Q. I am a government employee, but my husband is working in the private sector. To date, we have been using my husband’s health insurance because it provides excellent coverage. However, my husband’s company does not provide health coverage after retirement. To that end, I plan to enroll in a Federal Employees Health Benefits program in December since my retirement date is five years away. (My husband is retiring in five years, as well.) Does my husband need to be covered on my program for five years, too? Or can I add him in the last year prior to my…
Browsing: HEALTH INSURANCE
Q. The person who processes retirements at my agency told me that I could not retire with 32 years at 51 years. I am an offset employee under CSRS. I thought the Office of Personnel Management indicated that if you retire before 55 years of age, you are penalized 1/6 (no more than 2 percent for the first year and 2 percent for every after for being under 55. So, I resigned. It’s only been a few days. The agency person said I could only retire at this age if they were offering a buyout. That seems right because I was offered…
Q. I need medical benefits to continue. I was hired by the Postal Service in March 2001. I turn 56 on Jan. 8. I will have 12 years of service next year. My contract is up for renewal, with the possibility of me losing my job. A. If you reach age 56 before you lose your job, you could retire under the MRA+10 provision. Although your annuity would be reduced by 5 percent for every year you are under age 62, you could retire and postpone the receipt of your annuity. If you’ve been covered under the Federal Employees Health…
Q. I am a postmaster, age 51, with 26 years of service under FERS. I have been offered the VERA. The USPS has stated that in two years, if we haven’t been able to land another job in the executive and administrative schedule (EAS), we would be given a reduction-in-force notice and separated from service. Would I be eligible for an immediate annuity at that time under a Discontinued Service Retirement (DSR)? I realize I can’t touch TSP or receive the Social Security special retirement supplement because I will be only 53, but I would need to be able to…
Q. I’m receiving FERS Retirement Annuity payments (with survivor/spouse payments). I paid the deposit to have my military years (four years) added to my FERS annuity calculations. I may start receiving VA disability payments due to a service-related injury. Can I collect my FERS annuity payments and my VA disability payments concurrently? Will my benefits (health insurance, survivor payments, etc.) continue after the VA disability payments are received? If I receive both FERS and VA disability, are there any changes in FERS annuity payments, federal health coverage, etc., that would affect my wife’s medical coverage, survivor payments or FERS life…
Q. I am 67 and have six years of FERS service. My term appointment will expire in two weeks. I want to collect unemployment for the rest of this year following my separation. Do I have to take a FERS retirement right away, or can I wait until unemployment runs out? I am willing to lose my health and life insurance coverage when I separate from this appointment. A. Possibly; however, you’ll have to check with your state employment office to get a definitive answer.
Q. I’m getting married, and my husband is already 65. Can I still put him under my health insurance, or does he have to stay with Medicare? A. Yes, you can change your coverage from self only to self and family. If you are an employee, you can do that within 60 days after your change in family status under code 1C in the Table of Permissible Changes. If you are a retiree, you can do it from 31 days before through 60 days after the change under code 2B.
Q. I am a federal retiree in Northern California. I am covered under a Northern California Kaiser HMO. I downloaded the 2012 benefit plan from the federal website for Kaiser HMO Northern California. Page 33 of this plan says acupuncture is covered. The Kaiser customer service information for this plan says the federal government opted out of this treatment. How do you find out who is correct? A. I, too, looked on Page 33. You are right, and the person you talked to at your plan is wrong. If a benefit is stated in the plan brochure, then they must…
Q. My agency is going to offer early outs this fiscal year, and I want to take advantage of that. I am 48 and have been in FERS my entire career, with no service breaks. My service computation date is October 1983. If I take the early out, my major concern is if I can keep my heath benefits. Will I get to keep my full health benefits? Will I have to take over from my agency the full cost of premiums? Will open season still be available to me each year, just as it is every year as an…
Q. My husband, who is retired from the Postal Service, turned 65 on Aug. 31. I am on his Blue Cross/Blue Shield and am still working full time at age 49. Now that he is 65, what does keeping the BC/BS health insurance cost per month? If he decides to go on Medicare, can I stay on this plan? A. When he enrolls in Medicare, his premiums will remain the same. However, because he is retired, Medicare will be primary and his Federal Employees Health Benefits plan secondary. You will continue to be covered by the self-and-family option of his…