Frequently Asked Questions Benefits for LGBT Federal Employees and Annuitants

Yes, OPM proposed amendments to its regulations found at 5 C.F.R. §§ 550.401-409 to make it clear that same-sex domestic partners and the children of same sex-domestic partners are considered to be dependents for the purposes of the evacuation pay statutes.  See Final Federal Register Rule, Change in Definitions; Evacuation Pay and the Separate Maintenance Allowance at Johnston Island, July 20, 2012. https://www.federalregister.gov/articles/2012/07/20/2012-17540/change-in-definitions-evacuation-pay-and-the-separate-maintenance-allowance-at-johnston-island

 

 

 

If a retiree is married at retirement, an election for a survivor annuity benefit must be made at retirement, or if an annuitant wants to increase the amount of a survivor annuity provided to a spouse at retirement, the annuitant must elect that increase within 18 months of the retirement.

If the retiree is not married at retirement but then gets married after retirement, the election needs to be made within the 2-year period following the marriage.  If a person elects a survivor annuity for a spouse acquired after marriage, OPM must reduce the annuitant’s annuity by the cost of the survivor annuity benefit. Additionally, OPM must collect a deposit (through an actuarial reduction to the annuitant’s annuity) representing the amount the annuitant would have received had the survivor election been in place from the annuity commencing date to the effective date of the election, plus interest.

You can find more information about electing survivor annuity benefits after retirement by going to the Life Events webpage on Marriage/Divorce. You can also call contact OPM Retirement Services to talk about the specifics of your case.

Beginning in 2011 (Carrier letter 2011-12), OPM emphasized that transgender individuals should be provided appropriate preventive services in accordance with their individual medical status.  For example, an individual who transitions from female to male may still need pap smears if they have not undergone a hysterectomy.

Effective January 1, 2016, no carrier participating in the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program may have a general exclusion of services, drugs or supplies related to gender transition or “sex transformations.”

All plans complied with the OPM directive to remove blanket exclusions.  There are plans in every state that will offer mental health services, hormone therapy, and gender re-assignment surgery.

Plans differ in their covered services and procedures.  Members seeking specific services should consult plan brochures posted by state at www.opm.gov/insure.

Brochures contain links to the plan websites and plan contact information (see www.opm.gov/fehbbrochures).  Members/prospective members may contact the health plan directly to learn more about medical necessity criteria, pre-authorization, and/or pre-certification.  As an example, many carriers require a period of hormone therapy before surgery will be approved for coverage.

Same-sex domestic partners are ineligible for a spousal survivor annuity benefit. However, employees may elect at retirement an insurable interest annuity for anyone, including domestic partners or partners to a civil union, as long as they can show they are in good health and the people designated for this benefit can show that they have an insurable interest in the continued life of the employee.  The Office of Personnel Management will presume a same-sex domestic partner has an insurable interest in the continued life of an employee.

Yes, you may cover your same-sex spouse, but not your domestic partner at this time.

Generally, if you are married at the time of retirement, you are required to provide full survivor annuity benefits for your spouse unless your spouse consents to a lesser amount or no survivor benefits.

If no survivor benefit is payable, OPM will pay a lump-sum death benefit under the statutory order of precedence. Under the order of precedence, OPM must pay the lump-sum to any beneficiary the employee/retiree has designated as the recipient of that benefit. If the employee/retiree did not designate a beneficiary, then the next person entitled under the order of precedence is the surviving spouse.

As for Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) benefits, the experts at the Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board provided this answer: “A participant can designate any individual, organization, a trust or will as a beneficiary without spousal consent. However the spouse must consent to withdrawal that it is in any form other than a joint life survivor annuity with the spouse as the joint annuitant.”

Same-sex couples who are in a civil union or other forms of domestic partnership other than marriage are ineligible for most benefits. There are two big exceptions. 

The Federal Long-Term Care Insurance Program (FLTCIP) allows those individuals who satisfy the same-sex domestic partnership standard to be treated as qualifying relatives for Federal employees and annuitants. 

Also, employees may elect at retirement an insurable interest annuity for anyone, including domestic partners or partners to a civil union, as long as the retiree can show he/she is in good health and the person designated for this benefit can show that he/she has an insurable interest in the continued life of the employee. An insurable interest annuity is a different survivor benefit from a spousal survivor annuity benefit, so be aware that an insurable interest annuity provides a different level of benefits than a survivor annuity for a legal spouse.