Q. I am a Defense Department FERS employee. I am considering retiring at age 59½ with a little over 20 years of creditable service and deferring my retirement until 60 so I don’t incur the under-62 penalty and lose the special retirement supplement. Do I understand correctly that because I am not taking an “immediate” annuity, I cannot carry my Federal Employees Health Benefits coverage into retirement if I choose to go six months early?
Browsing: Coverage after retirement
Q. I am a 58-year-old FERS employee with 20 years seniority, planning to retire, and want to defer my annuity to age 60. Am I eligible to continue my current health benefits on COBRA for now, then get them reinstated when I start collecting my annuity at age 60?
Q. My husband is a Postal Service employee who will be eligible for retirement shortly. We have been married for 3½ years. I have been covered under his health insurance plan (GHI) since we were married. If my husband retires before our five-year anniversary, am I still eligible for continued coverage under his plan (even though I will not have been covered under his plan for the full five years)?
Q. I enlisted in the Air Force in 1948 and served until March 1958, then went into federal service under CSRS. I retired in 1986 with 37 years and 10 months of combined service. As a result, I only acquired five quarters of Social Security payments. I am therefore not eligible for Social Security benefits or Medicare. Will I be able to keep my Federal Employees Health Benefits when the Affordable Care Act is activated?
Q. What happens to federal employees with Federal Employees Health Benefits when the Affordable Care Act takes effect? Does FEHB go away? Do federal employees have to go to exchanges and find new insurers just as every other American? What happens to retirees with FEHBP? Do their FEHBP plans go away, and do they have to go to exchanges?
Q. I have been working for the federal government for 40 years: six years in the Army, nine years in civil service, and the post office the rest of the time. I always paid in to the Federal Employees Health Benefits plan (except Army years) but I had to drop out for two years. Now I need to retire, but I will be four months short of the five-year minimum to take the FEHB into retirement. Does the Office of Personnel Management do waivers in this requirement? I am not on a VERA from the post office, but they offer…
Q. I have GEHA health insurance and primary and Tricare Standard as secondary coverage. When I reach age 65, my wife will be 64. Thus, how will Medicare apply to she and I? Must I keep my Federal Employees Health Benefits insurance until she is 65 to be covered by Medicare? I think my Tricare coverage will convert over to Tricare for Life at 65.
Q. I am a FERS employee with a service computation date of Feb. 4, 2004. I have only been able to carry Federal Employees Health Benefits in the last four years and eight months because of a split in service. We are now being offered a Voluntary Early Retirement Authority/Voluntary Separation Incentive Pay buyout. Would I be able to accept this buyout and still keep my FEHB even though I do not have a complete five years of coverage?
Q. My agency has announced their intent to restructure my organization and to offer early retirement and buyouts. I understand that my annuity will be immediate with no reduction for age, and that I can receive the special retirement supplement at age 56 until age 62 when Social Security kicks in. I would be age 49 at the time of retirement with 25 years of service. I do not understand how the Federal Employees Health Benefits will work. Will I be responsible for the full amount of the premium after retirement, or will there still be a portion paid by…
Q. I retired and kept Blue Cross/Blue Shield coverage. I will be going to Medicare on Nov 1. Do I do something special to retain current BC/BS policy? Do I look for supplemental coverage? Need Medicare D for prescriptions?