Q. I am an EAS employee in FERS with 23 years of service at age 63. I have been enrolled self-only in the Federal Employees Health Benefits plan for 4½ years. Should I be terminated through a reduction in force, would I still be able to carry my coverage into retirement although I am short of the five-year enrollment requirement. I understand that there are certain exemptions to the five-year rule. I did not plan to retire until I reached 65. A. You’d receive a pre-approved waiver of the five-year requirement because you would meet the criteria: You were covered under…
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Q. I am looking into medical retirement after 32 years with the federal fire department. At this time, the Air Force doc has not cleared me to work because of some prescription meds that I take on my off days. I’m going in for thumb surgery for arthritis. I also have lower back pain, and four vertebrae are not in the greatest health. I had Blue Cross/Blue Shield before, and when I got married, I dropped it because my wife’s medical insurance was better than mine. But she lost her job and is now disabled, too, and had to get BC/BS for the…
Q. Can I add my spouse to my insurance when I retire at 62? I am a federal employee who has had federal health insurance for five years. My spouse has not been on that plan. I was told I could add him as long as I had had the federal insurance for five years. Reading the rules now looks like he has to be enrolled for five years prior to my retirement. A. While you cannot add your spouse to your Federal Employees Health Benefits plan when you retire, you can do that during any open season by changing…
Q. I am a FERS employee in the Veterans Affairs Department. I have four years and nine months of service with 50 days of sick leave and 72 days of annual leave accumulated. What are the regulations regarding the use of leave to extend time of service so that I qualify for an annuity with five years in? A. Annual or sick leave cannot be used to increase your length of service. To be vested in the retirement system, you will need to be employed full time for five years, longer if you work part time.
Q. I started work for TSA five years ago. I am age 60. At the time, I was never told that if I didn’t use health care benefits through one of the government plans, I couldn’t use them when I retire. At the time I was hired, my wife had good insurance, and I hated to switch. Now I want to retire and have been told I had to be enrolled in the health care plan for five years to stay get health care while retired. I saved the government money by not using benefits — maybe as much as…
Q: I am retiring June 30, 2010. I am already retired from the military and have used my Tricare benefits until now. Under the new health care plan that passed in Congress, I am already receiving letters from doctors that I have been seeing for years, telling me they will no longer accept Tricare or Medicare. I want to carry the Federal Employees Health Benefits Plan into retirement. Does my use of Tricare qualify for the five-year rule? A: Not unless you were enrolled in the FEHB program on the day you retired. If you were, your years of coverage…
Q: I was hired on Oct. 18, 1982, with the Postal Service as a temporary employee. In April 1984, I became a career employee, but later “bought back” my temporary time, so all my Form 50s show a hiring date of Oct. 18, 1982. I have always paid Social Security on my earnings. I have never understood why I did not fall under the Civil Service Retirement System instead of the Federal Employees Retirement System. I tried to research it with human resources, and they said I missed CSRS by 17 days (something about the five-year rule). I have not…