Q: When do I have to put my wife under my health insurance? She is still working and doesn’t plan to retire for a couple of more years. I plan to retire next year. Do I have to insure her before I retire, while I am still working for the VA, or can I wait till she retires and loses her insurance to put her under my health insurance after I retire? A: You could change your coverage from self to self and family when she loses her nonfederal coverage. The authority for that is Code 2G under OPM’s Table…
Browsing: Coverage after retirement
Q: My husband and I work for the post office – he will retire soon and I will carry the health insurance and leave with a deferred retirement in a few years – at 45 with 20 years – what happens to the health benefits? A: Your husband would be able to continue the self and family coverage under Code 1M of the Table of Permissible Changes in Enrollment.
Q: I have an employee that enrolled in the FEHB plans effective Jan. 2, 2011, and has worked for the government for approximately 30 years. My agency is undergoing a VERA/VSIP announced in September. However, I found out that my agency did not request a preapproved waiver to include the health insurance. Can you tell me if this employee will be eligible to carry her health insurance into retirement? A: In order for her to continue her FEHB coverage, your agency needed to attach a memorandum to her retirement application stating that she met the requirements for a pre-approved waiver…
Q: My husband and I are retired federal employees. While we were employed, we did not have separate self-only health insurance plans. My husband was a part of my self-and-family plan. We continue to have a self-and-family plan. Because the combined annual cost of self-and-family coverage is about $900 more than the cost of two self-only policies, we would like to have separtate policies. Can we do this? If the answer is yes, is there an OPM or FEHB reference I can share with my husband. He is concerned about making changes and insists he was told at pre-retirement seminars…
Q: My wife and I are federal employees. I’m under CSRS and will probably retire in 2012 with 40+ years of service at age 62. She is under FERS and not eligible to retire until 2017. We’re enrolled in a family FEHBP under my name. Does it make sense for us to swap during this Open Season so that we are covered by a family plan under her name and paid for by her pre-tax dollars? Are there procedural risks of me dropping coverage and her new election not going through, which would jeopardize me meeting the five-year rule for…
Q. I plan to retire in a few years. I am currently 67 years old, participate in the Federal Employees Health Benefit Plan with Blue Cross Blue Shield and am enrolled in Medicare Part A, which is free and required at 65. I do not wish to participate in Medicare Part B because, from the way I see it, I would be paying for two primary insurers even when I retire. Am I entitled to continue with my FEHB as my primary coverage, and would I be entitled to the same choices as though I were still working for the…
Q. I am 62, and will be retiring from the Postal Service within three months, rather unexpectedly. We will be continuing with my current Blue Cross Blue Shield plan for annuitants. My wife is 65, and declined Medicare Part B since I was still working. Will it be necessary for her to sign up for Part B, or will the continued Federal Employees Health Benefit plan suffice? A. She doesn’t have to sign up for Medicare Part B. However, before she makes up her mind, the two of you need to weigh the potential costs and benefits of that decision.…
Q. I am a Civil Service Retirement System retiree approaching age 65. My wife and I have been covered by Blue Cross/Blue Shield Standard Option FEHB since retiring in 2002. My wife will not be eligible for Medicare until 2013, and she has never been employed by the federal government. Do I maintain my Federal Employees Health Benefit plan for both of us in order for her to be covered? Or is there some provision that will permit me to pay a Medicare Part B premium for my portion of the health care coverage out of my annuity while maintaining…
Q. I am a FERS employee with 24 years of service; I am 49. I started at the IRS in May 1987, and my birthday is in October 1962. My agency may offer an early out very shortly. However, it appears I miss the 20 years/age 50 or the 25 years/any age requirement by less than one year. Is there any way I can take the early out if offered and pay the 5-percent penalty in order to qualify for the early out, and get an immediate annuity? If yes, would I still get my health insurance? Or am I…
Q: Under CSRS, if you retire in the middle of the month, your pension does not begin until the first of the next month. Are there any impacts to your health/life insurance coverage during those days between your retirement effective date and the beginning of your pension (i.e., if you retire on Sept. 15, are you covered insurance-wise from Sept. 16 until Oct. 1)? A: Yes.