Insurance FAQs

Your employing office will notify you of the choices available to you and provide you with a method to make direct premium payments.

Only you and the children born to or adopted by you and your former spouse (the Federal employee or annuitant) are covered under a Self and Family enrollment. Your child must be under age 26 or be incapable of self-support because of a mental or physical disability that existed before age 26. Your children cannot be covered under more than one FEHB enrollment. If the employee or annuitant covers the children under his/her FEHB enrollment, your Spouse Equity enrollment should be for Self Only coverage.

You will be eligible to enroll once you return from active duty. You will have 60 days from the date you are restored to a civilian position in which to enroll in FEDVIP.

First, check your plan's brochure to see if the service is covered, limited or excluded. The next step is to review the disputed claims section of your brochure. Briefly, the disputed claims section will direct you to write to the plan to explain why (in terms of the applicable brochure coverage provisions) you feel the services should be covered, and to ask the plan to reconsider your claim. If the plan again denies the claim, read the plan's decision letter carefully and then check your plan's brochure again. If you still disagree with the plan's decision, the disputed claims section of your brochure will show you how to write to the Office of Personnel Management to ask us to review the claim. We can't review a denied claim unless your plan has reconsidered it first (or at least been given an opportunity to reconsider it). Generally, we will acknowledge your request within 5 days. After we complete the review, we will send you a final response within 60 days. If we need more time or if you need to do more -- such as send us more information - we will contact you within 14 work days of the time we get your request and tell you what you still need to do, if anything. We are sorry but we cannot give you a decision over the phone until the review has been completed and a written copy of the final decision has been issued.

First, call your plan. If they tell you they haven't gotten the paperwork yet from your retirement system, you may contact your retirement system. If you are a Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) annuitant or a Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS) annuitant, contact OPM at 1-888-767-6738. Before contacting your retirement system, have your annuity information ready: your name, civil service annuity number (beginning with CSA or CSF), phone number and address, and information about your plan, such as the carrier enrollment code.

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.

Your agency should contact you or your dependent and give you an opportunity to select another plan. If they were unable to reach you and you learned after the enrollment time frame that your plan discontinued, they must use SF 2810 to reinstate your old enrollment code. This is for enrollment history purposes only, and cannot be sent to your old carrier since the plan is discontinued. Your agency should give you an opportunity to select another plan, and process the change retroactive to the date after your enrollment under your former plan terminated. When selecting another plan, please remember you are responsible for determining if any providers used participate in your new plan's network.

In general, FEDVIP dental plans will not cover the cost of any orthodontic appliances that were placed before enrollment in the plan and satisfaction of any waiting period. Although, after meeting the orthodontic waiting period, certain plans may prorate these costs.

Medicare beneficiaries may enroll in Original Medicare (Parts A and B) or choose to get their benefits from an array of Medicare Advantage Plans (Part C) plan options. Depending on where you live, Part C options may include Medicare Advantage Plans that are approved by Medicare but run by private companies. Medicare Advantage plans offer Medicare Health Maintenance Organizations (HMOs), Preferred Provider Organizations (PPOs), private fee-for-service plans (PFFS), Medicare Special Needs Plans, and Medicare Medical Savings Account (MSA) plans. The Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement and Modernization Act (MMA) established a voluntary outpatient prescription drug benefit, Medicare Part D, effective January 1, 2006. Medicare enrollees are able to receive prescription drug coverage by enrolling in a Medicare Part D plan. Medicare Advantage Plans (Medicare Part C) may also offer prescription drug coverage that follows the same rules as the Medicare Part D coverage. Other Medicare plans include Medicare Cost Plans, demonstration/pilot programs, and PACE (Programs of All-inclusive Care for the Elderly).

You may not need to write to the Office of Personnel Management. 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 Office of Personnel Management.

No, FEDVIP plans are separate from any Non-FEHB dental plan offered through your FEHB plan.

No. If you remarry, your new spouse and his/her children cannot receive health benefits coverage under your survivor annuitant enrollment. If, however, you are a widow(er) survivor annuitant who is also receiving an annuity based on your own Federal career or who is a current Federal employee, you may be eligible to transfer your enrollment to your retirement annuity or your employing agency in order to provide coverage for your new spouse and his or her children.

The plans print their provider directories and have them available during Open Season. Many plans also provide this information on their websites. If your agency has an Open Season health fair this fall, the plans probably will be there to hand out their brochures and provider directories. You can also call the plan at the number listed in the Guide to Federal Benefits. You can also find specific plan contact information on the FEHB website.

The premiums for the FEHB plan you are currently enrolled in are in the brochure you will receive from your plan during the annual Federal Benefits Open Season. The Guide to Federal Benefits is a comparison of the plans and their benefits and premiums. There are a variety of Guides targeted to specific groups of enrollees. The average premium is recalculated every year.  Per FEHB law, the government will pay the lesser of: 75% of the carrier’s total premium, or 72% of the average premium.  The enrollee is responsible for the difference between the government contribution and the total premium. If the average premium increases, the maximum government contribution also increases. The total premium is the same for all enrollees, but the Government contribution is based on your employment. Some agencies, such as the Postal Service, contribute additional money towards the total premium. As a result, the share you must pay will depend upon your employment status. All Guides are available on this website or through your Human Resources Office.

A Plan offering a Point of Service product (POS) has features of both a Health Maintenance Organization (HMO) and a managed Fee-for-Service (FFS) plan. A few years ago, we began permitting plans to offer POS products as part of their benefits packages. Think of it as a hybrid of the two types of plans. In an HMO, the POS product lets you choose to use providers that are not part of the network of providers affiliated with the plan. There is a cost associated with choosing non-plan providers, usually in the form of substantial deductibles and coinsurances that are higher than the copayment you would normally pay for using a plan provider. You will also need to file a claim for reimbursement, like in a FFS plan. The plan wants you to use its network of providers, but it recognizes the desire of some enrollees to see a provider of their choosing on some occasions. In the case of a POS product of a managed Fee-for-Service (FFS) plan, the opposite is true. The plan's normal benefits include deductibles and coinsurance. But in some locations, the plan has set up a network of providers similar to that you would find in an HMO. The plan encourages you to use these providers, usually by waiving the deductibles and applying a copayment that is smaller than the normal coinsurance. Normally, there would not be any paperwork when you use a network provider. Check the FEHB Guide on this website to see where the FFS plan offers a POS product, and what you must do to elect to participate in the plan's POS product.

If you cancel your FEHB, you need to be aware of the following consequences that apply to all employees who cancel their FEHB, including:

• You and your dependents are no longer covered under the FEHB Program.
• You may not reenroll in FEHB until you lose your TAMP coverage or have another qualifying life event (QLE) that permits enrollment, or until the next FEHB Open Season. If you reenroll because you lose TAMP coverage, you must do so from 31 days before to 60 days after your TAMP ends, and use Code 1M on Health Benefits Election Form, SF 2809, at www.opm.gov/forms/pdf_fill/sf2809 [848 KB]. Additional QLEs that permit enrollment, for example, a change in family status, are listed on SF 2809. If you have one of these QLEs, you must enroll within the timeframes shown.
• If you transfer to another Federal agency, your cancellation follows you and you may not reenroll until you lose your TAMP coverage or have another QLE that permits enrollment, or until the next FEHB Open Season. See above bullet for details.
• If you separate from your employment, you will not be eligible for temporary continuation of coverage (TCC) because you will not have any FEHB enrollment to continue. Also, you will not have an FEHB enrollment to convert to an individual policy with your former insurance carrier.
• If you retire, you will not have an FEHB enrollment to continue into retirement.
• If you die, you will not have an FEHB family enrollment for your survivors to continue, even if they are eligible for a survivor annuity.

Note: Your agency may ask you to sign a statement stating that you understand these consequences.

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.

If your FEHB is retroactively reinstated for 6 additional months, FEHB will become the primary payer and TRICARE the secondary payer during the additional 6 month coverage period. Thus, any payments made by TRICARE during that 6-month period could be reconciled with the FEHB carrier and any benefit adjustments could cause a difference in the amounts that you owe. Factors such as covered vs. non-covered services, network vs. out-of-network providers, deductibles, copayments, coinsurance, Health Maintenance Organization (HMO) geographic considerations, and catastrophic coverage applications may alter your total out-of-pocket expenses. Some additional issues for you to consider are:

• If your FEHB plan covers services that TRICARE does not, having FEHB coverage could work to your advantage.
• If TRICARE covers services that FEHB does not, TRICARE as the secondary payer should not adversely work against you since TRICARE would pay its normal benefits in the absence of benefits from the FEHB carrier.
• If your FEHB plan becomes primary and you used TRICARE providers that were out of your FEHB plan's network, you need to determine if you would be better off with just the TRICARE coverage paying benefits alone or would you be better off having FEHB pay as primary and TRICARE as secondary for the out-of-network services.
• You need to determine if shifting deductibles, copayments, and coinsurance from TRICARE to FEHB as the primary carrier enhances or decreases your overall benefits.
• You need to determine how the geographic restriction of having an HMO Plan as primary payer affects the benefits received for you and your family members and how it affects payment from TRICARE as the secondary payer.
• You need to determine if requesting retroactive FEHB for 6 additional months would enable you to meet your catastrophic protection benefits, thus, potentially enhancing your overall payment receipts.

It takes the Office of Federal Employees' Group Life Insurance (OFEGLI) an average of one week to process an election to enroll or increase coverage by getting a physical. If more than one week has passed since your doctor sent your request to OFEGLI and your human resources office has not yet received a decision, you can check on the status by calling OFEGLI at 1-800-633-4542.