Anyone with federal insurance?

I posted this on the insurance board but no one answered.

My DH is in the last stages of snagging a fed job. He just needs to pass his physical in a few weeks. This is a BLESSING for us because he was laid off 3 times in 2009 and been laid off since Christmas  We just absolutely couldn't be more thankful!

It also means that we will no longer get Tricare through the reserves (if you qualify for FEHB you aren't eligible for Tricare Reserve). With Tricare my only option to get the DS was to fly - by myself - 1,600 miles to the military treatment facility that offered the DS, stay 2 weeks - again by myself - and then fly myself home. Now don't get me wrong, I want the DS and will/would do whatever I needed to do to get it, but I'm sure you'd agree that situation is just not the most ideal if there is another option.

His HR contact said that once he accepts the employment offer they will send him a packet of insurance information and we just need to decide which company/plan we want and send it back. My question is for anyone with federal employment insurance - is there a company that is fairly DS friendly that also doesn't have ginormous hoops to jump through? I know that some requirements are standard but there are some I'd never be able to meet (like a 5-year documented history of obesity). Of course I'll sit down and read all the plans and see who covers what and what's best for our family. I was just hoping for a heads up of either - yeah they're an option - or oh hell no you don't want those jokers

I appreciate any help from anyone. We've never been in a position where we've actually gotten to choose an insurance. In the past (if we were even offered insurance at all) it was here's what you get, give me your premium, but now don't think we're gonna pay for **** in return.

 I have BCBS Basic PPO under the Federal plan.  I had no problems getting my DS approved.  All they required was a BMI of 35 or greater w/comorbids, or 40 or greater without.  I didn't even have to do a period of supervised diet under this plan.  That said, I DID have to go through a BCBS Center of Excellence, so it limited my choices of surgeons, so I ended up paying out of pocket for my surgeon, who practiced out of a few hospitals, one of which held the COE designation so hospital stay and additional Drs, OR time, medications, anesthesia, ect were covered.  Other than that, it was easy peasy.  Not sure that it would be the same in TN though.  Mine went through Anthem in VA.  Each State has a different governing BCBS office for Federal plans.  Sorry if this was way confusing, but I hope it was helpful.

I'm a fed employee and have FEP BCBS basic plan.   A couple of things you should know about the process...   All that info will be overwhelming.   There are so many plans to choose from, it is mind-boggling.  Also, you are not eligible for the first month.   My example:  I started at the beginning of July 5th payroll cycle, but my insurance was not "in effect" until August 31 of that year.  (I mention this so that you'll be prepared to make sure you have no gap in coverage and continue the Tricare until you know the Fed plan has kicked in.  

I can't give much more info than E******girl did, as I'm just in the pre-approval stage myself. 

Good luck to you and your husband.   Being without work is scary.   I was laid off last year and it took quite a while to find employment. 
 

 

Gah! I totally agree with being overwhelmed with the choices. I just got hired on as a GS and it was a mind boggling process. I'm used to having one or two options for insurance, so this was crazy. Fortunately, I came from a company with BCBS and just decided to stay with them through the Fed program.

Does anyone have any knowlege regarding plastics through Federal BCBS?

You ladies are GREAT! Thank you so much. You've given me a lot to go on. The surgeon and hospital that I wanted to go to (if tricare would have paid for it) is on the list of Blue Distinction Center for Bariatric Surgery. YEAH! 

I figured there would probably be a bit of waiting period for the new insurance to kick in, I just didn't know how long so thanks for that info. Tricare isn't going to kick us off as soon as he starts the job it's just that as soon as the new insurance picks up they drop out. His HR contact said that she would want him to start at the beginning of a pay period and settled on August 30th. So I guess his insurance would go into effect sometime in October?

You know I had really hoped and prayed/swung critters that I would be able to have surgery before he deployed next year, but with tricare it had just about become an impossibility (which was what was going to cause me to have had to travel by myself) due to their timeline and all the moons/stars that was going to have to line up for it to happen in time. I'm actually a bit hopefuly (conservatively though) that it may actually happen before he leaves. I've already gotten a medical clearance and psych exam. The only other thing the surgeon requires is an appointment with the nutty NUT and another education class. I'm starting to think that maybe...juuuust maybe I may actually be able to have this surgery and start my new life.  

BCBS Standard here. All I had to do was go to a Center of Excellence, get a psych eval, pass their BMI requirement (40 or above), have a five-year written diet history and that was it. Done. Approved in less than 24 hours after submittal of request and reciept of all requirements.

I'm planning to go to Dr. Greenbaum in NJ.    His group is not a BCBS BLue Center of Excellence, but they are with the ASMBS.   Can I still go to him, or will BCBS not let me?   In the booklet I have, it sounds like they strongly urge you to use a Blue CofE, but it is not required.   Can you help clarify this?
thanks!

Belonging to the ASMBS means jack sh*t to the insurance companies, you know? For some reason they care about the CoE designation even though it, too, means jack sh*t.

You need to call them and ask them directly. Even though it's a federal plan, it's administered by the state that you're in. That can sometimes cause issues. Always check it out yourself!

"have a five-year written diet history"

Is this something that I just write out or is it something that has to be documented by someone else in some way? (like WW or Jenny Craig) Does any of it have to be medically supervised? MY PCP had me write out a list of all the weights and diets that I can remember while being overweight (umm so that was a long list since almost birth ;) ) so I've already gotten that taken care of.

I just wrote it out. It had my approximate starting weight, what i did to lose the weight, my lowest weight. Then I had an explanation of what caused me to start putting the weight back on - for example, one time it was because I had injured my foot during aerobics and could no longer do them, so the weight started coming back on. Another time, it was pregnancy related.

So that sort of thing. I don't know if they require it anymore.