AFSPA Talks

In today's episode, we discuss the updated requirements for GLP-1s for the Foreign Service Benefit Plan. Grace Silverio from Teladoc Health breaks down the new Advanced Weight Management Program required for FSBP members taking GLP-1s for weight loss in the U.S. It's Open Season! If you're looking for more information on the FSBP's premiums, plan changes, and more, click here. If you would like to register for an Open Season webinar, click here. Join us for AFSPA Live, a live Q&A session, on 11/20 @ 11 AM ET. We will be discussing the 2026 FSBP Open Season. If you would like to submit a question in advance, you can do so by filling out this form: https://forms.office.com/r/RApuq334NE. You can watch live on our YouTube channel @afspacares. Register for the Virtual Benefits Fair: https://vshow.on24.com/vshow/FVBF25/registration/24363

Today, AFSPA Talks Prescription Drug Coverage in 2026. For the first time in a decade, we're making changes to the cost shares for prescription drugs. Join us today to talk through the changes and understand what your costs will be in 2026. See the changes at www.afspa.org/openseason. Price your drugs at www.express-scripts.com/fsbp, and be sure to select 2026. For members who have opted in to the FSBP-Express Scripts Medicare Prescription Drug Plan, or PDP, there will be NO CHANGE to cost sharing. This means that most drugs will cost members less under the PDP. Combine these savings with a wider network of pharmacies and greater flexibility for where you can obtain your maintenance drugs, and this may be the year for members who have Medicare A and/or B to opt in to the PDP. See www.afspa.org/pdp for more details and a pricing tool. You may wish to watch this episode for the slides we share to show the changes. Find the video at www.youtube.com/afspacares.

November has begun, and that means that the start of open season is only a week away. We've got your preview of open season changes in today's episode. Be sure to follow us for further updates, as we'll be diving deeper into some of the benefit changes in the weeks ahead. Join us for a live event to learn more about our open season changes. See your options at: www.afspa.org/events. Our discussion today is full of references, so here are some of the links we mentioned: www.afspa.org/openseasonwww.express-scripts.com/fsbpwww.benefeds.comwww.fsafeds.com

October is Menopause Awareness Month. In this week's episode, we discuss the symptoms of Menopause and how it can affect daily life for women. We are joined by Shardae Jackson, Senior Manager of Client Success at Maven Clinic. Maven Clinic has a Menopause and Midlife Health program that focuses on treatment for menopause stages and symptoms. To learn more about joining Maven Clinic, please visit this page. Maven Clinic is available free of charge to all FSBP members. To submit a question for this month's AFSPA Live on Menopause, you can do that here. You can watch AFSPA Live here. Open Season is coming soon! Be on the lookout for our Open Season webpage. To register for webinars, click here.

Pelvic health issues can emerge in a variety of ways at any age. Often, people experiencing these issues assume that such problems are just a fact of life and do not discuss their concerns or seek treatment. Our goal for today's episode is to break down some of the taboos surrounding pelvic health issues and provide a solution from our partners at Hinge Health. Dr. Bijal Torpani, PT, DPT, joins us to discuss the Women's Pelvic Health program and how virtual physical therapy can benefit patients. In 2025, Hinge Health is available to members of the Foreign Service Benefit Plan aged 18 and older and located in the United States. We will be expanding the program to some overseas locations in 2026 - more information to come. Visit hingehealth.com/fsbp for more information or to get started today. Visit www.afspa.org/events to register for upcoming programs from AFSPA.

Today, we answer the question of what to do when facing a serious diagnosis. Where do you turn and when? What are the next steps? FSBP members in the United States can access an expert second opinion program from 2ndMD. Nurse Kim Rebec joins us to talk about the ins and outs of this service, which is available at no charge to FSBP members in the U.S. For more information, visit https://www.2nd.md/ or download the 2ndMD app from the App Store or Google Play. For more information on upcoming events from AFSPA, please visit www.afspa.org/events.

August is Breastfeeding Awareness Month. Mary Rood Cunningham, a Senior Client Success Manager at Maven Clinic, and Dr. Viraj Radia, a pediatrician with Maven Clinic, join us to discuss breastfeeding's benefits, best practices, and obstacles. To learn more about Maven Clinic and to join at no cost for FSBP Members around the globe, check out www.mavenclinic.com/join/fsbp. Check out our Events page for free webinars and other events to stay connected with us.

For this week's episode of AFSPA Talks, we revisit an episode from July 2023 about Skin Cancer. Now that it is summertime, we know that many of our listeners will be spending time in the sun. Skin cancer is the most common cancer. To help us understand more about skin cancer, we had Leah B. Jacobson, Sr. Medical Director at Aetna join us. You can stay in touch with AFSPA and all we have coming up by visiting www.afspa.org/events or by following up on our social media channels on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, and YouTube by searching @afspacares. Mark your calendars and join us for AFSPA Live on Thursday, 7/31 @ 11 AM ET! AFSPA's COO, Twanisha Johnson, and Greg Klingler, CFP®, CPFA™, ChFEBC℠ from GEBA, will be ready to answer your questions about Financial Wellness During Times of Transition. Here are three ways to ask a question at the AFSPA Live Q&A Session: 1. Send any questions you want to be answered during the show by filling out this form: https://forms.office.com/r/QPzbfGB3aD 2. Leave your question(s) in the comment section of our live broadcast video. 3. Call a toll-free number 1-888-435-0757 to leave a voicemail message with your question(s). In your message, tell us your name, where you’re calling from, and state your question(s).

Happy Pride! For this week's episode, we wanted to share some information that would be helpful to members who have contacted us with questions about care and support for their children who are exploring their identities. We went back into our archive, and we're sharing an episode with Alyssa Clayden, PhD, LICSW, from the Truman Group that we originally published in June 2024. You can stay in touch with AFSPA and all we have coming up by visiting www.afspa.org/events or by following up on our social media channels: Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, and YouTube at @afspacares. Join us for AFSPA Live at 11 am ET on Thursday, June 26, on Facebook, LinkedIn, or YouTube.

May is Mental Health Awareness Month. The recent changes to the federal workforce and the uncertainty that continues for many have resulted in mental health concerns for many with ties to federal employment - employees and family members alike. Stress, anxiety, fear, anger, and worry are all understandable reactions, but you do not have to face these challenges alone. We at AFSPA encourage you to make use of resources that may be available to you through community groups, employee assistance programs, and your health benefits. In today's episode, we highlight the long-term partnership between the Foreign Service Benefit Plan and the Truman Group. During our interview, Diane Nickeson-Mendheim, MSW, LCSW, describes how ex-pats can access care from the Truman Group for a variety of mental and behavioral health needs. To learn more about the Truman Group, visit https://trumangroup.com/. For more on mental wellness programs offered through the Foreign Service Benefit Plan, please visit https://www.afspa.org/fsbp/wellness-programs/manage-specific-conditions/#mental_wellness.

In this episode of AFSPA Talks, we continue our conversation from Annual Meeting about weight loss, cardiovascular health, and diabetes management. Today's focus is on Chronic Care Management Programs. To tell us more about those programs, we have Grace Silverio from Teladoc Health. For more information about the Chronic Care Management Programs available to Foreign Service Benefit Plan members at NO COST, click here. If you have questions about these programs, join AFSPA Live, our live Q&A session, on Thursday, April 24, 2025, at 11 AM ET. If you would like to submit a question in advance, fill out this form.

This month, AFSPA Talks takes a look at some of the support programs available to members of the Foreign Service Benefit Plan. To begin, we'll discuss the Lifestyle and Condition Coaching (LCC) program with Dr. Vivian Ogueli and Leah Perry, RN. They offer details on how to complete a health risk assessment (HRA) and earn $75 in wellness incentives, utilize the LCC offerings to mitigate any health risks, meet your goals, and generally improve your health. For more information about LCC and other support programs, please visit www.afspa.org/fsbp/wellness.

In this podcast episode, AFSPA CEO, Kyle Longton provides a comprehensive overview of how Medicare and the Federal Employee Health Benefits (FEHB) program work together. Learn about each part of Medicare - A, B, C, and D - and what factors you should consider when deciding whether to enroll in Part B. Please note: this presentation addresses only how Medicare and FEHB work together. It is not intended for audiences beyond those with FEHB coverage. The information is accurate as of March 4, 2025. For information on Part B premiums and Part D premiums/IRMAA amounts, please visit: https://www.medicare.gov/Pubs/pdf/115.... To learn more about signing up for Medicare, visit: https://www.ssa.gov/medicare/sign-up. To learn more about the Foreign Service Benefit Plan and Medicare, visit: https://www.afspa.org/fsbp-and-medicare/

Two years ago, access to on-base care for Department of Defense civilians changed, which had a particular impact on those living and working in Japan. Since then, DoD leaders have been working on a program to support the needs of civilian employees in Japan. That program launched at the beginning of this year, and we wanted to know more about how it came about, how it works, and who it helps. Joining us to walk us through the Japan Health Insurance Enhancement Pilot are: Susan Orsega, Deputy Assitant Secretary of Defense for Health Services Policy and Oversight, Department of Defense Danielle McCammon, Chief, TRICARE Overseas Program DoD Civilian employees in Japan can reach the International SOS Government Services call center in the following ways: International callers can request a "callback" by sending an email to an email to avoid additional charges. For routine, non-urgent requests, it is best to email DODHealthcareSupport@internationalsos.com. Join us on January 30 at 11 am ET for AFSPA Live! You can submit your questions in advance here or join us live on YouTube, Facebook, or LinkedIn. See our other upcoming events here: www.afspa.org/events Register for the AFSPA Member Annual Meeting here. Links referenced in today's episode: January 2023 episode - AFSPA Talks Care in Japan October 7, 2024, Press Release from DoD on Pilot: https://www.defense.gov/News/Releases/Release/Article/3927934/dod-announces-health-care-supplement-program-pilot-for-dod-civilian-employees-i/ January 16, 2025 Article from U.S. Forces Japan on Pilot Program: https://www.usfj.mil/Media/Press-Releases/Article-View/Article/4031045/dod-launches-247-health-care-support-for-dod-civilian-employees-in-japan/ AFSPA Overseas Care Details: https://www.afspa.org/fsbp/overseas/ Searchable List of AFSPA Overseas Direct Billing Providers: https://www.afspa.org/fsbp/overseas/overseas-partners/

With Open Season over and a new year underway, hosts Kyle Longton and Maddie Norton use the first episode of 2025 to provide tips for the 10,000 new FSBP members and the more than 100,000 continuing members. Here are links to the resources they mentioned during this episode: AFSPA Website: www.afspa.org Online Portals for FSBP Members (including demo videos): https://www.afspa.org/online-member-portals/ FSBP Provider Search Tool: www.afspa.org/fsbp/provider Teladoc Health (telehealth in the U.S.): https://www.afspa.org/fsbp/wellness-programs/#telehealth-us vHealth (Worldwide) (telehealth outside the U.S.): https://www.afspa.org/fsbp/wellness-programs/#telehealth-overseas AFSPA Annual Meeting: https://events.zoom.us/ev/Ap2pSvh2nz0z7F5_7HFrAs6bwKbNUGLVGNVLf2PvrJvlxnY-fkp_~Agq7R07nRuUtjQNzMHfAgYQfhknsFMKrig226MqCMLSGs9totE2UdR3hQA Socials: Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/afspacares Instagram - @afspacares LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/afspa/ AFSPA's other programs: www.afspa.org/aip Other AFSPA Events: www.afspa.org/events Please join us on January 30 at 11am ET on YouTube, Facebook, or LinkedIn for AFSPA Live! Send your questions here: https://lnkd.in/eK2VsF9u

It's November, which means Federal Benefits Open Season is almost here. Today, Maddie and Kyle discuss health insurance, dental and vision insurance, and flexible spending account options before diving into changes for the Foreign Service Benefit Plan for 2025. This is just the start of AFSPA's Open Season work. Please find more information at www.afspa.org/openseason. Join us for a webinar or other event throughout Open Season. You can find the full list of webinars at www.afspa.org/events. View our past recordings of podcasts and AFSPA Live events at www.youtube.com/afspacares. To learn more about the open enrollment period through December 1, 2024, for our Group Enhanced Life (GEL) and Immediate Benefit Plan (IBP) programs, visit www.afspa.org/life.

To wrap up life insurance awareness month, we have another episode. Our focus today is on the open enrollment period AFSPA is offering from October 1 through December 1 for our Group Enhanced Life (GEL) program and our Immediate Benefit Plan (IBP). AFSPA Sr. Director for Ancillary Insurance Programs Adrienne Coleman-Seabrooks returns to the program to walk us through the details of these programs, what open enrollment means, and how you can take advantage. For more information, visit www.afspa.org/life. Watch September's AFSPA Live episode on Life Insurance here.

September is Life Insurance Awareness Month (LIAM), and we are kicking things off with a focus on millennials. With our guest, Nicole Devlin from Prudential, we discuss the needs of this population and why now might be the best time for them to consider this important part of their financial portfolio. This episode is just the start of a busy month. Join us for more events, all available at www.afspa.org/events. What You Should Know About Life InsuranceRegister here.Register here.Register here.

It’s August, and for many families, that means preparing for a return to school. This can be a challenge for kids and parents. Changing routines, decreasing free time, and, for many of our members, new locations can make for bumpy August and September. Our guests today, working from Brightline Health, will provide some strategies for families to ease the return to school for everyone. Learn more about Brightline Health and sign up for it at www.hellowbrightline.com/fsbp. (Brightline is considered an in-network provider with FSBP. Services are available to FSBP members in the U.S. only. Calendar year deductible and coinsurance apply.) Dr. Kendra Read is a Licensed Clinical Psychologist and Vice President of Therapy at Brightline. She received her Ph.D. in clinical psychology from Temple University in Philadelphia, PA. She completed her internship in pediatric psychology at Nemours Hospital for Children and her postdoctoral fellowship at the Stanford University School of Medicine in the Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences Department. Previously, she served as the Director of the Mood & Anxiety Program and Director of Anxiety Programs at Seattle Children’s Hospital, as well as the Director of Psychotherapy Training at the University of Washington School of Medicine Child Psychiatry Fellowship. Dr. Read specializes in the treatment of youth with anxiety disorders and OCD from a cognitive behavioral therapy perspective. She is highly invested in increasing access to evidence-based behavioral health interventions for youth and their families. Irene Biscante is a National Board Certified Health and Wellness Coach (NBC-HWC) and the Vice President of Coaching at Brightline. She holds a bachelor's degree in Public Health with an emphasis in Health Education and Promotion from Brigham Young University - Idaho and is currently pursuing a graduate degree in Marriage and Family Therapy with a specialization in Child and Adolescent Therapy at Northcentral University. With over seven years of experience in health and behavior change startups such as Noom, Omada Health, and Sanvello Health, Irene has specialized in scaling evidence-based and personalized behavioral coaching through 1:1 video sessions, secured chat, and group/peer sessions. Irene was part of the early team at Brightline where she established the Behavioral Health Coaching function, built the coaching team, co-created coaching programs using evidence-based tools and practices, and developed quality oversight programs to ensure safe and high quality care services at Brightline. With behavioral coaching as an emerging field and a brand new service offering for youth, she successfully transitioned this offering from a direct-to-consumer, out-of-pocket service to a service covered by health plans and employers due to strong care outcomes across all ages. Prior to joining Brightline, Irene served as a coach manager at Noom Inc., where she managed teams, led hiring and onboarding processes, and was a founding internal faculty member in the company’s accredited national board certification program for health coaches. She has coached thousands of individuals both in-person and across digital platforms on a national and international scale. Irene is passionate about expanding access to mental health services independent of income or social status, developing coaches, behavior specialists, and health educators to focus on youth mental health using evidence-based and culturally competent care practices, and reshaping the narrative around youth and family mental health through proactive prevention, early intervention strategies, and behavior change initiatives.

In this episode, we talk with John McQuillan from Teladoc Health UK. He walks us through the care and consultation options available to Foreign Service Benefit Plan (FSBP) members outside the U.S. for general medical and mental health needs. He offers some examples that will be familiar to many of our members worldwide. These benefits are branded as vHealth (Worldwide) in the FSBP Brochure Sections 5(a) and 5(e): https://www.afspa.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/2024_FSBP_Brochure_-RI-72-001_Final_1.8.2024.pdf. To access the Teladoc Health services outside the U.S. - branded as vHealth under FSBP benefits, download the vHealth (Worldwide) app from the App Store or Google Play Store. You also can visit https://vhealth-teladochealth.com/en. To reach them by phone, call +1-857-256-3784 (U.S.) or +44-20-3499-2851 (UK).