Q. I am in the GS, age 64. I hit seven years overseas and am on the Priority Placement Program to return to the U.S. Instead, I plan to stay overseas and marry a local national. My options are to retire at 13 years’ service or to resign and take a Non-Appropriated Fund job on base to continue earning FERS coverage. I understand that next year I must enroll in Medicare Part A, although I will be overseas and unable to use it. Is there any benefit to me also enrolling in Part B if I plan to retire overseas?…
Browsing: Medicare Part A
Q. Can FEHB suspension be done only in retirement? How can suspension be done working as an active federal employee with Medicare and Tricare for Life? One may want to keep working for the government but not have to pay FEHB fees and use Medicare Part A with its fees along with Medicare Part B free and TFL benefits included due to being a military retire. Why would one want to have such overkill in health care benefits and costs? Could you explain the process in a scenario such as this, and could either a continuing active employee or a…
Q. I am a CSRS retiree. I retired in 2005. I am a subscriber to the Federal Employee Health Benefits program, specifically Blue Cross-Blue Shield’s Standard Option with family coverage. My wife and I are also qualified for Medicare Parts A and B. That makes Medicare the primary coverage and FEHB/BC-BS the secondary coverage for any health benefits paid. 1. What (if any) changes in the plan’s coverages are anticipated for 2014 and beyond, due to the health care law? 2. Does OPM anticipate that current retirees/program members will be forced into a health care provider’s coverage offered under the…
Q. I now have 2½ years of government service and am 66. When I retire in 2½ years, I’ll have five years with the government. Will I get the option to retain my Federal Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Alabama health insurance? If I would rather quit working for the government in one year, do I lose the opportunity to keep my federal BC/BS of Alabama coverage? I have total time in government employment today of only three years. I am contemplating quitting next year. What is the impact to my federal BC/BS insurance coverage? I signed up for Medicare Part…
Q. I retired in 2009 under CSRS. I am close to 65, and the answer to one of the questions asked states that people in CSRS are not eligible for Medicare because they didn’t pay into Social Security. I was in CSRS before the change to FERS and stayed with CSRS. I had Medicare deductions taken from my pay from 1983-84 till I retired in 2009. Do the Medicare funds I paid since 1983 make me eligible for Medicare or just part of it? So which is right? I need to know so I can do what needs to be…
Q. I retired under CSRS nine years ago and took the survivor annuity. Each year, my Notice of Annuity statement identifies the monthly survivor annuity amount payable to my wife upon my death. My wife and I are both in good health. My only child is 34, has been identified by Social Security Administration as disabled (cerebral palsy) and receives SSDI and Medicare (based on his work history before he became completely disabled). He receives about $1,000 per month. CSRS Brochure Retirement Facts 5 (October 1997) states that each child with no surviving parent receives $404 per month with COLA…
Q. I am 65, have worked for USDA intermittently since 1965 (recurring and temporary in the early years) and have been in my present position with USDA-ARS since 1999. I plan to retire (in FERS) in two or three years. My insurance provider for more than 10 years has been Blue Cross/Blue Shield Federal Employee Program. I am signed up for Medicare Part A. My wife, several years younger than I, is a health provider in private practice. She and my two children (elementary school age) are now covered under the federal employee plan above. My understanding is they can…
Q. I will apply for Medicare Part A when I reach 65 as a FERS retiree. My wife will not be eligible for eight years after, and I will retain my federal Blue Cross/Blue Shield family policy. She also has a state BC/BS policy in which I am included. Her policy does not carry over into retirement, so I will keep mine until she is eligible for Medicare. If I wait until she no longer has me under her policy, will I be entitled to then apply for Medicare Part B without penalty under the Substantially Equal Periodic Payment exception,…
Q. I am a letter carrier, age 52, started in 1985 and have 28 years of creditable service. If I understand what I’ve gleaned from the posts here and the Postal Service were to offer me a Voluntary Early Retirement Authority this year, 1. Would I begin my annuity immediately? 2. Would I have no reductions in calculations of my annuity? (average high-3 x 1 percent x 28) 3. Would I receive credit for half of my sick leave and all of my annual leave? (How are these applied?) 4. Would I receive the special retirement supplement beginning at age…
Q. I am 59 years old and covered under Federal Employees Health Benefits as the spouse of a CSRS annuitant. Due to a covered disability, I have been receiving Social Security Disability Benefits for the past 18 months and was just advised that I will be eligible for Medicare Parts A and B in June. If I decline Part B and decide to take it later, will I be subject to the Medicare Premium penalty? A. Yes.