Every fall, readers ask me what the cost-of-living adjustment will be for CSRS and FERS retirees and Social Security beneficiaries. And they want to know where the numbers come from, who is eligible for a COLA, when are they effective, if they are prorated, and why they are sometimes different for CSRS and FERS retirees. Because of the government shutdown, it took a little longer than usual to find out that the what the 2014 COLA will be. It’s 1.5 percent. Not great, but better than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick. Where do the numbers come…
Browsing: SURVIVOR BENEFITS
Q. I am a FERS employee who will be eligible for retirement in five years. My health insurance is covered under my husband, who works for the post office and is also a FERS employee. My husband will retire in four years. Will I be able to be covered under his Federal Employees Health Benefits after he retires, or do I need to sign up for my own FEHB? Because I am five years from retirement, do I need to have my own FEHB for five years?
Q. I am a retired federal employee and have been receiving my health benefits in the “self-only” designation. My spouse will be retiring from her private-sector position in June 2014. Must I change my health benefit designation to “family” this open season, or can I wait until June 2014 and change designations using the qualifying life event as a factor?
Q. I plan to retire in June 2014 (at age 65), and I have been with a Federal Employees Health Benefits plan (self-only) during my entire working CSRS career (39 years). For the past 10 years, I have only used my wife’s health insurance plan from her private employer as she has self-and-family coverage. She is eight years younger (age 57) than I am but she thinks that her job may be eliminated (laid off) and she will need health insurance under my FEHB plan (I would need to change my FEHB plan to self and family). If she were…
Q. My wife is a dependent under my Blue Cross/Blue Shield Federal Plan. She will be 65 in March. Can she remain under my (or establish her own) federal plan after reaching her 65th birthday if she does not select Medicare Part B?
Q. I am retiring Jan. 11 and have five years under CSRS and 26 years under FERS. I am confused about survivor option benefit for my spouse (three years older than I am) called insurable interest. It appears to me that for a 10 percent reduction in my retirement annuity, he would receive 55 percent of my retirement annuity at my death compared to 50 percent for the same 10 percent reduction under the regular survivor option. My spouse has his own pension and savings. I cannot find a comparison of the advantages and disadvantages for both kinds of survivor…
Q. I am 67-year-old annuitant under Federal Employees Health Benefits. I am thinking of switching to Medicare. If I switch to Medicare, will my spouse (52 years old) still be eligible for coverage under FEHB? If so, do we have to get her a self policy under FEHB, or do I have to continue to buy self and family to cover her?
Q. My wife has retired from teaching and is therefore no longer eligible for coverage under her former employer’s plan. Since this is a qualifying life event, we are filling out the SF-2809 but are unsure of the enrollment code for the plan we are changing to (Part C on Page 2). Where can we find that information?
Q. 1. If I delay drawing my Social Security until age 65, can I still receive the special retirement supplement past age 62? 2. When my spouse becomes eligible for Medicare (six years before me), how does my federal health insurance work in regard to his medical bills? Will Social Security be primary and my insurance pick up the difference in full?
Q. I am five years older than my wife. I have self-and-family option of Blue Cross/Blue Shield health benefits coverage. When I turn 65 and apply for Medicare, what are the health benefit options for my wife?