Q. I know this question was asked, but I feel it wasn’t not properly answered. Under the new health reform act, will family premiums go up due to dependants coverage stretching to 26? Will it also affect annuitant/employee only also? And after all these years of having only employee only and employee plus family, why couldn’t another tier be added … annuitant/employee plus one. A. Premiums are unlikely to be affected by the small number of dependent children who will be retained (or added briefly) to a parent’s self-and-family plan option until they reach age 26. The proposal to add…
Browsing: HEALTH INSURANCE
Q. My wife retired in 2008 after 35 years of service. She had the federal health care insurance for 20 years. After we were married, she chose to no longer carry the federal plan. For the past 20 years she has been covered through my employer’s insurance. I was employed with the Baltimore City Fire Department for 33 years. If I were to lose my health care insurance, is there any way that she could get coverage for herself through the federal plan? A. No. The only way she could regain coverage under the Federal Employees Health Benefits program is…
Q. My husband is retiring under mandatory firefighter retirement (age 57 with 34 years of service). We were told at an agency-sponsored retirement training that his health insurance premiums were deducted pretax. It was recommended that I go on his health insurance because of this (I will also be a federal retiree but not firefighter). Now it has come time for him to retire and we are being told this isn’t true. Can you help? A. If your husband was having his premiums paid with pretax dollars, an arrangement called “premium conversion,” then the advice he had was sound. If…
Q. My wife works in private industry and has her own heath plan. My wife will lose her heath care when she retires. I have a single coverage heath plan as a federal employee. I’ve had the coverage for more than five years. If I retire, can I change from single to family coverage? Or, do I have to be under a family plan for five years prior to retirement to have family coverage in retirement? A. Yes, you can change from self to self and family during any open season.
Q. I am a retired federal employee. My daughter turns 22 on Nov. 13. Does that mean that after 31 days (Dec. 14) she will not have health coverage? Isn’t she covered by the 26-year-old inclusion in the new legislation? A. Yes, it does mean that she won’t have coverage under the Federal Employees Health Benefits program. She can, however, continue that coverage by paying the full premium plus 2 percent under the temporary Continuation of Coverage provision of law. Then beginning in January 2011, if she is still a dependent and unmarried, she could be once again be covered under…
Q. My spouse, is a federal employee who has been covered by FEHB, enrolled as “self only” for six years. I am not employed by the government, and have a health policy of my own through my employer. My spouse would like to retire in four years, as would I. If he adds me to his policy during open enrollment at the end of this year (and I drop my own coverage) will I be eligible for retirement coverage if he (and/or I) retires in three or four years? Or must he remain employed with the government for a full…
Q. My niece is the daughter of a federal employee and has been covered under TCC FEHB for the past three years. She is a student (respiratory therapy school) and will graduate next year, but now turns 25 on Nov. 27. She has life-threatening asthma that is under control with a Zolair shot each month. Will the one month gap in coverage make her ineligible to be picked up again in January (would FEHB consider her someone with a pre-existing condition) or has the law been changed to continue her coverage until age 26 prior to Jan 1, 2011? A.…
Q. I am a retired Federal LEO on FERS. I was wondering if you know or can find out what the raise in premiums, if any, will be for Federal Blue Cross Blue Shield in 2011? A.Information on FEHB rates for 2011 hasn’t been released yet. When they are, you’ll find them prominently displayed in the Federal Times.
Q. I plan to retire in June 2011 after 42 years of service with the POD/USPS. Currently, my wife is insured through her employer. Her health insurance will not carry over into retirement and we wish to add her to my retirement health insurance. What do I need to do before June? A. If she isn’t currently covered by your own FEHB enrollment, there’s nothing you can do until the next health benefits open season, which will begin in November. At that time, you can elect the self and family option of your health benefits plan
Q: As a retiree, will I be required to participate in my company’s health insurance plan in my new job as a civilian, in lieu of my Tricare-retired health plan? I am told that the health care reform bill may require employees to purchase company health plans, despite already having Tricare. That said, I anticipate my company’s premiums to be substantially higher than the plan I accepted upon retirement from the military. A: I’m not aware of any situation in which someone who already has health benefits coverage would be required to pay for a health benefits plan offered by…