Q. I am retired under CSRS and have chosen a survivor benefit for my wife. I have self-and-family Blue Cross/Blue Shield under Federal Employees Health Benefits. My wife and I have Medicare parts A and B. The Veterans Affairs Department has classified me 100 percent disabled, so I am also entitled to free medical benefits through the VA system and my wife is covered by CHAMPVA. I feel I’m grossly overinsured. 1. Can I suspend my FEHB coverage because of my VA coverage and have the option of re-enrolling if I lose my 100 percent disability (not very likely, but anything’s possible)? 2. If I…
Browsing: SURVIVOR BENEFITS
Q. I retired from federal service on June 30 at age 60 with 28 years and three months of service. My retirement application elected to provide an insurable interest survivor annuity for my younger sister at a 10 percent reduction in my retirement annuity. The HR personnel at my agency had me obtain a letter from my primary care physician stating that I was in generally good health for inclusion with the package that went to Office of Personnel Management. OPM finalized my case on Aug. 27. I just received my retirement benefits booklet and discovered that the IISA election…
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,…
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 a CSRS employee with 40 years of service and am planning to retire in January. If I elect the $1-per-year annuity for my spouse, will he be covered under my health plan into retirement (he has been covered for the past seven years). If I pass away before him, will he be entitled to my annuity?
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. I was a federal employee and I paid into the federal Blue Cross/Blue Shield system for more than five years. I am on my husband’s federal BCBS program. Am I eligible to sign up for my own insurance if necessary?
Q. I am a retired federal employee on CSRS Offset. Law enforcement with mandatory retirement at age 57. My wife is older than I am and is drawing on her own Social Security. Until I am 62, all of the money is CSRS. When I turn 62, I will start to draw Social Security and my CSRS annuity will be reduced. Would my wife then be able to draw the spouse one-half amount of my Social Security (or whichever is the larger amount between us), or is there any language in which she would be restricted from my Social Security…
Q. My wife is able to receive health benefits starting Dec. 1. I am a Postal Service employee retired on disability FERS. Can you tell me the procedure to remove her from my APWU health insurance effective Dec. 1? I realize when she retires from her job and loses her insurance, I can add her back on mine. But if I should die before she retires, is she able to get a FEHB health plan? She will have survivor benefits.