal agencies and offers monthly federal retirement webinars. Past classes taught include for clients such as the FAA, USDA and GAO, as well as union locals of the APWU and NALC. Web: https://www.lacieharmon.com | Facebook | Email: LHarmon@thefederalbenefitsgroup.com
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