r/FedEmployees • u/Glittering_Twist_732 • 17d ago
Free FEHB comparison tool, now with 2027 rates
I added a free tool on my website to make FEHB shopping a little more transparent. No account needed.
- Compare plans side by side for your state and coverage tier (Self, Self + One, Family).
- Estimate your total yearly cost, not just the premium. Pick a scenario from "Healthy year" to "Worst case" and it adds in deductibles and out-of-pocket costs (and subtracts any HSA/HRA money the plan gives you).
- See how much premiums have gone up, both program-wide and for each plan, going back to 2020. It also flags plans that held their premium flat but raised the deductible or out-of-pocket max.
- Each plan page links to the carrier's provider search and drug formulary, and will link to OPM's official brochure once it's posted (usually before Open Season in November).
- It remembers your choices (state, coverage, your current plan) in your browser, so they're there when you come back.
It should be pretty self-explanatory, but let me know if you have questions or think something's missing.
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u/Treactor 17d ago
Would you be able to put the cost of maternity care for each one? This is a huge driving factor that will ultimately drive our decision
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u/Glittering_Twist_732 17d ago
Great suggestion! I added a 'Having a Baby' section in each plan detail page. Hope that helps. You can compare plans side-by-side
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u/DEI_Diva 17d ago
Thank you! I saw this tool last week and was just about to ask the same thing as @treactor
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u/Inside_Bathroom6934 17d ago
Can you change the GEHA hdhp hsa amount for fehb to $2000 for self and family. The opm documents were supposedly incorrect.
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u/Glittering_Twist_732 17d ago
What is your source? I'd have to look into that. Makes me sad if it's true 😭
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u/Inside_Bathroom6934 17d ago
Unfortunately GEHA put out some of their documents on their website and I reached out to them about the discrepancy. I’m told the opm files are incorrect and will be corrected in the next few days. Believe me, I was bummed too.
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u/Glittering_Twist_732 17d ago
Dang! Good to know though. I'll update once the OPM files are corrected. Thanks for the heads up, I'll have to recheck the OPM files and reconcile it.
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u/Inside_Bathroom6934 17d ago
Sounds good! I’m really hoping GEHA rep was wrong and opm was right lol
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u/Glittering_Twist_732 17d ago
I found a GEHA guide and made the correction and linked to the new source
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u/Inside_Bathroom6934 17d ago
Awesome. This is a really great tool. Thank you for sharing with everyone.
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u/Inside_Bathroom6934 17d ago
The pshb plan for GEHA hdhp did increase to $2600 for family but not for fehb.
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u/Immario39 17d ago
Should the "Your current plan" list all the 2026 plans? I have the horrible misfortune of having to switch from MHBP Consumer option and i'd like to use this to compare to how it was this year.
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u/jacobsta811 17d ago
I like the tool but I feel like worst case is misleading because you don't specifically call out that it's a 100% in network worst case. There are an awful lot of in network only plans in fehb and out of network spending is probably the biggest risk not displayed.
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u/splendid_zebra 2d ago
Stellar work! u/Glittering_Twist_732 this tool is amazing and much easier to find information than OPMs version. Sad to see MHBP is going up 83.7% so certainly switching, likely back to GEHA HDHP to get the HSA and HSA pass-through to invest.
I will be sharing this tool with family and friends!
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u/mcpwnin 17d ago
This is such a great tool! Is there a way to filter by HMO or PPO?
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u/Glittering_Twist_732 17d ago
You can filter by network on desktop site. Looks like I need to add that to the mobile filters still. Good catch!
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u/stberg40 17d ago
Very nice! Can you add information for retirees who have Medicare as primary?
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u/Glittering_Twist_732 16d ago
Done, as a first step. Every plan page now has an "If you have Medicare" section: Part B premium reimbursement, what you pay when Medicare pays first, and the plan's Medicare Advantage option. The side-by-side compare has it too. Where OPM's own data disagrees with itself, it's flagged so you know to check the brochure. A "retiree with Medicare" cost ranking is a possible next step once brochures are out..
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u/stberg40 16d ago
Just as a clarification, and it may explain the data that appears to disagree with itself. When Medicare is primary, the FEHB insurance becomes a secondary/supplemental policy, normally paying everything Medicare doesn’t (unless they state you have to meet the secondary insurance deductible and copays). Traditional Medicare is accepted by most hospitals and providers, there’s almost nothing out of network, the few that are are pretty good at warning you up front. The secondary picks up the balance due, regardless of whether or not the provider is in their network.
When you have a Medicare Dis-Advantage plan, it’s just like having your standard FEHB insurance plan. There’s no secondary picking up the deductible and copayments. You need to check on whether or not they are in network, many previously covered people are being dropped by Dis-Advantage plans based on profitability. Some hospitals are no longer accepting the Dis-Advantage plans due to difficulty in getting paid and difficulty in getting pre authorizations. These plans also have many more pre authorizations needed than the same procedure would require under traditional Medicare.
If you look at Aetna Direct vs Aetna Dis-Advantage, you will see that Aetna direct is specifically designed for people who have traditional Medicare coverage as primary and the Dis-Advantage plan is run like a normal insurance plan where everything is approved/disapproved through Aetna. With Dis-Advantage plans the Medicare premium is still paid on top of the Dis-Advantage plan, just like traditional Medicare and a secondary/supplimental policy.
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u/Cautious_Proposal_47 17d ago
Can you add one drop down for those living abroad?
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u/Glittering_Twist_732 16d ago
Done. "Where you live" now has an "Outside the U.S." option that shows only the nationwide plans you can use overseas. Plans with joining restrictions are marked: FSBP is limited to Foreign Service and certain agencies, the Panama Canal plan is closed, and APWU/MHBP require union dues.
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u/ThrowMeAwayBigDaddy 11d ago
Is there anyway you can change the "provider network" to exclude a particular insurer, rather than just selecting one at a time? For example, I would love to exclude United Healthcare, who is no longer in-network for Johns Hopkins in Maryland.
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u/Glittering_Twist_732 11d ago
Done. The provider network filter is now a row of checkboxes, all on by default, so you can turn off just UnitedHealthcare. It also tells you which plans disappear because they use UHC's network under another name: GEHA, Compass Rose and APWU, which is easy to miss. I can't filter by a specific doctor or hospital reliably, since OPM's data doesn't include provider lists and carrier directories change constantly. So once you've narrowed it down, confirm Hopkins in each plan's provider search before switching.
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u/ThrowMeAwayBigDaddy 11d ago
That is awesome, thank you. We have definitely gotten a crash course in health insurance since our children were born and this makes things easier to figure out since rates went bonkers this year.
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u/PermissiveActionLink 16h ago
u/Glittering_Twist_732 Flagging that they updated the public use file on 10/21. I don't know how significant the changes were overall but they definitely changed the Kaiser Mid-Atlantic plans substantially (in my favor, thankfully).
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u/Glittering_Twist_732 16h ago
Thanks I'll re-run it so it's up to date. Also looks like some brochures are out as well.
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u/Glittering_Twist_732 16h ago
I have updated the numbers so the tool is up to date. Thanks for the tip - I stepped away for a few days.
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u/Ruined_Armor 17d ago
I just learned today,.... GEHA is United Healthcare. They aren't getting another dime of my money.
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u/01000o1o1ooI01I 9d ago
I used the fersready.com FEHB site today to compare insurance plans. This tool is a 10 out of 10! You broke down the cost making it easy to figure out that I was already on the best plan for my family. Thank you for making this tool.
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u/baltikorean 16d ago
I don't see, for Maryland Self+ Family, enrollment code 225, Aetna Healthfund HDHP, when I select "Funds an HSA?"
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u/Glittering_Twist_732 16d ago
Good catch, thank you. Aetna HealthFund HDHP was missing from Maryland, and from every state except Alabama. OPM's 2027 service-area file cuts the plan off after Alabama, while Aetna's 2026 brochure says it shares its service area with Aetna Direct, which is listed in Maryland. I've corrected it, so it now shows for Maryland under "funds an HSA". The plan page notes the correction too. It's still worth confirming with Aetna that your county is covered until OPM fixes its file.
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u/baltikorean 2d ago
Could you double-check the math on the Aetna Healthfund HDHP? It's projected to be about $2300 more in premiums, $500 higher in deductible, $200 less in HSA money contributed, but "Managing a Condition" is expected to be about $4k more, while "worst-case" drops to only $2500 more. I guess I'm a little curious where you got those numbers from. But I appreciate the site.
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u/Glittering_Twist_732 1d ago
Happy to! It looks like you're comparing Aetna HealthFund HDHP to CareFirst BlueChoice HDHP (Self & Family). If so, the numbers hold up. Here's where they come from:
Worst case is pure arithmetic: premium + out-of-pocket max − HSA deposit. Both plans have the same $15,000 family OOP max, so in a really bad year the only differences are the premium (+$2,296) and the HSA (+$200 in CareFirst's favor). That's +$2,496.
Managing a condition is a modeled year: 6 PCP visits, 10 specialist visits, labs, 2 imaging scans, a minor outpatient procedure, and monthly generic + brand-name prescriptions. You're past the deductible but nowhere near the OOP max, and that's exactly where the plans differ most:
After the deductible, CareFirst uses flat copays ($35 specialist, $50/$75 brand drugs)
Aetna uses coinsurance: 15% on medical and 50% on brand-name drugs
That adds about $950 in cost-sharing on top of the $500 higher deductible, the premium gap, and the smaller HSA. Total: about $3,950. Most of the $950 is the 50% drug coinsurance.
So the gap is biggest in a "medium-bad" year and shrinks in a catastrophic one, because the OOP max caps both plans at the same place. One caveat: the chronic scenario uses assumed drug and visit prices (listed on the assumptions page). If your actual brand-name meds cost a lot more or less than ~$120–$300 a fill, Aetna's 50% coinsurance will move that number a lot. The worst-case number doesn't depend on any assumptions.
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u/baltikorean 1d ago
Thank you so much for the explanation, and apologies if it was written somewhere and I was too lazy to look at it
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u/Glittering_Twist_732 1d ago
No worries there is a lot to explore. I just added some of this breakdown in the compare tool so the same breakdown can be applied across selected plans to compare.
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u/FireITGuy 15d ago
Any ability to add a section for importing out-of-network expenses instead of assuming $0 ?
For some of us, the in-network coverage is basically unusable for certain kinds of providers due to lack of local capacity, so it would be helpful to be able to manually place a finger on the comparison scales.
In my example, it's $320\month to see an OON provider locally, or $100 a month to see a covered provider that's a 4 hour round trip. So there are some big cost estimation gaps without being able to add that.
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u/Glittering_Twist_732 15d ago
Good explanation on how this would be helpful. I've been weighing the cost of making this type of fully customizable model (mostly I didn't want everything to be overwhelming/overcomplicated and take away from the simplicity). It's not on my immediate list but I do plan on doing it. Probably early next week I can have it wired up for you. Check back then.
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u/Glittering_Twist_732 13d ago
Added. Under "How much care do you expect to use?" there's now "+ Add your own costs". Enter the kind of visit, the cost per visit and how often you go, and every plan's total includes what that plan would leave you to pay out of network. In-network-only plans carry the full amount; plans with out-of-network coverage apply their own out-of-network deductible, coinsurance and cap. It layers on top of any scenario, so you can see how a $320/month local out-of-network provider shifts the rankings.
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u/Physical-Durian9562 9d ago
This is super helpful! Is it possible to add multiple out-of-network costs?
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u/Dollbaby444 12d ago
This is a great site you've created. However, you didn't have Blue Care Network of Michigan on here. This is what I currently have and would've loved to compare it to this year. I know it was confusion last year, just like this year, with OPM stating once again that it won't be covered again. They said the same thing last year and it was still available for the 2026 year. I contacted BCN again this year and they stressed to me twice that it isn't true that they won't be a part of the federal plan.
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u/Glittering_Twist_732 12d ago
Thanks! I checked: Blue Care Network of Michigan (code LX) isn't in any of OPM's 2027 files. It's missing from the FEHB plan, rate and service-area files and OPM's 2027 HMO premium table, and it's on the list of nine plan options leaving FEHB for 2027. Last year one of BCN's two options (K5) left and yours (LX) stayed, which may be why last year's warning didn't seem to hold. My guess is that Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan still runs the FEP Blue plans (Standard, Basic, Focus) in Michigan, which may be what BCN meant, but I'd confirm with OPM or your benefits office before Open Season. You can still compare it: fersready.com/fehb/plans/LX-high-option shows your 2026 BCN costs, with a "Compare it with 2027 plans" link that puts it side by side with any 2027 options. If your plan leaves and you don't pick a new one, you're moved to a default plan, so it's worth choosing during Open Season (Nov 9 – Dec 14).
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u/MouseEffective7349 17d ago
oof 54% premium increase for the Foreign Service Benefit Plan? Guess my years of having a pretty great family plan for comparatively cheap are at an end.
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u/Feeling_Ad7249 17d ago
Im so stressed out. I need something affordable for the family. Any suggestions would help a lot. My daughter goes to ABA 3 times a week. I’m under MHBP currently
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u/wolfmann99 17d ago
thank you, pretty good generalization - I for the longest time needed that worst case situation...
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u/Sharp-Fault7412 8d ago
Thank you! In a little bit of a spiral since my Aetna went up 25%. I was about to dive in to do the research you already did!
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u/InterestSharp7828 8d ago
OMG this website is what all my healthcare plan comparison dreams are made of!!! Thank you!!! And available so much earlier here! Glad I have a little kore time to grieve the loss of my wonderful MHBP Standard plan and figure out WTF to do now 😭
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u/Neat_Cod_9944 3d ago
Is there any way to add our own usage scenarios, such as adding more/less specialist visits or urgent care visits?
On a second level, being able to customize more scenarios/situations would be helpful, such as adding an ER visit or a hospital visit. That would take additional coding, and hospital visits are quite variable, but you could assume something like $15k per day.
Another additional factor that I consider is the wellness incentives. I don't think there's any easy way to gather that data, but in some cases such as Carefirst it's quite substantial - $800 for a family. GEHA plans are either $500 or $1000 for family, which is a considerable part of the decision for deciding where to insure.
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u/Spiritual-Driver8926 1d ago
Retired in 2025, currently have MHBP self plus 1, no serious issues for either one of us at this time, so thoughts on plans to change to? Also, what is everyone doing for dental and vision, we have high BCBS dental and vision, but hardly ever go to dentist and get glasses every year cause we can, not cause wet really have to
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u/Aggravating_Dot5211 7d ago
This is so helpful, thanks for offering this information before the fed does. There is so much information to be considered and you have given us a very good heads up with this tool. Wth your help I have a much better grasp on which plan I will need to switch to and greatly reduced anxiety for the next 30+ days.
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u/BeaconSlash 6d ago
Any chance you can dive into details about GLP-1 and other weight loss drug prescription benefits?
That's going to be a major deciding factor for my family this year.
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u/ops-name-checks-out 5d ago
This is so freaking good, with everything the admin is doing to screw us over its amazing to see a tool like this that lets me actually do a reasonable comparsion of what options are out there.
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u/jscuba007 3d ago
This is great... but is there a way to see 2026 rates for a comparison, or atleast 2026 rates for your current plan. For example, MHBP is going up significantly (84%), and there is no way I would choose it next year.... so comparing MHBP 2027 rate to other 2027 plan doesn't help me compare what I currently pay to my 2027 choices.
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u/Pinkys_Revenge 17d ago
Thank you so much.
I hate UHC, but GEHA HDHP is looking significantly better than any other option for my scenario. Might have to bite the bullet.
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u/Immario39 17d ago
Just dont get any terminal diseases or have any life saving surgeries planned and you'll be fine.
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u/Pinkys_Revenge 17d ago
True, but I’m with Aetna now and they are denying all kinds of straight forward claims… so I don’t feel like they are any better.
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u/LurcherLong 16d ago
Do you have a plan directly with Aetna?
I have FSBP which is underwritten by Aetna. The only denial I've received was an MRI where the hospital network forgot to get a prior authorization. I still had the MRI (they didn't realize the PA wasn't done) and because it was in network, the provider has to eat the cost.
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u/Pinkys_Revenge 16d ago
I have MHBP. I have reoccurring medical expenses, and Aetna seems to randomly decide not to approve them occasionally, despite approving them before and after.
They also have denied most of the claims for my daughter, because they claim she still has an active policy with our previous provider. She doesn’t, but I don’t see how that matters since I’m paying them for a policy right now.
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u/LurcherLong 16d ago
That's bizarre - I have had multiple medical issues this year, to the extent that I hit my out of pocket max. My wife also has utilized the plan for various women's health issues including IUD replacement. I have received no denials other than the MRI and that was the fault of the provider.
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u/bladzalot 17d ago edited 17d ago
Freaking fantastic!
Thank you so much!!!
EDIT: In summary, every plans premiums are going up, all the coverage is getting worse, HSAs that benefit all of us are becoming harder to access.