martyb
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
So...with the federal employees annual pay raise freeze all but a done deal, I started thinking about how I could maybe offset the effects of the freeze, at least a little. What I came up with is a change in my health insurance carrier. Federal employees have an open season every year around this time, and we have several carriers and options available to choose from. I've been with Blue Cross Blue Shield for over 20 years, but with their announced increase in premiums for 2011 and the also announced pay freeze, I've decided to jump ship & try out a plan that used to only be offered to CIA employees, called Compass Rose, but is nowadays open to DoD employees (me) and a few others, like TSA etc. Similiar coverage as BCBS with some exceptions, but for the most part appears liveable. Some benefits are actually better, notably lower co-pays for most office visits and lower individual & family calendar year deductibles. The main concern is that the prescription benefit isn't quite as good, but while we do have a few RX's, I don't think it's enough to be a major issue. The good news is that the new plan will cost me about $55 less per pay period (every 2 weeks) so I guess that will be my pay raise for 2011. As far as the 2% reduction in Social Security tax that is in the news, well...that won't apply to me because I'm under the old CSRS defined benefit plan and therefore don't pay into SS, so no SS tax is witheld from my check in the first place...just the FICA, Medicare, & federal taxes. No state income tax (Texas). Woohoo!!!....I'm gettin' a pay raise afterall!
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