One of the most valuable benefits offered to federal employees is the opportunity to enroll in the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program. I thought it would be a good idea to spell out the conditions that need to be met to carry FEHBP coverage into retirement. If you are eligible to retire on an immediate annuity, you can keep your health benefits coverage if you are currently enrolled in FEHBP and have been continuously covered for at least five years. Note: You are considered continuously covered even if you were enrolled in the program when you left government and re-enrolled…
Browsing: Premiums
Q. I presently have both Blue Cross/Blue Shield (Family Plan) and Tricare medical coverage. I’m retired military and a full-time Defense Department employee. I’m turning 65 this month and am thoroughly confused about mandatory Part A/Part B enrollment and how this will affect by 62-year-old wife’s coverage. When I went to sign up, I chose Part A only as I thought my BCBS coverage was my assurance that she would continue to have both insurances. Today, it was brought to my attention that my Tricare coverage will phase out on my birthday, and I will not have a secondary insurance…
Q. I am a retired CSRS employee. I have Blue Cross/Blue Shield high option health insurance. I also have Medicare parts A and B. Do I really need Medicare Part B?
Q. I’m about to turn 65, am a CSRS retiree, and receive Social Security annuity. I have Blue Cross/Blue Shield as my primary insurance, with Tricare as secondary. 1. Do my BC/BS premiums remain the same, or do they decrease? 2. Will my Medicare Part B premiums be taken out of my Social Security annuity? 3. I am being told that my Tricare coverage will be voided if I do not subscribe to Medicare Part B. Is this true? 4. Where/how do I sign up for Medicare coverage? I’ve received numerous advertisements from private companies in the mail which are…
Q. My wife and I are both covered by Medicare. We have been told my Blue Cross/Blue Shield Standard Federal Employee Plan premium will not be reduced. Other friends in our situation have had their Medicare supplement premiums reduced. When I try to get an answer for BCBS, I get confusing responses. Can you help?
Q. If I choose not to take Medicare B, and remain with just my Federal Employees Health Benefits plan, what does the FEHB plan pay? Does it pay as it did when I was working (with annual deductibles, co-pays, etc.) or does the FEHB plan reduce all payments to only the amounts that Medicare pays? I cannot afford to continue paying both Medicare B and FEHB premiums, but have to recognize that fewer doctors will accept Medicare patients. If I get out of Medicare B and use just my FEHB plan, will that FEHB plan automatically reduce payments to Medicare B levels?
Q. I work for the FDIC. I have Blue Cross/Blue Shield Standard Option (Code 104) individual coverage. Currently, I pay a small premium, biweekly, of approximately $60. FDIC pays the rest. According to the 2013 nonpostal rate chart, the total monthly premium is $599, broken down between government $413 and employee $186. Evidently, the FDIC is subsidizing part of my premium because my biweekly withholding is only $60. When I retire, will I be required to pay the entire premium of $599 per month?
Q. I just turned 65 and retired from the federal government two years ago, with Federal Employees Health Benefits standard option Blue Cross/Blue Shield health insurance. I am teaching at a local university and have declined their health insurance policy because of my FEHB plan. Were I to enroll in Medicare Part B today, my pension plus university salary would require that I pay the highest premium rates for Medicare Part B. If I defer enrollment, I understand the 10 percent-per-deferred-year penalty I would pay. To avoid that, it might be worthwhile to enroll in Part B today. But if…
Q. My husband is a retired federal employee. I am covered under his Care First, Blue Cross/Blue Shield Federal Employee Plan insurance. I will turn 65 in a few months and he is 66. Will we be able to get Medicare without his premiums increasing?
Q. I am 55 with 36 years of federal employment, including two one-year breaks in service. The last break was in 1985. I withdrew the funds I had paid into CSRS each time I broke service and have repaid a minimal amount of it. I thought I would be one of those people who worked forever; however, I have a progressively degenerative medical condition and likely will not be able to work more than another year at the most. I am totally ignorant about retirement and to what benefits I am entitled. For example, will my pension benefits be reduced…