Federal Employees Health Benefits (FEHB) program | Coverage after separation or no longer eligible
FEHB Modification for Certain Temporary and other Employees | Affordable Care Act | Medicare | Tricare (Military)
Federal Employees Health Benefits (FEHB) program
Key FEHB Facts
- Coverage continues each year unless you make a change
- There are no waiting periods and no pre-existing condition limitations
- All nationwide FEHB plans offer international coverage
- The government pays about 70% of the premium cost
- You’re saving money on premiums since they are pre-tax (premium conversion)
- You are automatically under premium conversion unless you elect to waive it
- Open Season is an annual event that allows changes to FEHB
General Information
- FEHB Homepage
Enrollment
Use Employee Express to enroll, change, and cancel your FEHB coverage during Open Season and for some qualifying life events. If you do not see your event available in Employee Express, contact your Benefits Specialist for assistance.
- Employee Express
- Qualifying Life Events
- SF 2809 — Health Benefits Application form
- Premium Conversion Waiver Form
- Certification of Foster Children Form
Health Plan and Premium Information
- Plan Information
- Individual Plan Brochures
- Tool to Compare Health Plans
- Types of Plans
- Premium conversion
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Coverage after separation or no longer eligible
Military
Coverage for Federal Employees Called to Active Duty
Retirement
- Are you eligible to continue FEHB into retirement?
- Suspension of FEHB to use Tricare (annuitants only)
Temporary Continuation of Coverage (TCC)
- Child age 26
- Former Employee
- Former Spouse
TCC enrollment
- Complete SF 2809 — Application form
- Contact your Benefits Specialist for assistance
Resources
- FEHB Reference page
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Glossary of Terms
- FEHB Handbook
Questions?
Contact your Benefits Specialist for assistance
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FEHB Modification for Certain Temporary and other Employees
- FAQs for Supervisors and Employees
- FastFacts for Certain Full-time Temporary Employees and Certain Full-time Employees on Intermittent and Season Work Schedules
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Affordable Care
- Health Care Coverage Forms for Federal Employees—Fast Facts
- Health Insurance Marketplace Notice
- Health Care Reform FEHB Fast Facts
- Payroll FAQs on the Affordable Care Act
- Affordable Care Act (ACA) FAQs
- Affordable Care Act and FEHB FAQs
- Questions?
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Medicare
- Medicare.gov
- Medicare and FEHB
- Medicare and You Booklet
- Questions?
- Benefits Bulletin 13-2 Medicare
- Slides from Medicare Presentation by SSA — PowerPoint | PDF
- OPM's webcast on Medicare and the FEHB Program
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Tricare (Military)
- Tricare.mil
- Tricare and FEHB
- Suspension of FEHB to use Tricare (annuitants only)
- Questions?
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« Return to Pay and Benefits: Helpful Links
En español | When you stop working, you don’t have to enroll in Medicare Part B if you don’t want to, and your FEHB plan can’t require you to. Your benefits under the plan you choose are the same whether you sign up for Part B or not. If you want to have both types of coverage (in which case, Medicare would become your primary insurance), or if you want to drop the FEHB plan and rely wholly on Medicare, those are choices you’re free to make.
Still, the Office of Personnel Management, which administers the FEHB program, suggests some points to consider:
- Medicare may pay for some services that your FEHB plan doesn’t cover, such as home health care, some medical equipment and supplies, and orthopedic or prosthetic devices.
- Your FEHB plan may pay for some services that Medicare doesn’t cover, such as annual physicals, routine dental and vision care, and emergency coverage outside of the United States.
- If you have both an FEHB plan and Medicare, your benefits are coordinated so that you don’t have to file claims yourself. Depending on your plan, having both types of coverage may combine to pay almost all of your medical expenses. Some FEHB plans waive their own deductibles and copays for services that are also covered by Part B.
- If
you don’t sign up for Part B when you retire, but need to do so at some future date — for example, if you lose FEHBP coverage or it becomes too expensive to maintain — you would be liable for Part B late penalties.
Note that prescription drug coverage provided by FEHBP plans is creditable, so you don’t need Part D drug coverage unless Part D’s Extra Help program for low-income people would be helpful to you.
For more information, see the Office of Personnel Management’s guidance in its publication “The Federal Employees Health Benefits Program and Medicare” (PDF).