Monthly Archives: May, 2010

Q: The 2011 open-enrollment season will to intoduce a voluntary sub-option for annuitants who receive Medicare Part B. Can you give me an update on this Office of Personnel Management proposal? Will all the participatng plans offer this, especially Blue Cross/Blue Shield? A: On April 7, OPM issued its annual call letter to plans participating in the Federal Employees Health Benefits program. In the letter, it encouraged them to propose “pilot programs wherein participating carriers offer a sub-option for Medicare-eligible annuitants as an alternate choice within their existing option(s). The sub-option may include premium pass-through accounts to be used solely…

Q: My question is about how or if the years served at a service academy (the Air Force Academy, in my case) may be credited as years of active-duty service upon active-duty retirement. I understand that those years may be “bought back” if I am counting those years toward a civilian federal retirement under the Federal Employees Retirement System, but what about active-duty military retirement? May those years be bought back? A: A deposit into the civilian retirement system may be made to get credit for time spent at one of the military academies. Similarly, a deposit may be made…

Q: I am under the Civil Service Retirement System and plan to retire within the next year after 31 years of service. I also have 40 quarters under Social Security from a previous job and plan to keep working as long as I can as a contractor paying into Social Security. If I wait until I am 70 to collect Social Security, I would have 21 years under Social Security. As I understand it, the windfall elimination provision will be adjusted by a percentage. If I continue to work past 70, would that percentage be continually recalculated, or is it…

Q: A Civil Service Retirement System employee recently retired and was told by a representative of the Social Security Administration that because he qualified for Social Security after he retired under CSRS he would not be affected by the windfall elimination provision. The rep said that he is only affected by the WEP if he had his 40 quarters during or before his CSRS employment. I can’t find any documentation supporting this. A: The SSA rep was confusing the windfall elimination provision with what’s often referred to as “Catch 62.” The WEP applies to the Social Security benefit of anyone…

Q: Will the 2011 family plan premiums increase significantly because of the new law requiring dependent coverage until age 26, or will the Office of Personnel Management create a new plan other than “single” or “family”? A: I’m not aware of anything in the the new law, other than adding dependent children up to age 26, that would affect next year’s health benefits premiums. And I’m not aware of any plans to request a change in the Federal Employees Health Benefit Act that would permit the addition of another option.

Q: I am employed by the Defense Department under the Civil Service Retirement System. My service computation date is Dec. 17, 1977, and I will turn 62 on Nov. 16. Prior to entering civil service, I earned enough quarters to qualify for Social Security. I have not selected a retirement date, but I am considering Dec. 31 of this year or January 2011 to receive a payout from the National Security Personnel System. If I retire Dec. 31, I will be reimbursed for all of my annual leave, but after that reimbursement I would be limited to the maximum amount…

Q: I am a 66-year-old U.S. Postal Service employee who was born in 1944. I had planned to retire with 15 years of service this month; I thought that I would have recovered from on-the-job injuries by this time. I had already signed up for Social Security to begin on my 66th birthday (this month), but now my doctor says he needs to do more surgery on both arms before he will release me at maximum medical improvement. Also, I keep hearing that a voluntary early retirement is on the way and want to wait a little while to see.…

Q: I am a Federal Employees Retirement System employee and have just returned from an overseas tour. My annual leave ceiling while overseas was 360 hours (which is my current leave balance). Now that I am back in the U.S., will I be able to maintain the annual ceiling of 360 indefinitely if I only use “use or lose” time each year, or will the ceiling be adjusted at some point? I am planning for retirement and would like to keep as much leave on the books as possible for a lump-sum payout. A: The ceiling which you had overseas…

Q: Just wondering what happened to the lawsuit about reservists having to take military leave days on their days off. I was a reservist from 1991 to 2007. I don’t think it really affected me more than 2-3 years, but I’m still interested. A: You are referring to the 2003 opinion from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. It held that agencies should have allowed 15 workdays of military leave for reserve training each year instead of 15 calendar days, which was the practice before the law was amended on Dec. 21, 2000, to allow reservists…

Q: I am a Vietnam vet and plan to apply for disability with the Veterans Affairs Department based on one of the illnesses caused by Agent Orange. I was in the Army for two years. I also plan to retire under the Civil Service Retirement System with 37 years of service in about 10 months. I am also eligible for a small Social Security check. If VA grants my service-related disability will my CSRS or Social Security check be reduced by the amount of the VA disability payment? A: No, neither payment would be reduced.

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