Making Healthy Choices

The annual open season for making decisions on your federal health plan begins Nov. 9, and Tammy Flanagan's Retirement Planning column has some useful tips to consider when selecting a plan for next year. With employee premium contributions rising an average of 8.8 percent this year, it might be wise to weigh alternatives to your current plan.

The Office of Personnel Management offers an online comparison tool, and Consumer's Checkbook also provides a valuable print and online guide for comparing federal health plans. As always, it's important to consider several factors when choosing a plan: your family size, age, pay system, full- or part-time status, geographic area, retirement status, Medicare status and overall risk of high medical costs.