Q. I am 64, under CSRS, and my wife is 55, under FERS. I am the subscriber for FEHB. If I retire, would it be advantageous to have her carry health insurance for our family, or should I just continue with things as they are?
Browsing: Premiums
Q. I am a CSRS employee. I understand that to continue my wife under my Federal Employee Health Benefits, I must elect a survivor benefit of at least $1. My medical insurance payments will, of course, be taken out of my monthly annuity. Will she be able to continue these payments at the same rate if I die before she does?
Q. I now have 2½ years of government service and am 66. When I retire in 2½ years, I’ll have five years with the government. Will I get the option to retain my Federal Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Alabama health insurance? If I would rather quit working for the government in one year, do I lose the opportunity to keep my federal BC/BS of Alabama coverage? I have total time in government employment today of only three years. I am contemplating quitting next year. What is the impact to my federal BC/BS insurance coverage? I signed up for Medicare Part…
Q. I have insurance payments taken out of my survivor annuity check each month. Are they pretax?
Q. I am 65, have worked for USDA intermittently since 1965 (recurring and temporary in the early years) and have been in my present position with USDA-ARS since 1999. I plan to retire (in FERS) in two or three years. My insurance provider for more than 10 years has been Blue Cross/Blue Shield Federal Employee Program. I am signed up for Medicare Part A. My wife, several years younger than I, is a health provider in private practice. She and my two children (elementary school age) are now covered under the federal employee plan above. My understanding is they can…
Q. I am a CSRS employee. Upon retirement, I would like to know what minimum percentage/amount of survivor benefit has to be in effect for my husband to continue to receive health benefits if I pre-decease him. Does the annuity have to be enough to cover the premium? If so, what would happen if the insurance rates increased dramatically over time and the annuity no longer covered 100 percent of the premium? My husband is willing to provide a notarized “less than all” annuity base. The bottom line is that I want to carry only enough survivor benefit to ensure health…
Q. I retired as a GS-14, CSRS employee, at 30 years. If I take a GS-15 position, does the retirement stop, or is the pay just offset by the amount of the annuity? Do you pay into the CSRS retirement fund or FERS, or can one defer? Does health insurance continue from the retirement or from the new payroll?
Q. It seems to me that if I choose to take Medicare Part B with my Blue Cross/Blue Shield standard Federal Employees Health Benefits insurance, my maximum additional out of pocket would be $2,500 Medicare premium plus $5,000 expensive drugs = $7,500. If I decline Medicare Part B, my max out of pocket would be $5,000. Am I missing something?
Q: I remember reading that in 2017, 100 percent of the health insurance premiums will be paid for federal retirees. Not sure if I read ALL federal retirees or just postal service retirees. However, I am unable to locate any information on this. Can you clarify whether or not this is factual? A: You can’t find any information about this because there isn’t any. If you did indeed read this somewhere, it was written by someone whose mind had blown a gasket.
Q: I have heard that the new health care law requires all federal employees to pay income tax on the government-paid portion of our heath care plan’s cost. Is this true? A: No, it isn’t true. What is true is that in 2018, a 40 percent tax will be levied on health insurance plans that cost more than $10,200 per individual or $27,500 per family. The tax will be on any coverage that exceeds the limit. Those figures will be based on the combined contributions of enrollees and the government, and the expense will likely be passed on to consumers.…