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Problems arising from oral discussions are very difficult to settle later because they are impossible to prove or disprove. In contractual situations such as under the FEHB Program, oral statements can never be regarded as official and, so, we state in the brochures that oral statements made by any representative of a carrier cannot modify the benefits described in the brochure.
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Contact your ex-spouse's agency Human Resources Office (or retirement system, if applicable) for information on how to enroll. You will need to document your eligibility. You will be required to submit a certified copy of the court order to the US Office of Personnel Management, Court Ordered Benefits Branch, P.O. Box 17, Washington DC 20044-0017. This office will review the court order to determine if you qualify to enroll. The Court Ordered Benefits Branch will issue a letter notifying you of their findings. Since it may take a few months for this notification to be sent, you should contact your former spouse's Human Resources Office and request to enroll in TCC. The notification from the Court Ordered Benefits Branch will provide instructions on enrolling under the Spouse Equity provisions of the law.
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FedFlex, The Federal Flexible Benefits Plan , is the name of OPM's cafeteria plan. In order to offer pre-tax benefits, OPM was required to create a plan document in accordance with IRS regulations that outlines the benefits and employee choices under that plan.
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Yes, taxes in 49 states and most localities will be reduced; exceptions include the state of New Jersey and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. OPM monitors changes in state and local tax regulations, and provides guidance to your agency as needed. Regardless of where you live, FEHB premiums are not subject to Federal taxes.
FICA Taxes
If you are covered by the Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS) and participate in premium conversion, FEHB premium deductions will also be excluded from gross pay before Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance (OASDI) and Medicare taxes are applied. Employer FICA contributions will also be reduced in concert with the decrease in employee withholdings.
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The effective date of the Open Season change is the first day of the first full pay period in January. For annuitants this date will always be January 1.
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You must inform your Human Resources Office that you want to revoke your waiver during your final pay period. Your Human Resources Office will then reinstate your FEHB so that you will have an enrollment to continue under TCC or convert. If your leave and earnings statement for your final pay period does not show a withholding for an FEHB premium, contact your Human Resources Office immediately.
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Call the OPM-Macon Help Desk at 478-757-3030, choose the PIN option, and request a new PIN. The Help Desk will mail your new PIN the next day. Since the Help Desk will mail your new PIN to the address your agency has on file, make sure that your Human Resources Office has your current address. We suggest you change your PIN to something easy to remember and be sure to keep your PIN in a safe place. You won't be able to use Employee Express until you get your new PIN.
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Family members eligible for coverage under your Self and Family enrollment are your spouse (including a valid common law marriage) and children under age 26, including legally adopted children, stepchildren, and recognized natural (born out of wedlock) children. Foster children are included if they live with you in a regular parent-child relationship. A child age 26 or over who is incapable of self support because of a mental or physical disability that existed before age 26 is also an eligible family member. Your employing office will look at the child’s relationship to you as the enrollee to determine whether the child is a covered family member.
You cannot cover other relatives, such as your mother, even if they are otherwise considered your dependents.
An employee’s agency makes enrollment eligibility decisions in accordance with the law and regulations. Ask your Human Resources Office for help in deciding whether your circumstances meet the requirements.
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There are a number of factors for you to consider if you are employed part-time. Although you will not be eligible for the full government contribution, your entire employee contribution will be pre-tax if you participate in premium conversion. That larger reduction in taxable income might offset the lower government contribution. If you are a part-time reemployed annuitant, we suggest that you consult your agency or a qualified tax advisor to review your individual situation.
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No, you do not have to be enrolled in a family plan for the five years before you retire to meet the five-year requirement. As a retiree, you can enroll in a family plan during the Open Season or when an event occurs that permits a change to the family plan.
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Yes. There are a few things an employee should consider. First, to be eligible to continue FEHB coverage after retirement, a retiring employee must be enrolled or covered under the FEHB Program for the five years of service immediately before retirement, or, if less than five years, for all service since the first opportunity to enroll. Employees can count their coverage under TRICARE toward meeting this requirement. However, the employee must be enrolled in an FEHB health plan on the date of retirement to continue coverage.
Second, if the employee dies when the cancellation is in effect, any surviving spouse will not be eligible to continue FEHB health benefits coverage.
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During the fall of each year, you will receive a copy of the
Medicare & You handbook. It is also available by calling 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227) or TTY 1-877-486-2048, or at
www.medicare.gov/publications/pubs/pdf/10050.pdf . The Medicare & You handbook has information on Medicare Parts A & B;
Medicare Advantage Plans (Part C); Medicare Prescription Drug Coverage (Part D); Help for People with Limited Income and Resources; and Joining and Switching Plans. The Medicare website (
www.medicare.gov) contains the handbook and other information about Medicare. If you do not have a personal computer, your local library or senior center may be able to help you access this website. You should contact your retirement system before making any change to your coverage, especially if you are considering suspending your FEHB coverage to enroll in a Medicare Advantage Plan. If you are a CSRS or FERS annuitant, you may call OPM's Retirement Information Office at 1-88USOPMRET (1-888-767-6738) or 202-606-0500 from the metropolitan Washington area, or you may write to:
Office of Personnel Management
Retirement Operations Center
P.O. Box 45
Boyers, PA 16017-0045
Other useful publications, such as the
Guide to Health Insurance for People with Medicare, are also available at the Medicare number (1-800-633-4227) or from your State Health Insurance Assistance Program (SHIP) counseling office. The SHIP counselors in your state are also available by telephone or sometimes as a walk-in resource if you would like more personalized attention. You can find SHIP counseling office telephone numbers in the Medicare & You handbook or on the Medicare website at
www.medicare.gov/contacts/static/allStateContacts.asp.
Your FEHB plan brochure provides specific information on how its benefits are coordinated with Medicare. Some HMOs participating in the FEHB are structured to provide more comprehensive coverage if you enroll in both their HMO and their Medicare Advantage plan.
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As a result of health care reform, beginning January 1, 2011, children of Federal enrollees will be covered by their parent’s FEHB Self and Family enrollment until their 26th birthday (plus a 31-day temporary extension of coverage), even if the child previously lost coverage because he/she turned 22.
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If you die, the Waiver of Immediate Reinstatement of FEHB automatically terminates. If you postponed reinstatement of a Self and Family enrollment, and your survivors are eligible for a survivor annuity, their FEHB coverage will begin the day after your death.
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Most health maintenance organizations (HMO) restrict enrollment to an area where its doctors and hospitals are accessible. Although some HMOs do not have restrictions on where you live or work, please recognize that if you later find it is inconvenient to get to a plan provider, you may have to wait until the next Open Season to change plans.
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When a drug patent expires other companies may produce a generic version of the brand name drug. A generic medication, also approved by the FDA, is basically a copy of the brand name drug and is marketed under its chemical name. A generic drug may have a different color or shape than its brand name counterpart, but it must have the same active ingredients, strength, and dosage form (i.e., pill, liquid, or injection), and provide the same effectiveness and safety as its brand name counterpart.
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The formulary for your health plan provides a list of medications that a team of health care specialists have approved. Your doctor will write a prescription based on your medical needs, but the formulary provides him with recommendations from the pharmacist and physician team.
An effective formulary system provides a medication safety feature. When drugs and administration methods are systematically included (or deleted) in a controlled drug formulary, there are a number of benefits. For instance, each new drug added undergoes a peer review process that uncovers any safety concerns with the drug. Also, when drugs are systematically added to the formulary, there is adequate time to educate the staff before the drug is used. An organized formulary also ensures that the number and variety of drugs is kept to an effective minimum. There are approximately 13,000 prescription drugs on the market today and several drugs can often be used to treat the same condition. A formulary, based on safety and cost considerations, helps to limit the drugs recommended by your plan's health care professionals.
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You must request a waiver of the five-year requirement from OPM. The steps you must take are given in the FEHB Handbook at
Waiver of 5-Year Enrollment Requirement - Waiver of 5-Year Enrollment Requirement.
If your agency has buyout authority, you may not need to write to the OPM. If you think you might qualify for a waiver of the 5-year coverage requirement, contact your Human Resources Office for information. If you meet the requirements, your agency will attach a memorandum to your retirement application stating that you meet the requirements for waiver by the OPM.
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- OPM's Office of Retirement Programs website. The site provides various categories of information including the questions most frequently asked by annuitants and survivor annuitants.
- During the year, you may request information such as verification of annuity or the value of life insurance as well as make changes to your own retirement account, such as federal and state income tax withholding changes, by calling OPM on the toll-free number 1-888-767-6738, TDD for the hearing impaired 1-800-878-5707, or send email to retire@opm.gov. The automated telephone system is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
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If you were unable to choose another plan during military service, your Human Resources Office should reinstate your old enrollment code (for enrollment history purposes only), give you an opportunity to change to another plan, and immediately process your change. To avoid any break in coverage, they should make your new enrollment effective on the date they would have reinstated your old enrollment.
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