Insurance FAQs Life

If you separate from service to enter the military you are considered to be in a nonpay status for FEGLI Purposes. As long as you have reemployment rights under USERRA, you can keep your FEGLI coverage for up to 12 months, or until 90 days after your military service ends, whichever date comes first. This coverage is free. At the end of 12 months (or 90 days after the military service ends), the coverage terminates. You also get the 31-day extension of coverage and the right to convert. Public Law 110-181, the Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act, enacted January 28, 2008, authorizes the continuation of FEGLI coverage for an additional 12 months for Federal employees called to active duty whose coverage terminated after the law's enactment. The law allows employees who enter on active duty or active duty for training in one of the uniformed services for more than 30 days to continue their FEGLI for up to 24 months. FEGLI coverage is free for the first 12 months. However, employees must pay both the employee and agency share of the premiums for their Basic coverage, and also pay the entire cost (there is no agency share) for any Optional insurance they may have for the additional 12 months of coverage. See more details in BAL 08-203 and Questions and Answers. At the end of 12 months, or 90 days after your military service ends, whichever date comes first, your former agency must complete an Agency Certification of Insurance Status (SF 2821) and a Notice of Conversion Privilege (SF 2819). If a claim needs to be filed while you are still covered under FEGLI, you or your survivors should contact your former employing agency.

If you had a life event during a break in service, you may still be able to enroll or increase your coverage. You normally have 60 days from the date of a life event (marriage, divorce, death of a spouse, acquisition of a child) to enroll or increase your coverage. Your agency can extend this 60-day time limit if you had a change in your family status during a break in service of less than 180 days or during the 60-day period immediately before separation. You will have 31 days from the date of reinstatement or 60 days from the date of the event, whichever gives you more time, to enroll or increase the number of multiples in Option B and/or Option C. In order to make a change based on a life event, you must submit a Life Insurance Election (SF 2817) to your human resources office within the appropriate time limit.

No. Once you are enrolled in Option C life insurance, all eligible family members are automatically covered. For more information see the FEGLI Handbook.

When you are newly appointed or transferred to a FEGLI eligible position, you are automatically enrolled in FEGLI Basic life insurance.  To elect any Optional coverage, or to waive Basic, you must complete a Life Insurance Election (SF 2817) and return it to your human resources office. If you do not submit an election form within 60 days of becoming eligible, you remain enrolled in Basic only.

FEGLI Option C covers the lives of the enrolled employee/retiree's eligible family members.  Eligible family members for Option C include a spouse (including a valid common law marriage) and eligible dependent children. Eligible dependent children must be unmarried and under age 22, or if age 22 or over, incapable of self-support because of a mental or physical disability that existed before the child reached age 22. Eligible dependent children include natural children, adopted children, stepchildren (if they live with you in a regular parent-child relationship), recognized natural children, and foster children (if they live with you in a regular parent-child relationship). Stillborn children are not covered. If you have any questions about eligible family members, please consult your human resources office. That office is responsible for determining eligibility. Option C comes in 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5 multiples of coverage. Each multiple is equal to $5,000 for a spouse and $2,500 for each eligible dependent child.

Your enrollment in Basic will be effective on the first day you are in pay and duty status on or after the date OFEGLI approves your request. If you also want to enroll in Option A and/or Option B, this coverage will be effective on the first day you are in pay and duty status on or after the date OFEGLI approves your request and your human resources office receives your Life Insurance Election (SF 2817) electing such coverage.

You can download and print the FE-6 here.  OFEGLI will also mail a claim form to all beneficiaries. Complete the FE-6 Claim for Death Benefits according to the instructions on the form. If you need help, contact MetLife at 1-800-633-4542.

If at least one year has passed since the effective date of your last waiver of some FEGLI life insurance coverage, you may get a physical exam at your own expense using the Request for Insurance.  You and your human resources office must complete part of the form. You then take the form to your physician. He or she will complete the rest of the form and send it to the Office of Federal Employees' Group Life Insurance (OFEGLI). If OFEGLI approves your request, they will notify your human resources office. Your human resources office will automatically enroll you in Basic insurance, unless you already have Basic. You will have 60 days from OFEGLI's approval to elect Option A and/or up to 5 multiples of Option B.

Employees: File the court order with your human resources office.  If you do not know how to contact your human resources office, ask the appropriate Agency Benefits Officer. Annuitants: File the court order with OPM's Retirement Office at: Office of Personnel Management Retirement Operations Center Validation Section P.O. Box 45 Boyers, PA 16017-0045 Compensationers: If you receive benefits from the Department of Labor, Office of Workers Compensation Programs and you've been receiving these benefits for less than 12 months and you are still on the agency's rolls as an employee, file the court order with your human resources office. If you are on compensation and are separated from your agency or have been receiving compensation for 12 months or more, file the court order with OPM's Retirement Office at the address above. Note: A certified copy of the court order must be on file with the appropriate office before the death of the insured person to be valid.

Yes, Public Law 110-417, the Duncan Hunter National Defense Authorization Act, allows new FEGLI life insurance election 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 FEGLI election form 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. More details available in BAL 08-204 and BAL 12-201.

If you are an employee in a FEGLI-eligible position, a Qualifying Life Event allows you to enroll in FEGLI Basic, Option A, Option B (up to 5 multiples), and/or Option C (up to 5 multiples).  You must enroll in Basic to be able to enroll in any or all Optional coverage. There are four FEGLI Qualifying Life Events:

• Marriage
• Divorce
• Death of a spouse
• Acquisition of an eligible child

To enroll based on a Qualifying Life Event, you must submit a Life Insurance Election (SF 2817) to your human resources office within 60 days after the day of the event.  For more information, contact your human resources office and review page 4, row 2 of the Election form.

Yes.  When you no longer have any eligible family members, contact your human resources office to cancel the Option C coverage. The cancellation is effective the end of the pay period in which you no longer had any eligible family members.  If you stopped having eligible family members before the current pay period, your Option C cancellation is retroactive to the last pay period when you had an eligible family member and your agency will reimburse your Option C premiums paid since then. For more information, see the FEGLI Handbook.

No. There are no waivers of the five year/all opportunity rule for continuing FEGLI life insurance coverage into retirement. There are no exceptions to the "no waiver" rule — it does not matter whether you retire on disability, accept a voluntary incentive payment, etc. The only way to continue coverage into retirement is to meet the five year/all opportunity rule. Yes, this is different from the health benefits program which does allow for waivers under certain circumstances. For more information about retiring with FEGLI life insurance, see the FEGLI Handbook.

A conversion policy is an individual (non-group) life insurance policy that you are entitled to when your group life insurance ends, unless it ended because you voluntarily cancelled it. If you have assigned your insurance, the assignee(s), rather than you, is (are) entitled to convert your Basic, Option A, and Option B coverage. You may still convert your Option C coverage. Under the conversion privilege, you may convert all or any part of your Basic and Optional insurance to an individual policy. No medical examination is required. The individual policy will be a cash-value type of life insurance policy. This means it will build cash value that you can borrow against. You cannot convert to term insurance. For more information about conversion, see the FEGLI Handbook.