Federal employees hope to keep current health plans

Under healthcare reform, public sector workers are able to choose their current health plans, and a recent survey found many federal employees plan to do just that.

According to Forbes, a survey of 2,500 federal workers was conducted by FedSmith.com and found only 2.9 percent of the public-sector staff members said they would enter the new health insurance exchanges. In fact, the overwhelming majority reported they plan on keeping their current health insurance rather than choose a new plan.

Retirement was also an issue for federal workers, as 96.1 percent said they wanted to stay with their retirement health insurance rather then use a new plan.

According to the source, many public workers see healthcare reform as too costly compared to current health insurance plans through their federal employers. For many federal employees and retirees, entering the health insurance exchanges may not improve their level of subsidies because the federal government already chips in for a considerable amount of healthcare coverage costs. 

Another poll of federal workers, this time by the Office of Personnel Management, will be conducted in the next month regarding public-sector employees’ needs and health benefit concerns.