FedSmith.com recently posted an article of mine (See The Five Year Requirement Under FEHB) that dealt with the requirement that an individual must have been enrolled in Federal Employees Health Benefits (FEHB) and Federal Employees Group Life Insurance (FEGLI) for the five years immediately preceding retirement in order to carry said insurance into retirement. One of the points made regarding FEHB follows:
- The five years refers to your enrollment. Your spouse does not have to be enrolled for the five years immediately preceding your retirement in order to be covered. You can bring your spouse on your insurance at any time before retirement, or even after retirement. Do be aware that if you die after retirement but before bringing your spouse on your FEHB, your spouse will not be able to continue FEHB, even if you have elected a survivor annuity.
I was concerned that many employees who contacted me after the article appeared had been told by their human resources offices and by pre-retirement seminar providers that the five year requirement also applied to the employee’s spouse. Some other readers said that they were told that their spouse needed to be enrolled at least one day before the employee retired. Nothing could be further from the truth.
The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) clearly lists the requirements for a spouse to continue FEHB coverage after an employee’s or retiree’s death in both the FEHB Handbook and the FEHB FAQS. The requirements are as follows:
- The spouse must be enrolled on a self and family plan as of the date of the employee/retiree’s death.
- The spouse must be entitled to receive a survivor annuity.
That’s it. OPM lists no further requirements. As long as the two requirements above are met as of the date of the employee/retiree’s death, it does not matter whether or not the spouse was enrolled at the time of retirement or five years before.