Q. I am a federal employee with 32+ years of civil service, planning on retiring in the next five years. I have been enrolled in a Federal Employees Health Benefits plan throughout my career. My husband retired from active duty Aug. 31 with 23+ years. We had dual coverage under Tricare and FEHB since August 1995, with FEHB being primary and Tricare as secondary. Now that my husband has retired, to continue to be covered under Tricare, he had to sign up for a specific Tricare plan, for which we are now charged a monthly premium. We are trying to determine whether or not we should cancel the FEHB and save the $3,500 per year. The Tricare representatives advised my husband that we should suspend the FEHB and not cancel it, so if we decided at a later date to re-enroll in the FEHB, we could. I have also read that if I don’t have FEHB for five years prior to retiring, I won’t be able to sign up for FEHB coverage when I retire, but that I can include the time in Tricare toward that five years.
I went to the BENEFEDS and Office of Personnel Management websites and contacted a benefits and entitlements counselor through the Employee Benefits Information System to ask this question, but I am receiving conflicting information.
1. Can I suspend my FEHB and re-enroll, as long as it is during open season, at any time?
2. Can I cancel my FEHB and re-enroll, as long as it is during open season, at any time?
3. So if I cancel/suspend my FEHB and retire in five years, can I count the time in Tricare toward being enrolled in a FEHB plan?
4. If I cancel/suspend my FEHB and am no longer covered under Tricare (through no fault of my own) I can re-enroll in FEHB plan at any time; I don’t have to wait for an open season?
5. Can I sign up for a dental plan and/or a vision plan under the FEHB without being enrolled in a FEHB plan?
A. You can suspend your coverage in the FEHB in favor of Tricare. If you do, you could reactivate that coverage at any time if you were to lose Tricare coverage sometime in the future. If you canceled your FEHB coverage and were still employed, you could re-enroll at a later date; however, you would be required to maintain that FEHB coverage for five consecutive years to be able to carry it into retirement. If you canceled that coverage and retired, you wouldn’t be able to re-enroll. Retirees cannot re-enroll in the FEHB program. Finally, dental and vision coverage isn’t tied to enrollment in FEHB.
