MHBP Consumer Option

MHBP Consumer Option

Experience affordable rates, great benefits, tax advantages, savings opportunities and greater control in this non-traditional health plan. Consumer Option gives you money to spend on health care services that are important to you, and you get tax savings along the way. With Consumer Option you get:

• Immediate preventive care benefits, including an annual physical and certain screenings, are covered 100% when you use PPO providers (no non-PPO benefits).
• Protection from high health care costs with comprehensive coverage that provides benefits once you meet your deductible.
• Low copayments—After you meet your deductible, you are eligible to pay only low copayments and coinsurance for your covered care.
• Up to $1,690 for family coverage per year to spend on qualified medical expenses—the money is yours to keep—spend it or save it.
• A Health Savings Account (HSA)—that you own. We’ll help you open the account, which doesn’t cost you anything, and make monthly deposits. You can make deposits too. Deposits are Tax Free (up to IRS defined limits).
• A debit card gives you convenient access to your HSA funds.
• Rollover funds from year to year—With a Health Savings Account (HSA) there is no “use it or lose it” rule. Any unused funds in your HSA roll over from year to year, allowing you to accumulate funds for future health care expenses.

View the Consumer Option Summary of Benefits, or view our Official Plan Brochure for a complete description of benefits.  Please note:  Page 84 of the 2010 MHBP Official Plan Brochure has an incorrect reference for the Consumer Option benefit for services provided by Christian Science practitioners.  Click here for correct benefit information.

View or download the Consumer Option brochure, Healthy, Wealthy & Wise for additional information.

Qualified Medical Expenses

You may use the funds in your HSA to pay for qualified medical expenses.

For your convenience, we have included a handy list of some of the most common qualified expenses.

For complete detailed information, refer to “IRS Publication 502 – Medical and Dental Expenses,” Catalog number 15002Q.

2010 Consumer Option Rates

Topic	Non-Postal Biweekly	Postal Biweekly	Annuitant Monthly
Consumer OptionSelf Only (481)	$35.86	$20.80	$77.71
Consumer OptionSelf & Family (482)	$81.27	$47.14	$176.08

Non-postal rates apply to most non-postal enrollees. If you are in a special enrollment category, refer to the FEHB guide for that category or contact the agency that maintains your health benefits enrollment.

Postal rates apply to career Postal Service employees. Most employees should refer to the FEHB Guide for United States Postal Service Employees, RI 70-2. Different postal rates apply and a special FEHB guide is published for Postal Service Inspectors and Office of Inspector General (OIG) employees (see RI 70-2IN).

* Postal rates do not apply to non-career postal employees, postal retirees, or associate members of any postal employee organization who are not career postal employees. Refer to the applicable FEHB Guide.