If you work for the post office, FBI, state dept., all military branches, etc. Does the federal gov't contract private insurers or is it a federal health company?
Blue Cross, Mail Handlers, etc. and they all have different premiums; Govt picks up part of the tab and you pay the rest of it just like in the private sector.
That's a huge pool of insured. No wonder private insurance companies are against a single payer system. Of course the gov't can almost dictate to the insurers what their going to pay if the companies want that contract.
3. The Govt requires certain programs/things be covered,
may negotiate with the companies about details; the companies set their charges w/in the competitive marketplace (there are LOTS of players) and may negotiate with the Govt about this. Don't know how much 'dictation' occurs.
4. One of the ideas Obama campaigned on was the ability to be covered under the very good FEHB system
for currently uninsured individuals.
the Blue Cross/Blue Shield Federal Employee plan is the largest insurance group *in the world* since about half of all federal employees choose this PPO plan for their coverage and they pay 28% of premium with the government providing the other 72%.
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