U.S. Office of Personnel Management - Ensuring the Federal Government has an effective civilian workforce

If your coverage did not continue into retirement, it ended when you separated for retirement (or at the end of 12 months non-pay status if you were in a non-pay status before your separation), subject to the 31-day temporary extension of coverage. This 31-day extension of your life insurance coverage (excluding accidental death and dismemberment insurance) is automatic. If you were not eligible to (or did not want to) continue life insurance coverage as a retiree, you had the opportunity to convert to an individual policy. Generally, to have continuous insurance protection, you had to apply for the individual policy and pay the first premium to the insurance company within the 31-day temporary extension of coverage period.

To convert to an individual policy, you must have applied by following the instructions on Standard Form 2819, Notice of Conversion Privilege, within 31 days after your insurance as an employee ended or within 31 days after receiving the notice, whichever gave you more time. If we terminated your insurance after you retired, you must have applied within 31 days of the date you received Form RI 76-1, You Cannot Continue Your Basic Life Insurance, or Form RI 76-6, You Cannot Continue Your Optional Life Insurance, from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM). After the 31-day temporary extension of coverage period expired, you no longer had Federal life insurance protection.

If you were unable to convert to an individual policy within the 31-day time limit for reasons beyond your control or you never received a notice, you may make a belated request by writing directly to:

Office of Federal Employees’ Group Life Insurance
P. O. Box 2627
Jersey City, NJ 07303-2627

You must mail your belated request within 6 months after you first became eligible to convert to an individual policy. You should provide a full explanation of the cause beyond your control that prevented you from making a timely request. The Office of Federal Employees’ Group Life Insurance will determine if you are eligible to convert.

You can determine the exact cost of your coverage from the discussions below. If you are receiving annuity payments, we withhold your life insurance premiums from your annuity. Effective October 30, 1998, all retirees may pay the premiums directly to us if their annuity is too low to cover the cost of the coverage. We will notify you if your monthly annuity is too low to cover the cost of the life insurance coverage and will give you the opportunity to make direct payment. Once you elect to make direct payment, you must continue to make payments as long as you are eligible for continued enrollment in the Program, even if your monthly annuity increases to the point where we could deduct your life insurance premiums from your annuity. The direct pay option is not available to Civil Service Retirement System retirees whose annuities were too low to cover the cost of their life insurance before October 30, 1998.

Note: The monthly premium rates shown in this pamphlet are correct as of the date of publication, but are subject to change.