# The Clinton/Obama FEHBP Proposal: Would it work?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-clinton-obama-fehbp-proposal-would-it-work/443355>\
**Category:** Great Debates\
**Created:** [March 31, 2008, 7:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-clinton-obama-fehbp-proposal-would-it-work/443355 "2008-03-31T07:46:32Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\
**Post date:** [March 31, 2008, 7:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-clinton-obama-fehbp-proposal-would-it-work/443355/1 "2008-03-31T07:46:32Z")

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I’ll state upfront I’m quite ignorant on the subject and I’m asking for my own benefit; this is really more for GQ or IMHO given the subject matter and election tie-in if it gets much notice it’ll end up here anyway, so-

Both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama (and John Kerry 4 years ago) have stated that their national health care plan is basically the extension of the Federal Employee Health Benefits Program (FEHBP) that covers millions of federal employees. (Official [FEHBP homepage](http://www.opm.gov/insure/health/) and [sparse wikipedia article](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_Employees_Health_Benefits_Program).)

Never having been a federal employee I’m not familiar with FEHBP firsthand. It seems to not actually be a health insurance plan but a large family of interconnected available plans. So questions (you don’t have to answer all, just the ones you may know about it):

1- Could somebody please “tell me like I’m 4” how FEHBP works as compared to other plans?

2- Does FEHBP contract with private insurers like BC/BS or is it strictly governmentally backed?

3- If you or someone you know intimately is or has been covered by FEHBP for a major illness or injury, were you satisfied?

4- Does the extension of this to uninsured (or underinsured) Americans seem a feasible option?

Thanks for any info.

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**Author:** ![flickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7bcc69/32.png) [@flickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flickster)\
**Post date:** [March 31, 2008, 11:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-clinton-obama-fehbp-proposal-would-it-work/443355/2 "2008-03-31T11:24:19Z")

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[QUOTE=Sampiro]  
Does the extension of this to uninsured (or underinsured) Americans seem a feasible option?  
[/QUOTE]

Why would any of us carry our employer’s plan if we could hitch a ride on a plan where the tax payers are picking up at least 72% of the costs? How large of a tax increase would be required to fund this?