Q. I am a FERS employee with eight years of federal service. I plan to end my employment next June with nine years of service at the age of 61½ years. I hope to apply for a deferred retirement when I turn 62 in January 2015 and want to make sure I am eligible. I also assume that the computation of my annuity is done using the high-3 pay figure x roughly 9 percent?
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Q. My brother retired under FERS disability because he was in need of a kidney and liver transplant. He has since received both organs and is now able to work again. Can he return to work for the federal government again? If so, what benefits will he have to give up?
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. As long as I’m employed, my Federal Employees Health Benefits premiums are taken from my pay pretax, which is more advantageous than deducting them as an itemized deduction subject to adjusted gross income limits. Does this pretax treatment continue upon retirement for a CSRS retiree, and therefore, my taxable income will be reduced by these premiums? Or will I need to start to claim them as an itemized deduction subject to income limits, which for some means we lose their deductibility after retirement?
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 became eligible for MRA +10 on May 14. I resigned June 1. I turned 60 on Aug. 1. I will not apply for my retirement annuity until I turn 62. I was told that I can apply for an annuity when I turn 62 on Aug. 1, 2015 and that, at that time, I am also eligible for federal government insurance. Is this correct? Additionally, if it is correct, what do federal retirees pay for health insurance in 2013 (Blue Cross/Blue Shield self-only). I realize that the price will be different in 2015.
Q. Do you know how much rates will go up in new open season 2014 on plans? Also, the deductible amount on each plan? I have National Association of Letter Carriers Cigna and am retired under FERS. Are there any new plans coming up?
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?