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Railway roots: a history of GEHA

It was 1937: Amelia Earhart vanished. The Golden Gate Bridge appeared. A nation read Hemingway’s To Have and Have Not. The have-nots rode the rails. We wept as the Hindenburg exploded, but laughed at Charlie McCarthy. The country struggled toward recovery from a great depression …

And … in 1937 … GEHA formed its roots.

During the 1930s, “riding the rails” often meant survival. One historical novelist calls the decade “the heyday of the hobo” – fittingly describing thousands of Dust Bowl wanderers. By the latter half of the 20th century, though, books and movies had romanticized that anguished group of rail-riders.

The country took less notice of another daring group of rail riders: the railway mail clerks who kept the nation connected on both commercial and personal levels. To achieve quick turnaround times in their virtual post-offices-on-wheels, these dedicated men not only received, sorted and distributed huge quantities of mail in confined quarters, but often accomplished the entire process without the train ever stopping or slowing down, even in the dark of night.

Passing the hat: a tradition of caring begins

The railway mail clerk’s job was inherently dangerous. The work was physically and mentally demanding; the slightest misstep could result in an accident. The prospect of train wrecks and robberies loomed around every bend. But, when a clerk was injured or ill, he couldn’t work. And, when he couldn’t work, he couldn’t pay for his medical care.

During those trying years, the railway mail clerks followed a tradition of “passing the hat” to help pay hospital expenses for stricken co-workers. Then, in 1937, a group of Kansas City, Missouri, clerks formalized that tradition of caring by founding the Railway Mail Hospital Association – the organization that became GEHA. The initial 30-person membership included only railway mail clerks in the Kansas City area.

The Railway Mail Hospital Association elected Walter Tuchfarber as its first president in 1938, and incorporated as a non-profit association in 1939. Early benefits reimbursed members five dollars a day for hospital room and board, up to 60 days a year; paid five dollars for laboratory expenses; and paid up to ten dollars for X-rays. The plan covered only hospital-related expenses and had no medical or surgical benefits. In those earliest years, railway mail clerks paid one dollar to join the association, as well as dues of 50 cents per month.

Expanding benefits and membership

Plan benefits expanded over the years, often in response to the changing economy. The Association added surgical benefits to its plan in 1949. In 1950, the organization introduced a Plan B, which offered approximately 50 percent greater benefits than the original plan, which became known as Plan A. That same year, all railway mail clerks nationwide became eligible for membership in the Association. And, since the post office had changed its name from Railway Mail Service to Postal Transport Service, the organization renamed itself as Postal Transport Hospital Association.

Coverage for all federal employees

During the 1950s, the U.S. Senate began study of a bill to establish a health benefits program for all federal employees and their families. Charles Massie, then president of the Postal Transport Hospital Association, testified before Congress and played an integral role in the advancement of the Senate bill. The bill traveled through legislation from 1953 until its eventual passage as the Federal Employees’ Health Insurance Act of 1959.

In 1958, anticipating the establishment of a federal health plan, the Postal Transport Hospital Association changed its name to the Federal Postal Hospital Association. The plan then provided coverage for all postal workers, not just postal transport workers.

When the federal Act became law, the Federal Postal Hospital Association became eligible to be one of the national carriers. The board of directors took steps to develop the organization into a nationwide plan. To signify that the plan offered coverage to all federal employees, not just postal workers, the plan again renamed itself in 1964: the Federal Employees Hospital Association. In 1965, the name changed again to Government Employees Health Association, or GEHA.

What’s the plan?

Over the past 70 years, GEHA plan benefits changed and grew to reflect the changing needs of federal employees. In 2006, GEHA ranked as the third-largest health insurance provider in the Federal Employees Health Benefit Program, or FEHBP.

GEHA’s benefit plans, beginning as Plan A and Plan B, continued to evolve over the years to offer more and better benefits. Currently, GEHA has three health plans. Two of GEHA's plans – the Standard Option and the High Option – are traditional fee-for-service plans. And, in 2004, GEHA became one of the first federal health plans to offer a high-deductible health plan with a health savings account, or HSA.

GEHA members in all three health plans are free to use any eligible providers they choose. However, GEHA’s PPO*USA Network, a proprietary preferred provider organization introduced in 1998, offers plan members more savings on medical care when they used network providers.

As we continue through the 21st century, GEHA and its products will continue to evolve to fit the needs of federal employees and retirees. True to its tradition, however, GEHA’s remains steadfast in its mission: to provide federal employees and retirees with high-quality medical insurance, at a fair price, with excellence in customer service.