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Frequently Asked Questions Insurance

Life

  • The reductions start at the beginning of the 2nd month after your 65th birthday or the beginning of the 2nd month after your retirement date, whichever is later. For example: Pierre retired December 31, 1999. He will turn 65 on March 15, 2005. The reductions for his Basic and Optional insurance (if applicable) will start May 1, 2005. Here's another example: Selena was 67 years old when she retired on December 31, 1999. Since she was already past 65 when she retired, the reductions for her Basic and Optional insurance (if applicable) will start February 1, 2000.
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  • Life insurance proceeds are not considered taxable income for the recipients for personal income tax purposes. Interest paid on FEGLI proceeds is reportable as income for Federal Income tax purposes. You may wish to consult your tax advisor for further advice.
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  • The legal age or age of adulthood for the FEGLI Program is 18, unless the state in which the minor lives has established a lower age of adulthood. In that case, the legal age is the lower age.
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  • Only Basic insurance is available for a Living Benefit. The Office of Federal Employees' Group Life Insurance cannot pay Optional insurance as a Living Benefit. A Living Benefit election has no effect on your Optional insurance. Your Optional insurance will not change and you will continue to pay your Optional insurance premiums.
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  • "Assignment" means that you give ownership and control of your Basic, Option A, and/or Option B life insurance coverage to someone else. This means that the money goes to the assignee, or the assignee's beneficiary(ies) when you die. The insurance is still on your life and you must continue to pay for the coverage, but someone else "owns" and controls your coverage. You may assign your life insurance coverage to an individual, a corporation, or an irrevocable trust. Your decision to assign your life insurance coverage is irrevocable; you cannot cancel your assignment if you change your mind. You cannot assign Option C.
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  • Yes, Public Law 110-417, the Duncan Hunter National Defense Authorization Act allows new opportunities for certain employees. The new election applies if you are a civilian employee in the Department of Defense eligible for FEGLI who is designated as "emergency essential" under section 1580 of Title 10. You may elect Basic, Option A and Option B (up to the maximum of 5 multiples). You must make the election on the SF 2817  [278 KB] (or its electronic equivalent) within 60 days of the date of the notification of the designation as an emergency essential employee. Contact your employing agency human resources office for more information. See more details in BAL 08-204  [45 KB].
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  • No. If you receive an SF 2819, that means that you are eligible to convert your insurance, but you don't need to — the choice is yours. IF you qualify to carry your coverage into retirement, you may want to do that and not convert. Just because you receive an SF 2819 does not mean that you do not qualify to carry your coverage into retirement. All employees whose current coverage as an employee is terminating (other than by voluntary cancellation) receive a copy of that form — whether or not they qualify to carry coverage into retirement.
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  • When you return to work after a break in service of less than 180 days, your human resources office will automatically enroll you in the same coverage that you had before you left your prior position. You will have to qualify to elect other coverage (Open Season, physical exam or life event). When you return to work after a break in service of 180 days or more, your human resources office will automatically enroll you in Basic and the same Optional insurance that you had in your prior position. You will have this coverage the first day you are in pay and duty status. Any previous waiver of insurance is automatically cancelled. Unless you file a new waiver, Basic insurance becomes effective your first day in pay and duty status in a position in which you are eligible for coverage. You may elect more insurance (if you don't already have the maximum) within 31 days of returning to service in an eligible position, regardless of the coverage you had during previous employment. If you do not make a new election, you will automatically get back whatever Optional insurance you had immediately before your separation. Any coverage that you had previously waived will be waived again.
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  • Living Benefits payments received on or after January 1, 1997, are not subject to Federal income tax. However, some states have laws, regulations, or rulings concerning the taxability of Living Benefits (also called accelerated death benefits). You should consult a tax advisor or your State's tax department for specific information concerning State income tax laws. Qualified payments from viatical settlement firms received on or after January 1, 1997 are also not subject to Federal income tax provided the companies meet certain tax exemption qualifications. If you are considering assigning your insurance to a viatical settlement firm, you should consult a tax advisor to determine if you and the viatical settlement firm meet the tax exemption qualification standards.
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  • Yes. If you owe money to the Civil Service Retirement and Disability Fund, such as an overpayment of annuity, you may assign your life insurance. You cannot assign your insurance, however, to pay a deposit or redeposit to get credit for time during which you did not have retirement deductions withheld from your salary or for a period of service for which you received a refund of your retirement contributions. You must make a deposit and/or redeposit before you can get credit for the service in the computation of your annuity. When you assign your life insurance coverage, the assignee does not receive the money until you die.
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