Retirement & Financial Planning Report

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You generally may keep dental and/or vision coverage under the Federal Dental and Vision Insurance Program when you retire (or start receiving workers’ compensation).

Annuitants may participate in open season and make enrollment changes under the same circumstances as active employees. But there are several special considerations that differ from those applying to active employees.

Your FEDVIP coverage continues if you retire on an immediate annuity or on a disability annuity, or start receiving workers’ compensation. If you retire on a FERS Minimum Retirement Age +10 annuity that you elect to postpone, your FEDVIP coverage will stop when you separate from service. However, you may enroll again within 60 days of when your annuity starts.

If you retire on a deferred annuity, though, your FEDVIP coverage stops and you are not eligible to enroll.

Your coverage as an annuitant or compensationer continues as long as you continue receiving an annuity or compensation and pay your premiums, unless you cancel your coverage during an open season or terminate coverage due to insufficient annuity or compensation. Note that as a retiree, you can no longer pay FEDVIP premiums with pre-tax money. Therefore, while the premium rates are the same for both active employees and retirees, the cost is effectively higher for retirees.

If you retire and then go back to work for the government:

If you have FEDVIP coverage as an annuitant, and you become reemployed in an eligible position in federal service, you must contact the plan administrator so it can send the request for allotments to your agency so your agency can start making the allotments from your pay.

If you did not enroll in FEDVIP coverage as an annuitant and become reemployed in an eligible federal position, you have 60 days to enroll in FEDVIP.

If you enroll as an employee the administrator will stop sending requests for allotments from your annuity.

ask.FEDweek.com: FEDVIP – Dental and Vision Insurance

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