Q. My wife and I are both FERS employees, and I’ve always carried the family plan of Federal Employees Health Benefits. I am eligible to retire and will retire in May. My wife has two more years before she can retire. We also have two children under 26, and we will both switch to single once the youngest turns 26 in three years. Should my wife pick up the FEHB insurance during this open season, or do I have to carry it into retirement and then make the switch?
Browsing: Coverage after retirement
Q. For the past 20+ years, I have held term appointments with several federal government commissions and boards in the D.C. area. Naturally, I have experienced several breaks in my service. Will the gaps in my employment make me ineligible for federal employee health benefits upon retirement? And, if I am considered ineligible, is there a possibility that a waiver can be obtained through the Office of Personnel Management? I was told I need to carry health insurance at least five years prior to retirement, but have not received an official answer from my human resources office about my personal…
Q. I am a 58-year-old retiree under CSRS with continued coverage under Federal Employees Health Benefits for family. I am now about to be employed full time in my state school system, which offers health benefits that seem better than my coverage under FEHB. If I select to stop deductions for FEHB to utilize the state coverage, will this terminate my ever going back to FEHB if I decide to drop my state health plan?
Q. I am thinking about canceling my health insurance to go under my spouse’s plan. He is not an employee of the government. I have been with the government for 25 years. I know you must carry the insurance for five years in a row to carry it into retirement. I am not in that window. If I cancel it, can I re-enroll later if I decide to get back on (for example, in open season 2015)?
Q. When my husband retires from the Postal Service next year, are we responsible for the entire payment to Blue Cross/Blue Shield? The post office no longer pays any portion, correct?
Q. Now that I’ve turned 65, I’m looking at FERS retirement from Farm Service Agency after 10 years in federal employment. But regarding carrying Federal Employees Health Benefits into retirement, I only have 2½ of the required five years in the plan to date. I had four more FEHB years in the plan under Rural Development, but the two periods were not consecutive. I understand a Voluntary Early Retirement Authority may be headed my way at FSA. VERA typically expands the eligibility for FEHB into retirement, but I don’t think I qualify for VERA, because they are seeking 20-year employees.…
Q. I am a Postal Service retiree (CSRS) with the Blue Cross self-and-family high option. My spouse turns 65 in January. Can I continue to carry him on my plan and use it as supplemental insurance? Does he have to elect Medicare Part B, or can he just have Part A and still be covered under my insurance?
Q. I am retired and have Medicare with Blue Cross/Blue Shield as my secondary. I have to keep the family plan coverage to keep my wife covered. She is a private-sector retiree and will turn 65 in September 2014 and will be applying for her Medicare coverage. We both want to keep BC/BS as our secondary. Will we both have to go on as individual plans? If so, whom do we contact: the Office of Personnel Management, or will BC/BS do this when we tell them?
Q. My husband and I retired from federal service. I was on his insurance. When he died in 2000, the insurance was put in my name. I remarried in 2006 and would like to put my husband on my insurance. Can I do this in the open season. How?
Q. I have been a civilian employee for 12 years and plan to retire at the end of January. I am a retired Navy officer who has been covered under Tricare/CHAMPUS family plans since 1979. Will my five years under a federal government medical care program be covered by my 30+ years of continuous Tricare coverage? I plan to enroll in the Federal Employees Health Benefits plan during the open season and want to be able to carry FEHB into retirement.