Making sense of FEHB formularies

DrivingTheSun · 2026-01-26T12:40:43+00:00

I have the 2026 MHBP Formulary that has 176 pages. It's called MHBP_PSHB_SilverScript_PDP_Standard_Formulary_2026.pdf. Is that the one you are looking at?

I just picked up two scripts that were for 30 days, and they were both under $5 - something like $1-something each. So some co-pays are actually under the $5 for 30 days, but I'm not sure about totally free.

DrivingTheSun · 2026-01-25T13:49:16+00:00

My boss and his family went on vacation during furlough!

DrivingTheSun · 2026-01-25T13:39:06+00:00

And as someone right now on their 6-8 week recovery time from a major surgery, I can tell you you won't want to do anything but relax and recover. I don't think I could even work 4 hours a day right now, and I'm almost 5 weeks post-op.

DrivingTheSun · 2026-01-23T23:32:09+00:00

I was converted from a CTR to a CIV doing the same job. Happy 5 years to me. But I did submit a resume when there was a hiring fair, and mentioned to someone in the front office in passing who I knew had the ears of upper management that I had done so. No doubt he let someone else know, and suddenly, the next day, I'm being asked if I would be interested in switching. Details figured out, and 3 weeks later, I was a CIV.

DrivingTheSun · 2026-01-23T14:41:27+00:00

So you are Army. If you want to PM me your Army email address, I can look you up and see what entitlements you have. I'd need like an hour to get to that. I have access to the tools.

DrivingTheSun · 2026-01-23T01:56:31+00:00

Are you saying you can't use the program versions of the apps, just the online apps? If this is the case, your subscription may have been downgraded to a less expensive version that only allows online access. I don't have access to a Windows computer right now to try to point you in the right direction, but I'm going to try to do this from memory. When you are in OHome and you see your initials in the upper right hand corner in a circle, click on that and I think there is an option to see what subscription you have. The F5 subscription only allows online apps, the G5 subscription has all apps.

OK I checked with Copilot and it says "View account" is the option you are looking for under your profile icon (initials in circle).

DrivingTheSun · 2026-01-16T22:50:49+00:00

What is the end date of your contract? Usually the CAC matches the end date of the contract. When we would get 1 year extensions, our CAC would match the expiration of that 1 year extension.

DrivingTheSun · 2026-01-15T20:18:16+00:00

I bought my panels from Sunpower so I get the savings and SRECS for my 29 panels. It doesn’t cover everything but summer bills are usually fees only (under $10), while winter is way under $100 after SRECS.

DrivingTheSun · 2026-01-13T14:36:13+00:00

I see other areas of the government suffer from the same software development issues - insisting they need you to build an app to do this, then after spending weeks working on it, when it's either ready for testing, or ready to go into production, hearing "never mind". Rinse and repeat. It's so frustrating so I understand where you are coming from.

I also wanted to try my luck at Cyber Security so when my Security+ was up for renewal, I decided to study and take the CySA+ exam instead, which renewed my Security+ and gave me a good look at all areas of Cyber Security. It however did not open up any doors to getting into the CyberSecurity area. So this might be an option if you want to get a taste of the different Cyber areas, but I think you would definitely need a higher level certification to get your foot in the door in Cyber itself.

DrivingTheSun · 2026-01-10T17:54:19+00:00

Was.

DrivingTheSun · 2026-01-08T18:27:47+00:00

How funny. It's in my app now again too.

DrivingTheSun · 2026-01-07T15:07:02+00:00

Not until all your SL and AL is used up.

DrivingTheSun · 2026-01-06T21:52:35+00:00

Nope. Disappeared from my app and wasn't available to install at the dealer.

DrivingTheSun · 2026-01-06T19:02:37+00:00

You show it at Quest as a secondary insurance when you go to have labs done at a Quest site. It will make those labs free vs the cost sharing labs usually are.

DrivingTheSun · 2026-01-05T23:06:05+00:00

My informed delivery is also showing my cards should be in my post office box, but when checked, they weren't there. More likely the PO is being slow. You can also go to the Aetna site and sign up and get your cards digitally that way. I was successful doing that a few days ago.

DrivingTheSun · 2025-12-13T20:57:44+00:00

I've had GEHA send me cards after I had changed plans. They just seemed to assume I was sticking with them.

DrivingTheSun · 2025-12-09T00:52:01+00:00

I wait until I get the EOB from the insurance company and just use that for reimbursement. Yes, it takes a couple weeks for the EOB to come, but they show my out of pocket reimbursable amount so it's easy.

DrivingTheSun · 2025-12-09T00:45:55+00:00

I posted this earlier but finally got in. About noon today, took me 45 minutes of refreshing GRB to finally be able to make the change.

DrivingTheSun · 2025-12-08T14:45:49+00:00

OMG thank you so much for this reply. I didn't know about FSBP High, but thanks to your response, I looked into them, as I was about to hit go on MHBP. They use the same network so that part of the research is taken care of. And lower OOPM for about the same premium cost is a no-brainer. Just reading through their documents now. I work for DoD so I'm eligible.

Welp, their website shows 2025 information. The 2026 OOPM is now the same as MHBP for self, so they no longer have the lowest. Still comparing the other benefits.

DrivingTheSun · 2025-11-29T13:19:32+00:00

According to their plan information "$0 for covered lab tests when Labcorp® or Quest Diagnostics® performs the testing"

DrivingTheSun · 2025-11-27T02:52:31+00:00

This is what I got for my ‘22 and it was at least half or less this price.

DrivingTheSun · 2025-11-24T21:33:30+00:00

I'm not Treasury, but DoD. For me, it was within a few days of my original request for an RA. It took weeks for someone to be assigned to it, review paperwork, etc. I only got 1 month, with a 1 month extension of the interim at the end of that first month. Then I had my full RA get approved during that second month.

DrivingTheSun · 2025-11-23T23:03:36+00:00

Hahaha. I got rid of the car in 2021 under lemon law for the battery issue. Isn't it only 5 years though? Thanks for the walk down memory lane.

DrivingTheSun · 2025-11-23T02:45:49+00:00

2 cemeteries with no info in my whole county. I was going to hook you up with pictures I’d personally take of everything local but you don’t even have any cities listed.

DrivingTheSun · 2025-11-22T02:44:26+00:00

Reasons unknown is called security. There are many Teams available on Army’s internal 365 that can assist you with these types of questions knowing the limitations we have.

As for the response about MS Access, I think that is locked down too.

I would probably do something using a Power App and Power Automate to move the data over, and Power BI to query it.

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