Rule of thumb, says Walton Francis of CHECKBOOK's Guide to Federal Health Plans, is that vision plans cover one pair of eyeglasses, or one set of (hard) contact lenses at about $100 a person for premiums -- with a discount.

The dental coverage, though, can make a huge difference. Francis says two plans in particular stand out because the dental coverage is built in to the health plan:

• the AETNA HealthPlan CDHP (Consumer Driven Health Plan), and the

• M.D. IPA HMO

Then you can augment with seven (within the DC area) different stand alone options, and use an FSA to pick up anything that isn't covered by the two plans.