Medicare and APWU Health Plans

Both the High Option (HO) and Consumer Driven Option (CDO) have Medicare benefits without enrolling in the UnitedHealthcare Medicare Advantage Plan. 

Please keep in mind that once you retire, you no longer receive the APWU discount on the CDO option, but as long as you stay an APWU member at the retiree rate (36 dollars per year), you do not need to pay the $35 yearly associate fee charged to non-members. Keep in mind that the following information is for retired employees.

CDO benefits 

New for 2025 you can use your PCA dollars to cover the Medicare Part B premium, and you can receive Medicare Prescription drug coverage (Part D) at no extra cost. If you are a retired CDO member, you will be automatically enrolled in the UnitedHealthcare Part D plan. It includes a $2,000 out of pocket maximum for prescription drugs, which uses the total cost of the drug. (what the insurance pays plus what you pay). This means that your drug costs would be covered at 100% after meeting this amount. It also includes home delivery service. For more details call the UnitedHealthcare Medicare Rx Part D at 888-201-4265 Monday thru Friday 8 am to 8pm local time)

HO benefits

Even if not enrolled in the APWU Health Plan Medicare Advantage (Part C) you will be automatically enrolled in the ExpressScripts Medicare for the APWU Health Plan. It has the same benefits as the CDO option, with the $2,000 cap on out-of-pocket expenses and home delivery service. For details about this plan, call Express Scripts Medicare at 844-818-8790 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, or visit apwuhp.com. 

UnitedHealthcare Medicare Advantage Plan for APWU Health Plan. 

**To enroll in this plan you must have the High Option and have both Medicare Parts A and B***

Benefits Include 

It also includes fitness membership through Renew Active, which is free through fitness centers participating in their nationwide network. 

You can also receive home health care through their UnitedHealthcare Healthy at Home program. This provides support you may need after an inpatient hospital or skilled nursing facility stay. You can receive home-delivered meals, transportation to medical appointments and pharmacy, and in-home non-medical personal care to assist with daily activities, all at no additional cost. 

It also has hearing aid benefits through their UnitedHealthcare Hearing program. You must contact UHC Hearing and use a UHC hearing provider for this coverage. There are 6,500+ hearing providers nationwide, and you can receive a hearing exam and access to one of the widest selections of prescription and non-prescription hearing aids at significant savings. You’ll also receive personalized care and follow-up support from experienced hearing providers. 

For more information or to enroll, call a Customer Service Advocate at 855-383-8793 TTY 711, 8am – 8pm local time, Monday through Friday, or visit retiree.uhc.com/apwuhp.

As always, visit keepingposted.org and  apwu.org/retirees for more information on retirement or how to stay involved after retirement. Retirees can provide a vital service by being a voice in the community or mentoring younger members. If you are interested in being more involved regardless of your employment status, please reach out to us!

Finally, as was promised! The Medicare Article! 

As many of you are aware, the changes are happening to our health care because of the Postal Service Reform Act (PSRA) of 2022. This new law also made changes in Medicare requirements for eligible current postal workers and retirees. Medicare (which is through the federal government, is not to be confused with Medicaid (through the state government) 

What is Medicare? 

Medicare is a federal health insurance program for: 

Annuitants (i.e. Retirees)

The PSRA is designed, in part, to promote Medicare integration. Beginning Jan. 1, 2025, the PSRA requires certain Medicare-eligible Postal Service annuitants to enroll in Medicare Part B to keep their PSHB coverage in retirement. 

After Jan. 1, 2025, annuitants who are enrolled in Medicare Part B must stay enrolled to keep PSHB coverage, unless an exception applies. 

Medicare health plans (more specific coverage  information available for Medicare Parts  A and B here.) You can also root around on the Medicare.gov website, but I personally found it a bit hard to navigate. 

Part A (Hospital Insurance) - If you or your spouse worked at least 10 years in Medicare-covered employment, you qualify for premium-free Part A coverage. Most Postal Service employees, retirees and covered eligible family members are entitled to Medicare Part A at age 65 without additional cost. It covers inpatient hospital care, skilled nursing facility care, nursing home care, home health care and hospice. If you receive Social Security Benefits prior to your 65th birthday, you should be automatically enrolled. 

Part B (Medical Insurance) – You are charged a monthly premium for Medicare Part B. For more information on rates, visit Medicare.gov. It covers certain doctor services, outpatient care, preventive services and medical supplies. You may also pay a penalty if you do not sign up for Part B when you first become eligible. There is NO CAP to this penalty, and you will pay it as long as you have the Medicare Part B plan, so be vigilant! 

There are some exceptions to the Medicare Part B enrollment requirement under the PSHB Program. You may be responsible for providing proof of eligibility for the applicable exception(s) to the designated agency. They are :

-Residing outside of the United States and its territories. You are required to follow the policy and procedure set forth by the Postal Service to be eligible for this exception. This exception requires that an annual certification be submitted to the Postal Service with proof of residency. 

-Annuitants who are enrolled in healthcare benefits provided by the Department of Veterans Affairs. 

- Eligibility for health services provided by the Indian Health Service. 

Part C (Medicare Advantage plans) – Medicare Advantage plans are Medicare- approved plans from a private company that offers an alternative to Original Medicare (Parts A and B) that provides health and drug coverage. CAREFUL WITH THESE. Private plans are required by law to let you know they are not part of a Government plan. If you see the phrase *Non Government Entity* be wary. 

***Both the High Option and Consumer Driven Option coordinate with Medicare and have their own benefits, but the High option is more advantageous. More about those specific benefits next week!***

Part D (Prescription coverage) – A standalone prescription drug plan with Medicare that helps cover the cost of prescription drugs. Medicare Part D will be included in all PSHB plans for Medicare eligible participants. You will not have to pay a separate premium for prescription coverage. Each PSHB plan will specify how your prescription coverage works in combination with Medicare Part D. If you drop part D, you WILL NOT have prescription coverage under the PSHB plan. You can re-enroll during open enrollment however. 

Still have questions? Of course you do! Medicare can be complicated and has what feels like 40 billion rules. This article is not meant to be exhaustive. While information on the workroom floor can be scant or, more likely, highly inaccurate, there is a lot of information available on LiteBlue. As a matter of fact, most of the information in this article was blatantly plagiarized from a booklet available on Liteblue. To find my source material, log in to your Liteblue account and go to MyHR. From there go to the Pay & Benefits tab, and then scroll down until you see the Postal Service Health Benefits link. Click on it. Scroll to the PSHB resources link. Click on that and then scroll further down until you see the heading “PSHB tools.” The third link under this heading is my source material. There is a lot more information on there than I was able to put in this article. I see you all on your phones, so I know you have time to research! An educated membership is an empowered one. 

Keepingposted.org has all sorts of useful links and information for your burning Medicare questions as well. Medicare can be complicated! Make your life easier and reach out to retirementbenefits@usps.gov or call (833) 712-7742 for answers to your retirement questions. 

Speaking of Retirement, keep in mind that, for whatever reason, Retirement is NOT a Qualifying Life Event. This means that any changes you wish to make to your insurance coverage will need to happen either during Open Enrollment or during a Qualifying Life event (Marriage, Divorce, birth or death, etc.)Becoming eligible for Medicare IS a Qualifying Life Event. Visit  OPM for a more exhaustive list of events that allow you to change insurance coverage. 

If you have been enrolled in the FEHB/PSHB Program from your first opportunity to enroll or for the full five years of service immediately preceding retirement, you may carry your coverage into retirement. All 5 years are not required to have been on the same plan. 

As I said above, next week I will cover some benefits that the APWU health plans have for Medicare! Remember that Open Enrollment ends December 9th, and it will be here much faster than you think it will be. 

Kayla Reynolds

While I was planning on writing this weeks article about Medicare, it has come to my attention that quite a few people are trying to use PostalEASE to make changes to their healthcare. Unfortunately this quite frankly simple and easy tool is no long available to us, specifically for healthcare changes. You may still use it for all the other tools. 

Postal Employees wanting to make changes to their Health Plan need to do so by creating a login.gov account, by first visiting health-benefits.opm.gov. If technologically averse, by filling out and faxing in form SF 2809. While the form itself is 18 pages, you only need to fill out the last two. You can also make changes via phone, by calling the PSHB Helpline at 844-451-1261. I imagine if making changes over the phone, you will need to know your PIN number.

*** If you don’t know your PIN, there is a self-service reset option on Liteblue, but it will come to you via mail. So don’t waste time if you want to use this option.***

If you and technology are friends (or merely acquaintances), creating the login.gov account is fairly simple. I would recommend doing it on your phone, since to verify your identity,it will ask you to take a picture of your driver’s license. Otherwise, it will want you to go to a Post Office to verify your identity, and none of us want to go to the Post Office in our off time. 

If you had a Flex Spending Account with FSAFEDS this year, you will already have a login.gov account. Part of the reason the Post Office switched carriers this year was because FSAFEDS was hacked, and midway through the year, all account holders were required to use login.gov to access their account afterwards. 

***Even if you already have a login.gov account, you need to use the OPM link  get to the correct prompt to link to the Postal Service Health Benefits (PSHB).***

*Fun bonus fact, you can also link you Social Security Account to see where you stand as far as work credits, review your earnings history for a fun trip down memory lane of how poor you used to be (or alternatively wonder where all your money went), and (hopefully) fanaticize about retirement* 

If you have technical issues with your Login.gov account, Login.gov operates a 24/7 contact center via phone at (844) 875-6446 or website contact form.

***If/when you switch to the APWU CDO, you are going to see the full amount for the premiums, not the discounted amount that members who are career and have had a Federal plan for a year are entitled to. The Health Plan is aware of this problem. The CEO of the Health Plan met with OPM on 11/13/2024 to request that the APWU rate be displayed. We don’t yet have an update on the status of this request.***

Please keep in mind that in addition to being the Health Plan Coordinator, I am also a Steward and Auto clerk, during the busiest time of the year for postal workers. If I look a bit frazzled, it’s because I am! I can safely say that this goes for pretty much all of our Stewards and Officers this time of year. Please help us help you by telling a supervisor that you need to see a steward if you think you have a grievance. This helps to get us off the floor so we can devote our full attention to your issue. Sadly, unlike Batman, we cannot stalk the plant looking for violations. We were not left millions by our parents and have to work for a living. 

Unions, much like the government, work best when people are involved. We need the membership to keep us informed of what is going on, and to write statements. It is never a waste of anyone’s time to get a correct answer. Misinformation runs amok on the floor and it hurts everyone. 

Good luck and as always, I am happy to help! 

This week, as I zip around the state of West Virginia for Health Fairs, I wanted to take some time to share information with the membership about some benefits that their health plans provide that are lesser known. 

Some of these plans are included at no additional cost, and some have extra fees associated with them. This is by no means an exhaustive list, and truthfully, some can be a little difficult to find information on if you aren’t logged into your account with either the High or Consumer Driven Option.

Both High Option (HO) and Consumer Driven Options (CDO) include: 

Maven – World’s largest maternity virtual clinic. Available at no additional cost to members. 

You get your own Personal Care Advocate, who is a REAL PERSON that you keep for your whole journey. They also offer on demand classes and community forums.

21-month support track for both parents with about a 1-hour response time 24/7/365, and 48 hourturnaround for in person appointments. Unlimited video appointments with 35+ types of doctors. Go to Mavenclinic.com/join/overview for more information.

One Pass Select - This is a fitness and well-being basedsubscription-based network that provides access to over 16,000 gyms and studios. 

Members can use multiple locations during the same month and change locations at any time. It offers 5 different tiers and can be used nationwide. 

The first tier is digital and is $10, and they go up, with the most expensive being $159 a month. You can change tiers monthly, and each tier includes the one under it. onepassselect.com

Virtual Visits – These options allow you to connect with a doctor by phone or video. Doctors can treat a wide range of health conditions, including many of the same conditions as an Emergency Room visit or Urgent care, and may even be able to prescribe medications. Virtual visits are good for allergies, bronchitis, colds or flus, migraines, pink eye, rashes or sinus infections, behavioral health and many more. 

For High Option Members, the first two visits through Teladoc are free, and have a $10 copay after, per visit.

For Consumer Driven Option Members, you have access to Amwell, Teladoc, and Doctor on Demand at 15% of the plan allowance. In many cases Virtual visits are less expensive than an in-person office visit, and thereby can save you money in the long run. 

CDO only

Calm Health – Combines the sleep and mindfulness content of Calm with support for your mental and physical health and includes:

Mental health screenings to get personalized recommendations and track your journey,

Digital Programs to help you understand your mental health

Audio and video content and activities written by psychologists.

There is no additional cost, you can access it at any time, and anyone 16 years of age and older on the plan is eligible. To sign up, you need to log into your account with myuhc.com and click on the Coverage and Benefits link, and then go to the Mental Health Link. Around the middle of the page there is a link for Calm Health. If you try to download the app first you will run into issues. Ask me how I know. 

Carington Dental – This is a discount service, not a dental insurance. 

Find a participating dental office by calling theMember Services at

(800) 290-0523  or online at www.careington.com. Members get a fee schedule and fees stay locked for 4 – 5 years. The plan offers 20%-50% savings on most dental procedures. 

*** A word about Dental/ Vision Coverage and the APWU Health plans. The CDO does not provide any Dental or Visionbenefits, although you can submit for reimbursement for dentaland vision claims out of your Personal Care Account.  The Self plan is limited to $400 per plan year, and Self + One or Self and Family is limited to $800. The HO has benefits for Preventative dental benefits and will pay 70% of the allowed amount, and does include fillings and simple extractions. There are NO benefits for Major dental work (crowns, root canals, etc), and no vision benefits. To look at available dental and vision plans, visit benefeds.gov or visit the APWU Health Plan website for more information on their stand-alone dental plan. There is also a discount vision plan available to Union members via the Voluntary Benefits Plan.***

As a reminder, Open Season starts November 11th 2024, and goes through December 9th, 2024. While that may seem like a lot of time, it will go by quickly! You don’t want to be trying to fax in paperwork at 11pm on December 9th.  

Check back next week for some basic Medicare information!

Kayla Reynolds

In my time as the Health Plan Coordinator, I have had a number of people tell me that insurance terms and insurance in general is very confusing. I don’t disagree with this. The last job I worked before coming to the Post Office in 2013 was Wells Fargo TPS (now HealthSmart). We provided customer service for the State of Alaska Employee insurance. We spent 6 weeks in training before they ever let us pay a claim or take a customer service phone call. Understanding insurance and how it works is VERY important. I can’t tell you the number of heartbreaking phone calls I received from recent widows and widowers who didn’t have any idea what they were doing because their partner had taken care of all of it. Below I have defined some common insurance terms that should apply to most insurances, not just the APWU Health Plan offerings, to help clear up confusion. Check back next week for some plan highlights on the High and Consumer Driven Options! 

Premium – this is the amount you pay to participate in an insurance plan. This is the amount that comes out of your check each pay period.

Deductible (DED) – this is the amount you need to spend out of your own pocket before the insurance benefits kick in. Generally speaking, the lower the deductible, the better. 

***These two definitions can be the MOST important things to look at. What the insurance plan covers may not matter if your Deductible is so high that you never reach a point where insurance will kick in.***

I also like to point out to people the big picture. Getting an idea of what you have to spend out of your own pocket before Insurance actually kicks in can be a real eye opener. I nearly switched to the High Option for the better Prescription coverage before I did the math and figured outI’d still have to spend nearly $2,000 more over the course of the year. 

This chart assumes you meet the qualifications for the CDO discount, meaning you have had a Federal Employee Health Benefit Plan (the USPS BCBS plan for PSEs is NOT a FEHB/PSHB plan) for one year, are a career employee, and are full dues paying member of the APWU. Retirees do not receive the discounted price. Non-members can still have either insurance plan, but they pay full price and must pay a yearly Associate Fee of $35, which is billed separately in April of each year. 

If you want to apply this math to another plan, take your bi-weekly premium x 25 (There are 25 pay periods in 2025) and then add your deductible to that number. 

Please keep in mind that while these numbers are important, they are NOT the only thing to look at when making a choice on what insurance to carry. Think of what your needs may be in the next year. Do you have small children, need diabetes coverage, have behavioral health concerns, or a chronic health condition? Are you generally healthy and just looking to avoid a large emergency bill? Those make a big difference in what kind of plan you want. 

***An aside. The lower your Deductible, the higher a Premium you will pay, typically. If you are paying both a high Premium AND a high Deductible, you may want to reevaluate your insurance.***

***Health Insurance plans cover a lot of “Wellness checkups” at 100%. This means your yearly checkup for both adults and children and most immunizations can be at no cost to you. This can also include preventative care and screenings, as well as maternity care and contraception. ***

In-Network – Providers and facilities that participate in the Insurance network. 

Out-of-Network  - Providers and facilities that do not participate in the Insurance network. While these claims may still be covered, they will be covered at a higher cost to the member. 

Out-of-Pocket (OOP) – this is a running total of all the money you have spent on insurance claims throughout the year.  This amount includes your deductible, and if you are on the CDO plan, includes spent monies from the Personal Care Account (PCA). Plans usually have a separate total for In-Network OOP and Out-of-Network OOP. 

Out-of-Pocket Maximum/Catastrophic Maximum – once you reach this limit, the plan will pay 100% of covered claims.  

**High Option and the Consumer Driven Option both have a Self In-Network OOP Maximum of $6,500 and Out-of-Network of $12,000. On Self + One or Self + Family, the In Network OOP Maximum is $13,000 and Out-of-Network is $24,000. That is a huge difference. United Healthcare (the carrier for both plans) is the largest in the nation, with over 1.7 Million providers nationwide participating in the network.

Plan allowance/Allowed Amount/Reasonable and Customary – these terms limit how much a provider can charge for a particular service. These amounts can vary based on where you live. 

Patient Responsibility – This is the amount you are responsible for. Please always double check your claims and make sure they are being paid properly by the insurance and that your doctor’soffice is billing you correctly. Doctors’ offices are dealing with dozens of different insurances that all do things a little differently. Do not assume that they are perfect at their jobs.

Co-insurance – a percentage that the member is responsible for after insurance pays. (e.g. your patient responsibility for most covered costs on the CDO is 15%)

Co-pay – a set amount due at the time of service. Can vary based on provider type. (e.g. an office visit has a $25 dollar co-pay for an office visit)

Personal Care Account/ Health Savings Account – In the CDO, this is money placed into the members account annually for covered health claims by the insurance plan. In other health plans, this money is typically the members money that they invest themselves. 

**Because the insurance provides this money, not you, you are still eligible for a Flex Savings Account (FSA)if you wish to have one.**

Explanation of Benefits (EOB) – This is the paper you get in the mail from Insurance that states “This is not a bill.” Typicallyit will list the charge, what was allowed or not allowed, any discount given, what the provider was paid, and what your patient responsibility MAY be. It is a breakdown of how your claim was handled by the insurance. Again, I always recommend taking time to look over these and make sure you understand what is going on. Providers mess up, and the people at insurance paying the claims mess up. We are all human. This is your money and your health. Make sure it is working for you! In the same vein, NEVER just pay the bill your provider sends you. Compare it to the EOB that your insurance sent you. Make sure they are not charging you for something your insurance paid out of your PCA/HRA (which can happen quite a bit on the CDO plan). I personally have had to call my doctor’s office and help them “find” the payment my insurance already sent. 

That covers the basics. If you have more questions, feel free to reach out to me! 

Kayla Reynolds

This is Kayla Reynolds, your friendly neighborhood APWU Health Plan Rep, reporting back from Baltimore and the 39thAnnual Open Season Seminar! As always, there was ton of information and I’ll attempt to sum up what I felt were the biggest points of interest below. In the coming weeks, I’ll highlight some benefits of the High and Consumer Driven options (both old and new) that I believe are underutilized by the membership. Please note that I only represent the APWU health plans. I’m happy to help anyone with questions, but I am only familiar with what our own plans offer. While I can’t speak to specific coverage under other providers, I would be more than happy to point anyone in the right direction. 

Postal Employee Health Benefits (PSHB)

All Postal Employees are being moved over to PSHB. Make sure your address is correct with the USPS, as Crosswalk letters  with OPM letterhead will be sent out starting October 28, 2024. It will show you what plan you currently have under FEHB (Federal Employee Health Benefits) and which is the most comparable under PSHB. Both the High Option and Consumer Driven Option from the APWU Health Plan will be available under PSHB. If you want to stay in the plan, you do not have to do anything and you should be automatically moved over. If you do want to switch your plan, you can do so over Open Season, which starts November 11, and goes through December 9, 2024. 

ID Cards

Another reason to be sure your address is correct is that everyone will be getting new ID cards, these cards will have a new group number and the new address of the Health Plan, which moved its location last month. 

Effective dates

Rather than starting the first full pay period of the new year, as has been the case in the past, these new plans will be effective January 1, 2025, and the premiums will be prorated. This change is occurring because of the requirements in the Postal Reform Act.

Still waiting OPM for finalized Postal Benefits

Most if not all insurance plans are still waiting on OPM to be able to release full Postal Employee benefits. More information will be coming out on November 1, 2024. While this is understandably frustrating, all the information should be available in time for Open Season. The information on the various sites I’ve linked should be updated on November 1st as well. 

Medicare/Retirement Questions

Because everyone’s situation is different, anyone with questions about  Retirement and/or changes in Medicare requirements is encouraged to visit keepingposted.org, call 833-712-7742, or email retirementbenefits@usps.gov. Keepingposted.org has recorded seminars and will still have some live seminars scheduled before the end of Open Season (December 9, 2024).

While we all hope this shift will be seamless, it would be reasonable for there to be bumps in the road. Please be vigilant and keep an eye on your deductions to be sure your information is correct. 

Dental and Vision benefits

The Dental and Vision benefits website has been movedfrom benefeds.com to benefeds.gov. You should be automatically redirected if you type in the old website, and your current login information should work. The High Option has some dental coverage (preventative and minor), while the Consumer Driven does not have specific dental coverage. You can submit to the PCA for reimbursement, and there will be a new discount dental program called Careington Dental Discount Network for CDO members in 2025. You must use a participating dentist, and can look for one nearby by using the website. The APWU does have its own dental plan through the Voluntary Benefits Plan and plan details can be found at the APWU HP website. This is not considered a federal plan. If you elect to sign up for this dental plan and don’t cancel your federal plan you will end up paying for two dental plans. 

Flex Spending Accounts

The Flex Spending Account servicer will be changed from FSAFEDS to Inspira Financial. Any money that is in your current FSA account is use or lose. Eligible expenses for your current FSA must have a claim service date no later than December 31, 2024. All claims must have been submitted by April 30, 2025. Any funds not claimed by then will be forfeit. Inspira Financial was the FSA servicer in the past, and has the benefit of also having a debit card. You can either use the debit card for eligible expenses directly, or submit to the plan for reimbursement. The FSA is separate from your health insurance. If you did not put forth the effort to sign up for an FSA on FSAFEDS.gov, then this is not something you need to worry about.

Remember! Plan details for all PSHB can/will be able to be found at OPM.gov. If you scroll to the “Enrollment and Open Season” heading you will find links for auto-enroll information, and plan premiums. Please keep in mind that the premiums displayed by OPM do not include contractually bargained discounts for the APWU CDO plan. Cost sharing for most insurance plans is 72%, whereas the Post Office covers 95% of the premium for qualifying APWU members on the CDO plan.

POSTAL SERVICE HEALTH BENEFITS (PSHB): 

This is Kayla “Cuppy” Reynolds, your APWU Health Plan Representative and Tour 1 Steward, with some information about the changes coming to the health plans in 2025. Currently both the APWU Consumer Driven Option (CDO) and High Option (HO) have been conditionally approved based on benefits and rate negotiation over the summer. This negotiation normally takes place every summer and we should know what the rates and benefits will be in October of 2024.  Rates and benefits change a little nearly every year. Normally the APWU Health Plan will have this information before the Open Season Seminar, which is occurring October 16 – 20, 2024. Current plan benefits and information are available at apwuhp.com

All of the Health Plans currently available to Postal Service Employees will be going through this process, and the enrollment codes will be changing. Currently if you go to OPM.gov you can look at what plans should be available during open enrollment. To do this, you need to go to the “insurance” heading and select the “FEHB Plan Comparison Tool” and after inputting your zip code select “Federal & U. S. Postal Service (USPS) Employee “. Keep in mind that the rates you will see displayed are for the current year, NOT for 2025. Those rates are renegotiated every year, for all plans, not just the APWU health plans. 

Remember that the Union has currently negotiated for the USPS to pay 95% of the premium costs for the APWU CDO and that the premiums listed would be for non-union members, Postal Support Employees, or newly Career employees who have not had a Federal Employee Health Benefit plan for 1 year yet.  This is the ONLY Health Plan that offers that type of reduction, and is one of your many benefits of being an APWU member. For instance, a career employee who paying for the Self Only APWU CDO plan pays only $15.36 in a premiums, whereas a non-member would pay $76.78. That is a difference of $61.42 each pay period, which over the course of the month, is nearly four times what they would pay in Union dues! Union dues for our local for a career employee are currently $34.11 per pay period.

As a reminder, the USPS Health Benefit Plan for Postal Support Employees is NOT a Federal Employee Health Plan. PSEs are eligible to enroll in the APWU CDO after one year of employment with the Postal Service. In their first year of employment they are only eligible for the USPS plan, currently administrated by BlueCross BlueShield. Once they hit one year, they are only eligible for either that plan, or the APWU CDO plan. Once career, they no longer qualify for the USPS Health Benefit Plan and MUST choose one of the other Health Plansavailable to career employees, otherwise they will lose coverage 30 days after being converted. 

For Retirees or those with questions about Medicare, please check keepingposted.org for helpful links, articles and online recordings.  You can also find contact information for retirees. 

Open Season will occur November 11 – December 9, 2024, and Health Nurse Kelley Moore has confirmed that local Health Fairs will be occurring November 4 – 8, 2024.

As more information is made available to us, we will be sure to keep the membership updated!

Click here to download a PDF version.

Visit our website at www.apwuhp.com. More Open Season information is coming soon.

Welcome to Open Season 2023!

Attend a virtual health fair

As we get ready for Postal Service Employee conversions, APWU Health Plan is here to help. Becoming a career employee is a life-changing and exciting time for a PSE. We want to educate new career employees on Health Plan benefits. As you know, we have two great plans that offer strong benefits for APWU members and their families.

Thursday, September 8, 1 pm–3 pm ET, Register Now

Thursday, September 22, 1 pm–3 pm ET, Register Now

Once registered, you will get an email confirmation with a GoToWebinar link and dial-in information. On the day before the virtual health fair date you selected, we will email you a reminder and include the dial-in information with instructions.