Q. I am a federal employee under CSRS. I carried health insurance from October 1982 until 1990 and then canceled due to being put under my spouse’s (nonfederal) health insurance. Can I use any of those years of health coverage as part of my five years of health coverage needed prior to retirement? If I retire now, do I qualify as having health benefits for five years? I have been under federal health insurance going on three years now.
A. No, you can’t. You must be enrolled for the five consecutive years before you retire to carry that coverage into retirement.
