Federal Employees' Group Life Insurance Program (FEGLI)
What does this Program offer?
The FEGLI Program offers group term life insurance.
Key FEGLI facts
- The FEGLI Program is not part of the annual
Open Season.
- Employees in eligible positions are automatically
covered under Basic life insurance, unless they
choose to waive that coverage.
- Employees must have Basic insurance in order to
have or elect Optional insurance.
- Employees must take action, within strict time
limits, to elect Optional insurance. Coverage is
not automatic.
- The Postal Service pays the full cost of Basic
insurance. Enrollees pay 100% of the cost of
Optional insurance.
- FEGLI does not have any cash or paid-up value.
You cannot get a loan by borrowing from this
insurance.
- Retirees may be able to continue their FEGLI coverage
into retirement, but they cannot elect FEGLI
coverage as a retiree.
- Living benefits are life insurance benefits paid to
you while you are still living, rather than paid to a
beneficiary or survivor when you die. You are eligible
to elect a living benefit if you are an
employee, retiree, or compensationer covered
under the FEGLI Program who has been diagnosed
as terminally ill with a life expectancy of
nine months or less, and you have not assigned
your insurance.
What coverage is available?
Basic insurance - your annual salary, rounded up to
the next even $1,000, plus $2,000. Basic insurance
includes accidental death and dismemberment coverage
for employees (not for retirees).
Optional insurance
- Option A - Standard - $10,000 of insurance.
Option A includes accidental death and dismemberment
coverage for employees (not retirees).
- Option B - Additional - 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5 times your
annual rate of basic pay after rounding it up to
the next even $1,000.
- Option C - Family - coverage for your spouse
and all of your eligible dependent children. You
can elect 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5 multiples. Each multiple is
equal to $5,000 for your spouse and $2,500 for
each eligible child.
How much does it cost?
The Postal Service pays the full cost of your basic life
insurance premium.
You pay 100% of the premium for Optional insurance.
The cost depends on your age, based on
5-year age groups.
Am I eligible to enroll?
Most Postal Service employees are eligible to enroll in
FEGLI. Retirees are eligible to carry their FEGLI into
retirement if they meet the following requirements:
eligible to retire on an immediate annuity (including
FERS MRA+10 retirement), have not converted the coverage
to a private plan, and have been insured under
FEGLI for the five years immediately preceding retirement
or for all periods of service during which FEGLI
was available to them. There is no waiver of this
five-year rule.
When can I enroll?
The FEGLI Program does not participate in the annual
Open Season.
If you are a new employee who is eligible for FEGLI,
or an employee who has become newly eligible to
enroll, you will be automatically enrolled in Basic. If
you do not want Basic, you must file a waiver.
As a new or newly eligible employee, you may enroll
in Optional insurance within 31 days of becoming
eligible. If you take no action, you will have Basic and
will not have any Optional insurance.
If you are not a new employee or newly eligible, you
may enroll in Basic life insurance and, if you wish,
Option A and/or Option B coverage by providing satisfactory
medical information at your own expense using
the Request for Life Insurance (Standard Form 2822).
You cannot enroll in Option C this way.
If you already have Basic insurance, you may elect or
increase Option B and/or Option C within 60 days of
experiencing a qualifying life event (marriage, divorce,
death of a spouse or birth or adoption of children).
You cannot enroll in Option A this way.
You may also enroll during a FEGLI Open Season,
which is held infrequently. You will receive plenty of
notice when there is a FEGLI Open Season. The
most recent FEGLI Open Seasons were held in 2004
and 1999.
How do I enroll?
Contact the Human Resources Shared Service Center
on 1-877-477-3273, option 5 for details on how you
can enroll.
Who gets the benefits paid after my death?
When you die, the Office of Federal Employees' Group
Life Insurance (OFEGLI), an administrative unit of
Metropolitan Life Insurance Company (MetLife), will
pay life insurance benefits in a particular order set by
law, unless you have a standard form (SF) 2823, Designation
of Beneficiary. FEGLI in your official personnel
file. The FE 76-20 FEGLI Program Booklet for USPS
Employees, available from the HRSSC and at
www.opm.gov/insure/life, contains more details.
How does my beneficiary file a claim?
He or she must use form FE-6, Claim for Death Benefits
to claim FEGLI benefits, available from the HRSSC, or
retirement system or at www.opm.gov/insure/life.
How do I get more information about
this Program?
Contact the HRSSC on 1-877-477-3273, option 5. If you
are retired, contact OPM's Retirement Operations Center
at retire@opm.gov or by calling 1-888-767-6738. Neither
OFEGLI nor OPM's Insurance Services Program
offices maintain records for active Postal Service
employees or retirees.