Q. Where do I find specific details for the exception to let my surviving spouse continue in FEHB if I do not chose a partial or full survivor annuity? Or is there such an exception? In a 2013 Pre-Retirement Planning class manual dealing with Current Spouse Survivorship, it states surviving spouses who do not receive a survivor annuity cannot continue FEHB. It also states there is an exception for spouses married 30 years or more. I am retired Navy O-5 using both FEHB and Tricare Prime, married 37 years, and trying to decide what to do about health insurance when I…
Browsing: HEALTH INSURANCE
Q. I am a retired USPS employee. Presently, I am enrolled with BCBS with self and family option. My wife wants to get Medicare Part B and cease to be enrolled with my FEHBP. Can my wife re-enroll with my plan if she decides to do so later on?
Q. I retired from the Army in 2011 and have been working as a contractor since then. I have just accepted a GS position. I have Tricare (retired) now. Does my new position have the option of Tricare or is that just a military thing? If not, then should I ditch the Tricare for the FEHB? Any advantages/disadvantages either way?
Q. Can you suspend FEHB after retirement if you are eligible for Tricare? Can you elect to go back on FEHB if desired? How would you do this?
Q. If my wife chose to retire now, at her minimum retirement age of 56 with 13 years of FERS service, would she be able to postpone her annuity until age 60? She currently carries FEHB (self), as long as she has had it the last five years, can I pick her up under my FEHB (self+1 or family) once she retires and then when she becomes 60 she can reinstate her own self-plan at that point?
Q. I am a reinstated federal employee with the Bureau of Prisons who is 59 years old and has 15 years of service time. I want to retire under the minimum retirement age and understand there is a five percent penalty for every year under the age of 62. But, am I able to keep my federal health insurance until I reach age 65?
Q. I am a federal employee (FERS employee from January 1988 to the present) who will likely be leaving federal employment for a private sector position in a different city. What happens to the following: 1. Can I either leave my money in the TSP account or roll it over; in any case, I am not touching the balance until I retire. 2. Am I correct that my retirement annuity freezes until I actually retire and that it would be based on the following calculation — years of service (.26) x the average of the high-3 annual salary? 3. Do…
Q. I presently have self-and-family health insurance through Blue Cross-Blue Shield. I will retain family coverage for the children but want to drop my wife from coverage. Can I legally do this? She is eligible for Medicare due to disability. I am not retired. A. No, you can’t. There are only two enrollment categories in the FEHB program: self and self-and-family. You are enrolled in the latter, which means that all your eligible family members are included.
Q. I have been approved for Federal Retirement Disability after having applied for it almost 15 months ago. I am receiving interim payments. I was separated from my federal position before I applied and could not afford to pay for COBRA benefits during the time I waited to be approved. When could I anticipate receiving my health insurance benefits back? How will they calculate my portion of the health insurance premium?
Q. I retired from the U.S. post office in January. I changed my FEHB provider during the 2013 open season, but according to the retirement booklet that OPM sent me in February and my 4/1/14 first full annuity statement, it still shows me as having my old coverage. Will (or should) they automatically correct this? I called OPM about this mistake and was told that it is my responsibility to correct this error by submitting proof of switching providers? Is this correct?