Q. In 2014, when the Affordable Care Act goes into effect, will federal retirees be forced to change their present medical plan? I have been retired since 2000. I am enrolled in the Kaiser Plan and I want to know whether I will be forced to give it up. If I am allowed to stay enrolled in Kaiser, will I be charged a higher monthly payment to stay in this program? I have established doctors who have been assigned to me for quite a few years and I am concerned that I will lose them.
A. You are asking questions that can’t be answered yet because the Office of Personnel Management hasn’t provided an analysis of the act’s impact on the Federal Employees Health Benefits program. However, everything I’ve read convinces me that enrollees will be able to stay with their current plans or change to another during open season, just as they’ve always been able to do. What I don’t know is if the act will have any effect on premiums. Like me, you’ll just have to wait and see.
