Q. I am 65 and plan to retire in two years. I have Medicare now as my primary. I have federal Blue Cross as secondary and Tricare as third. (I am a retired Navy veteran.) My wife is 59. She has had four knee replacements and has a lot of issues with arthritis. Tricare says I have to have Medicare Part A and B. Once I drop Tricare, I understand I cannot get it back. I feel that my wife and I are grossly overinsured. However, it appears that I have to keep it all — Medicare A and B,…
Browsing: self and family
Q. I am a retired annuitant covered under Federal Employees Health Benefits with the HMO Kaiser Permanente Family Plan. I have moved to Ohio to care for my 91-year-old mother. My wife remains in our home in California. I have no coverage in Ohio with Kaiser Permanente for personal physician/prescriptions. Can I enroll in Medicare Part B using a special enrollment period and without penalty due to the fact that I have had continuous health care coverage with FEHB/HMO and have now moved? Last enrollment period, I was informed that if I enrolled in Medicare B, my wife would have…
Q. I am 54 and my husband is 77. He is covered under my Federal Employees Health Benefits Blue Cross family plan. I am thinking of changing my plan to self-only and he to a Medicare supplemental plan. If I do this and retire next year when I’m 55, can I switch back to a family plan that covers both of us when I’m 62?
Q. My office is offering Voluntary Early Retirement Authority to qualified employees. I have been employed by the federal government for 26 years and have been covered under health insurance since my initial appointment. I carry the self-and-family plan. I am considering taking the VERA in January. At the same time, I am considering an employment opportunity outside the federal government should I retire. That company provides health insurance for their employees and family members. I will not work for them long enough to carry their health benefits once I decide I am done working for good. Is there a…
Q. I am turning 65 in January. I am trying to decide if I should sign up for Medicare Part A. Am I required to sign up for that benefit, or is it an option? I understand that if I sign up now, my federal health insurance will remain primary and Medicare part A will become secondary. But after I retire, that relationship will flip. Here’s my concern about that: My 36-year-old daughter is mentally retarded and she has been and is covered under my federal health plan (Blue Cross/Blue Shield). If Medicare Part A becomes my primary insurance after…
Q. I am a Postal Service retiree with Federal Employees Health Benefits and will be 65 in February. My wife has good insurance through her employer but will lose that coverage when she retires in about two years. I plan on keeping FEHB to supplement Medicare. Since I will be on Medicare at the time my wife retires, is there any current issue adding her to my FEHB plan?
Q. As a CSRS employee, I was told my spouse is eligible to enroll in health insurance under the Federal Employees Health Benefits program as long as the survivor annuity we agree to is a minimum of $1. Is that information correct?
Q. I am a retired civil service annuitant. I am approaching 65, and my wife is 61. We are enrolled in the family Blue Cross/Blue Shield health plan. What would happen to my wife’s coverage if I enrolled in one of the Medicare plans? Would I be better off to skip the Medicare options because she has not reached Medicare age?
Q. I retired from government almost eight years ago. I have had Kaiser health insurance all this time. I am about to turn 65. I have to do something with Medicare sign-up, so I spent time with my health plan provider (Kaiser Perm) the other day and the person we talked to wasn’t sure my wife would continue on my plan should I go with them for part B or their Senior Advantage plan. I told the rep I was sure she would, but the Kaiser rep said I needed to check with the government. My wife is five years…
Q. My wife and I are both federal employees covered under a family medical plan in my name. I’m thinking of retiring within the year, and my wife has at least five more years to retirement. Can we change the medical insurance to her name to continue pretax payment of insurance premiums and to continue with a flexible spending account?