I retired in 2025, have MHBP self +1, both high option FepBlue vision and BCBS dental, get new glasses every year, seldom go to dentist, don't have any serious health issues at this time, wanting thoughts on what to do for 2027, can't afford to keep MHBP with huge increase

At least for me but probably some others too.

AETNA DIRECT

If this plan stays essentially the same I’m getting it myself as I loathe managed care and Advantage plans. It is for those who will have Original Medicare

I hope this info helps others. It is a less well known plan l am in No way affiliated with them but it seems a good alternative to BCBS Basic and other plans.

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Aetna Direct — more info— Source links at the bottom

**Pretty low premiums for 2027 compared to other non- Medicare Advantage plans — I think even some MA plans.

**Aetna Direct is Meant to pair with traditional Medicare and IS NOT Medicare Advantage

**Medicare premiums - can apply the included HRA $ to these premiums. They put $900/yr in 2027 for self and $1800 into HRA for family/self+one plan.

**NOT limited to Aetna network in 2026–any Medicare provider in 2026 they will still pay the 20% up the Medicare allowed payment

**Deductible, copays, coinsurance waived including RX whether you use their version of Part D or not in 2026

**Pays for some services Medicare does not like acupuncture. My understanding is copays etc still waived for these (per Aetna Direct rep) in 2026.

**You may opt-out of Aetna Direct’s (Silver Script) version of FEHB Part D like other plans. Patient payments for the regular Rx plan are somewhat higher (not much for generic) Vs Silver Script. BUT you’ll save $ 1-2 ways if these appl to you. First, if you would have IRRMA, if you opt out of Silver Script you are avoiding PartD IRRMA charges (if you will have them) You’d only pay your FEHP premium (2026), not both. If you have brand name drugs you’ll probably want to get generic if you can or get a waiver for brand if you opt-out. Cost difference of these vs taking their Part D silver script for Generics (preferred) is minimal and other aren’t terrible unless specialty (I think) and may be made up for not having IRRMA charges and/or by the second way to save if you Opt-Out of Silver Script: if you have RX copayment assistance. Keeping that Rx co—pay assistance for expensive specialty medications is a huge savings. If you take Silver Script Medicare Part D, you are not eligible for these copay assistance programs. You’d pay the high er copay for expensive med on Silver Script; those are fairly high on Silver Script also. You’ll have a $2400 cap, but if you have other meds with the copays in the regular plan and much lower to no copay for specialty with copay assistance on regular plan, that’s still typically Much cheaper than if you no longer are getting copy rx help in Silver Script. Do the math on your own meds of course. You might want Silver Script though if IRRMA doesn’t apply to you and/or you don’t have or expect to have very expensive high copay drugs. No deductible is applied to RX meds whether you Opt-out of Stlver Script or not. This is info 2026.

** I talked to an Aetna rep. They still have Prior Approval for their 20% share on some things. BUT he said if original Medicare covers it, they typically go with the Medicare ”medically necessary” standards and approval, which are MUCH less stringent than in Medicare Advantage or FEHB plans without Medicare coverage in vast majority cases. (I think of original Medicare plan as a get out of managed care jail option). BUT the Best Part of that is that the worst that can happen if Aetna denies prior approval for it is they won’t pay the 20% after Medicare approved and pays. NOTE: In MA plans, if the plan doesn’t approve your procedure, test, etc and appeals do not work, you either don’t get what your doctor ordered or you pay out of pocket. (Rx coverage is separate and they still manage that). This is for 2026.

OPM Aetna Direct 2026 detailed brochure:

Aetna Direct official brochure 2026

Aetna Direct info site (DO NOT LINK TO RETIREE PAGE NEAR THE TOP. That's about their Medicare Advantage plan). Yes, it’s confusing!! It has 2027 info but not the details OPM brochur

Aetna Direct Site (scroll down for info, do Not click away from that page)

I’m an early retiree, age 57, and I’m not yet eligible for Medicare. For the next couple of years, I plan to divide my time about equally between the United States and other countries, especially Mexico. I intend to receive most of my medical care in the United States, but I expect there may be times when I will need or choose to receive care abroad. I’m researching FEHB plans that provide overseas coverage and there seems to be a few PPO options. For folks in a similar situation, which plan do you use? What has your experience been with things like coverage, preapprovals, processing of claims, customer service, etc.? Thanks in advance.

I am 4ish years from retirement with 40 yrs within a DOJ agency. I have carried BCBS the entire time with supplemental for dental/vision. My question, is it ok to switch plans at least once this close to getting out? I know I am a bit late to figuring everything out, but you have to start somewhere lol. Thanks!

I’m having extreme difficulties reaching an OPM live person or getting through via phone.

I‘ve properly completed the notification of death months ago, and I received a document with a CSF Claim Number.

In Box 5 — Lump Sum of Payment of Retirement it lists two names:

• myself
• my brother

They already know my step-mother died 2-1/2 years prior to my dad as his pension benefits were adjusted, so Box 5 (and Box 6 for FEGLI) list both myself and my brother as designated beneficiaries.

I have so many questions about filling out the form.

Section A — Information about my deceased father has a sticker with the claim number, SSN, DOB, date of death, etc.

For section A — do I need to fill out the information of former spouses? There‘s three spouses spann over decades, two deceased, and OPM already knows, and myself and my brother are hard coded as designated beneficiaries (FEGLI who I can reach by phone has myself and my brother at 50/50).

Section C and D will be left blank (I’m neither a widower nor former spouse)

Section E - Dependent Children — is this section necessary since we are both already designated beneficiaries?

Section F - Other Heirs — same question as Section E

Do I need to send in a copy of the Death Certificate, Certificate of Executor, etc. as I believe they already have this on file.

My brother is estranged and was added decades ago, prior to his getting remarried, so communication with him is only through the estate attorney. I’m hoping, as with FEGLI, OPM can mail my estranged brother the forms. Otherwise, I or the estate attorney will have to mail them to him.

I‘m sure all of my questions can easily be answered if I simply get through on the telephone, which is extremely difficult and frustrating. OPM has all the information and records in their system to assist.

EDIT:

Perhaps I could attach a copy of the document provided by OPM — put N/A in many of these sections — and refer to the OPM document specifically identifying the designated beneficiaries.

Can someone explain to me like I'm 5 years old how an HSA works for eligible annuitants? I'm
56 years old, in really good health and looking at an HDHP plan this year. I'm looking at OPMs HSA website and I'm a little confused. As a retiree do i setup an HSA account with a trustee? Do I choose an allotment amount to go into the HSA every month?

Hello all,

I am a FERS disability annuitant and will convert over to a regular annuity at age 62. My understanding is that all the COLAs received since I retired will be factored into my new benefit amount. Does anyone know if they are compounded or will it be a simple cumulative increase? Thank you!

I am with MHBP value and it’s going away and I need to see other options because standard is so pricey.

Fed retiree here approaching Medicare eligibility w/income apparently subject to IRMAA. Has anyone conducted best strategy for the budget? Do I stay with GEHA? do I switch to Aetna direct? This could get expensive just for turning 65.

Currently, most of my care& prescriptions (except for dermatology and dental) are provided through the Veterans administration. I rarely get a bill

I’m a current federal employee under FERS with a court order from my divorce awarding my ex-wife a portion of my pension when I eventually retire.

The agreement was that she would receive 50% of the marital portion of my pension, calculated as of April 17, 2021. She was not supposed to benefit from any future salary increases, promotions, additional years of service, or COLAs.

The COAP was drafted with the assistance of a pension appraiser and signed by the judge. The relevant language states:

“Fifty Percent (50%) of the Marital Portion of the Employee’s Self-Only Monthly Annuity … determined as of the date the marriage ended (April 17, 2021).”
It further states:

“For purposes of calculating the Former Spouse’s share of the Employee’s benefit, the Marital Portion shall be determined by multiplying the Employee’s Self-Only Monthly Annuity earned through the date the marriage ended (April 17, 2021)” by the marital service fraction.

The denominator is also specifically limited to my total creditable service through April 17, 2021. There’s a separate provision expressly excluding COLAs.
My concern is how OPM will interpret the words “annuity earned through” April 17, 2021. To me, that seems pretty clear that the pension is being valued as of that date, not based on whatever my salary ends up being 20+ years later.

However, I’ve been reading 5 CFR 838.622, and I’m wondering whether OPM requires the order to specifically state that future salary adjustments are excluded, despite the language already limiting the annuity calculation to April 2021.

I’ve tried contacting OPM, but they won’t discuss it with me until I submit my retirement paperwork, which obviously isn’t happening for another couple decades.

Has anyone dealt with a similar COAP or actually worked on processing these at OPM? I’m particularly interested in whether OPM would consider the existing language sufficient to freeze the pension valuation or whether they’d still factor in my future salary progression.

TLDR: My COAP awards my ex-wife 50% of the marital portion of my FERS pension, specifically calculated based on the annuity earned through April 17, 2021. The intent was to exclude all future salary increases and COLAs. Does OPM consider that language sufficient to freeze the pension at its 2021 value, or will they still factor in my salary increases between now and retirement?

I asked on here a while back if I was unnecessarily worrying about another shoe to drop after the way DOGE disposed of us. Now that I'm a full year in (DRP was effective 09/30/2025), I'm unworried about that, and doing better than budgeted while still living my pre-2025 life.

For instance, I estimated that I would be withdrawing from savings right at that old 4% monthly benchmark. Instead, I'm withdrawing half that percentage over the last year, and that's just about covered by interest on my cash holdings alone. I'm not going to bother going back to see where I overestimated (which I would have done at work), I'm just accepting a good thing.

My choice to pass on Medicare in favor of BCBS Focus continues to hold up, saving me some 100s/month. (I'm single with predictable health care needs, so YMMV).

So far, so good! What are your own reflections and learnings?

Hi,

This (2026) is my first year with an HDHP and an HSA and I have a question. Since our premiums are paid with post-tax dollars from our annuities, is the portion of the premium passed through to the HSA considered a tax-deductible contribution? Just trying to do some tax planning before the end of the year.

Thanks!

As a retired federal employee, 3 months ago OPM canceled my medical insurance due to a seemingly administrative error on their part and have not prioritized this in a manner that’s resolved it. Has anyone else experienced this dis justice?

Hi, so the bcbs is going to 760 a month, mhbp is approaching that, every plan is jumping, I am in Miami, so any plan has to work here.

Is there ever a financial line that fehb is not worth it?

I work for the state, bcbs is 135 a month. Of course the magic of fehb is i always have it, regardless of job status.

I was forced into vera, so i am not getting any col increases or anything, and the fehb just eats into my retirement pay.

When i started in fed gov, bcbs was 235 a month, lol.

I would not care financially, but my state job comes in take home with retirement 25 percent less.

I was fortunate enough to qualify for VERA last year when DOGE did its thing. My wife will hit her MRA early next year with 18 years of service (high three of 100Kish), and we both eagerly await her joining me in this next stage of life.

We're torn between 1)having her work to MRA and taking immediate retirement, 2) adding her to my health insurance and retiring at the end of the FY and a)deferring her retirement til age 60 (or 62), or b) postponing retirement til 60 at which point she would come off my insurance and have her own.

We're fortunate to be in a position where we could fairly comfortably cover the several year gap using a safe (3.5 to 4.7, depending on market conditions) withdrawal rate from our TSP and Roth accounts until then and don't necessarily need her pension in the short term.

Where we are torn is whether to take the upfront 25% hit to her pension or defer for several years. Looks like this gives us a break even point of 15 years... although I believe this is shortened a bit when looking at the additional cost of having her as a self +1 on my insurance vs both of us having our own. What I don't really understand is the impact of medicare on reducing our insurance costs at age 65 and how long this self +1 penalty would last given that adjustment.

Of note my MIL is sharp as a tack at 88 so we anticipate my wife having at least a 30 year retirement horizon. Wife and I are both in great health and looking to maximize travel activities in 60s and 70s before ultimately slowing down. Given that, we can see the value of front loading our income vs stretching things out for maximum gains. We're fortunate to be in a situation where we are not too concerned about outliving our savings. My pension is fairly substantial and she'll receive 25% of that when I'm gone, and she also has a small pension from her pre fed years.

TL/DR: take the hit now, or defer for a more cautious approach? Is there anything I'm missing here? What would you do?

Just hoping to pass along a heads-up for those who are uninformed, like us. My spouse was a 20+ year federal employee, now retired. Nobody is expecting any sympathy here, just looking for similar situations that may have happened to others, and what the outcome (if any) was. First, my spouse was a admin/office/supervisory type employee the whole career. The employment was exemplary with above average advancement over the years.

I am more than a little disappointed that the HR situation was, at best, hardly present. Some sort of "centralization" put the nearest people across the country and marginally accessible. I am a veteran and the issue I have is lack of training/education regarding health insurance options and a spouse picking up VA Healthcare. It was not until recently we learned about the event qualifying as a "QLE," and what options were available at that time. ADVISE: "Learn it" From 2016 until this year "Self plus one" was paid for for no reason. It was a long shot, but we requested Administrative Relief for the overpayments. The totally annoying part is these people have not even done us the courtesy of sending back an "F-Y" reply. Certified mail was first sent to OPM, who took for ever, and a second certified letter, to get a response of "contact the retirement people." Strange, since the actual event took place prior to retirement. Regardless, it was done, Certified. Nothing. A little digging found an email contact to the retirement people, along with the explanation. The reply? Contact OPM. Done again, Certified. Still waiting. Going on a year now. Can anyone relate?

I am thinking about switching to this and would like some feedback. I have self+1 and both spouse and I have Medicare B as Primary and FEHP as secondary.

I retired at 58. My birthday is June. When after I turn 62 would I see a cost of living increase in my pension? Thanks.

I’m a thrifty person who aggressively saved for retirement. I am now retired. It is hard for me to spend the money.

My goal was always to “maintain my standard of living” into my retirement.

So far so good. But things like redoing the bathroom or taking 2/3 vacations a year are problematic for me.

I have done every retirement calculator known to man. I’m good. But paying a contractor for installing new gutters on the house gives me pause. Maybe I can watch some YouTube videos and do it myself?

Anybody else deal with this?

I apologize if this is the wrong place to ask but I am hesitant to ask elsewhere. I am hoping others may be able to share their experience .

I am currently on FMLA. I have decided I want to retire when I turn 62. Can my agency revoke my FMLA if I apply for retirement? I will have to return for 4 days after the FMLA expires unless they are able to cancel it. I can handle 4 days. Two months would be rough. I have plenty of SL for the FMLA.

I haven’t told my supervisor yet. How long after I submit my application does my supervisor find out? I do plan to tell him but we don’t have a good relationship so I’m not looking forward to that conversation.

Has anyone else received an email from OPM stating their Myidcare has been reinstated? I also received a welcome back email from them as well stating that I have been renewed after I decided not to renew it myself.

Retired FED. Considering supplemental dental in 2027. Likely to need orthodontia or at least Invisalign to adjust shifting teeth associated with aging. Experiences? Positive or negative?

I've been trying to get into the Blue Cross portal for requesting reimbursement for Medicare part B premiums. Neither of the methods they offer for getting a PIN to start an account is working for me. The remedy they suggest is to contact my employer or program sponsor to reset my contact information. That would be great if I weren't already retired. I have no idea who my program sponsor would be, if I even have one. I tried their AI phone system and it asks for the last four digits of an account number that doesn't exist. When I asked the AI to transfer me to customer service, it said it would transfer me then the line went dead after a couple of minutes of silence. Have any of you dealt with this system successfully?