FEDVIP dental and vision: worth it or not?

How FEDVIP differs from FEHB

• No government share. In FEHB the government pays roughly 70 to 75 percent. In FEDVIP it pays nothing. You pay the whole premium.
• Separate enrolment. FEDVIP runs through BENEFEDS, not your agency system. Changing your health plan does nothing to your dental.
• Separate programmes. Dental and vision are priced and chosen independently. You can take one, both or neither.
• Eligibility, not enrolment. You qualify if you are eligible for FEHB, even if you are not enrolled in it.
• It pays second. Where your FEHB plan covers a dental or vision service, that plan pays first and FEDVIP picks up after.

What it costs you

Premiums come out pre-tax while you are an employee, which softens the cost, and post-tax once you are an annuitant. Dental rates vary by where you live; vision rates are the same nationwide.

Because you are paying every dollar, the arithmetic is unusually simple. Add up the yearly premium and compare it against what the plan would actually pay for the treatment you expect. Dental plans cap what they pay each year, so a plan that costs $600 and caps benefits at $1,500 has a narrow band where it wins.

The age 22 trap

FEHB covers children to 26. FEDVIP covers them only to 22, unless the child cannot support themselves because of a disability.

This catches families every year: the health coverage continues, the dental and vision quietly does not. If your child is approaching 22, check the enrolment type before Open Season closes rather than after a claim is denied.

When it pays for itself

• Children in orthodontics, or heading that way. This is the clearest case in the whole programme.
• Known work ahead. A crown, a bridge, or periodontal treatment you have already been told about.
• Glasses or contacts every year, especially for more than one person. Vision premiums are low and the frame and lens allowance is predictable.
• You use preventive care fully. Two cleanings a year for a family adds up against a modest premium.

When it does not

• One adult, healthy teeth, cleanings only. Many dentists charge less for two cleanings than a year of premiums costs.
• Your FEHB plan already includes real dental or vision benefits. Some do, and FEDVIP only pays after them.
• You want flexibility. Cancelling FEDVIP outside Open Season is almost impossible; the exceptions are narrow and specific.

FEDVIP in retirement

There is no five-year rule here. Unlike FEHB, you can enrol in FEDVIP as a new annuitant, or carry it in, regardless of how long you held it as an employee, provided you retire on an immediate annuity.

What changes is the tax treatment: employees pay pre-tax, annuitants pay post-tax, at the same rates.

Common questions