FEGLI Open Season Begins for Federal Employees’ Benefit
The federal employees who have wanted to join FEGLI or increase their FEGLI coverage can now easily do so as the open season with regard to it has begun. This will not apply to people who have retired. The last open season occurred in 2004. Experts say it’s high time for employees to reassess their insurance.
Details on FEGLI Open Season for Federal Employees
The FEGLI or Federal employees’ Group Life Insurance’s open season has begun and it would continue throughout September. As a part of this phase, the federal employees can enroll themselves for this plan or they can change the coverage.
The FEGLI Data
As per the Office of Personnel Management, about 2.4 million feds have been benefiting from FEGLI. It includes employees of the semi-independent U.S. Postal Service. This number is 89 percent of those who are eligible for the plan.
About FEGLI
Some people might not be aware of what FEGLI is. It is a term type insurance that allows a person to have basic coverage equal to the salary of an employee rounded to next $1000 plus $2000. It has an option for $10,000 in additional coverage. Additionally, it has an option for up to five times the salary of an employee rounded to the next $1,000 and an optional coverage of about $12,500 for each dependent child who is less than 22 years of age and an optional coverage of $25,000 on the spouse of the employee.
The Costs
The premium an employee has to pay varies by age. The enrollees need to pay the full cost. The exceptions are agencies paying two-thirds of the cost of basic insurance or the USPS paying the full cost of that coverage for all its employees. It is pertinent to add here that some premium rates increased and decreased in January this year due to claim patterns.
The Last Open Season
The last open season was in 2004 which reiterates the fact that FEGLI open seasons are rarer when compared to the vision or dental insurance programs or the federal health insurance programs. Officials state that in the prior open season about 146,000 changes took place. These changes were related to increases in existing coverage and new enrollments
Expert Advice
The OPM’s Assistant Director for Health Care and Insurance, Alan Spielman believes that the federal employees should look hard at and reassess their insurance premium as soon as possible to make the most of FEGLI open season.
