• Election Required
• Health Benefits Election Form
• Social Security Number
• Change in Election
• Temporary Employees

Election Required

If you are eligible to enroll in the FEHB Program, you must complete an election either to enroll in a plan or not to enroll. You must do this within 60 days after you become eligible. Your employing office must remind you of the 60-day deadline and ensure that you make your election on a timely basis. If you don't make an election, you are considered to have declined coverage.

Health Benefits Election Form

Generally, you will make elections--to enroll, not to enroll, to change enrollment, or to cancel enrollment-- on the Health Benefits Election Form (SF 2809). The SF 2809 may be in either paper or electronic format. However, your employing office may allow or require you to make open season changes through "Employee Express" or another electronic method which does not involve an SF 2809. You should check with your employing office to see if this is available for your use.

Social Security Number

All carriers use your social security number as your identification number for enrollment purposes. Your social security number must be shown on all enrollment or disenrollment documents.

Change in Election

If you want to change your election before the election period ends, your employing office must accept the change.

Temporary Employees

If you are a temporary employee, your employing office must establish a potential FEHB eligibility date for you. Your employing office must notify you as soon as you are eligible to enroll and give you 60 days to make an election.

FREE CHOICE OF PLANS

• Employing Office Responsibility
• Materials to be Given
• Plan Selection
• Plans Sponsored by Unions and Employee Organizations

Employing Office Responsibility

You will be given a full opportunity to make a free choice among the plans available to you. Your employing office will explain the FEHB Program to you as soon as you become eligible; give you informational material; caution you against cancellation of any private health insurance you may already have before coverage under this Program becomes effective; and urge that you study the material and decide which plan is best suited to meet your health care needs.

Materials to be Given

Your employing office will give you the following materials before, or as soon as possible after, you become eligible for FEHB coverage:

• Guide to Federal Employees Health Benefits Plans. This booklet, which is updated each year, contains general enrollment information, lists all FEHB plans and gives your share of the premium rates, and gives the major features of each fee-for-service plan.
• Health Benefits Election Form (SF 2809). You will be asked to complete and return this form, regardless of whether you elect to enroll or not to enroll in the FEHB Program.
• Health Plan Brochures. Your employing office will allow you to review the brochures of the plans you are eligible to enroll in. Your employing office will allow you to keep the brochure of the plan you select.

Plan Selection

Only you can decide which plan is best suited for your individual needs. Your employing office will not make comparisons between benefits offered by various plans and will not show favoritism toward a plan. They should not in any other way try to influence your final selection of a plan. However, your employing office will answer your questions about the FEHB Program.

Plans Sponsored by Unions and Employee Organizations

You may elect to enroll in a plan sponsored by a union or employee organization if you are a member of the organization or if you promptly take steps to become a member. Some employee organizations will allow your enrollment in its plan if you become an associate member (where you are enrolled in that organization only for health benefits purposes). Certain plans are open only to specific groups of employees.

Your employing office will not verify whether you are a member of the organization when it accepts your Health Benefits Election Form enrolling in the organization's plan; the organization will verify your membership when it receives your election form. However, your employing office will make sure that you understand that membership in the organization that sponsors the plan is necessary to be an enrollee in the plan.

LATE ELECTION

• Accepting Late Elections
• Documenting Late Elections
• Effective Date
• Election by Proxy

Accepting Late Elections

If, for reasons beyond your control, you were unable to make an election within the required time limits, your employing office may allow you to make a late election. You must make your election within 60 days after your employing office notified you of its decision.

Your employing office will decide whether your failure to make a timely election was beyond your control. Your error in judgment or failure to read information are not considered causes beyond your control. Some examples of cause beyond your control are:

• You were on service elsewhere when you ordinarily would have been able to make the election.
• You are a new employee and your employing office didn't give you information about health benefits.
• Your employing office told you in error that you were not eligible to enroll.
• You are an employee, formerly covered under another person's enrollment, and were belatedly informed of that coverage's termination.

Documenting Late Elections

If your employing office accepts a late election from you, it records its determination that you were unable to make the election on a timely basis for reasons beyond your control, giving the date you were notified of the determination, in the Remarks section of the Health Benefits Election Form (SF 2809). If you are electing to enroll, it is especially important that this be documented on the SF 2809 for purposes of meeting the requirements for continuing enrollment after retirement. Your employing office must state the reason for your failure to make the election on a timely basis on either the SF 2809 or on a memo attached to the Official Personnel Folder copy of the SF 2809.

Effective Date

Late elections are effective prospectively, except for belated open season elections, as explained in "Correction of Errors."

Election by Proxy

Your employing office may permit your representative to make an election for you with your written authorization. This may by done when you are unable to make an election on a timely basis; for example, when you will be on extended travel in a remote location, or you expect to be hospitalized during the next election opportunity. Your representative must sign his or her own name on the Health Benefits Election Form (SF 2809) and add after it "For: (your name)." Your employing office attaches the written authorization to the Official Personnel Folder copy of the SF 2809 and writes "Authorization attached" in the Remarks section.

ELECTION NOT TO ENROLL

• Your Responsibility
• Change in Election not to Enroll
• Effect of Transfer on Election Not to Enroll
• Employing Office Action When You do not Make an Election

Your Responsibility

It is your responsibility to ensure that your Health Benefits Election Form (SF 2809) correctly reflects your intentions. When you elect not to enroll you certify by your signature on the SF 2809 that you are aware:

• of the effect the election not to enroll could have on your eligibility to continue health benefits coverage after retirement;
• that you may not enroll again until an event occurs (such as marriage or open season) that permits enrollment.

Change in Election Not to Enroll

If you want to change your election before the election period ends, your employing office must accept the change.

Effect of Transfer on Election not to Enroll

If you transfer to another employing office without a break in service of more than 3 calendar days, your election not to enroll is also transferred and you may not enroll as a new employee of the gaining agency. If you have a break in service of more than 3 calendar days, you must elect either to enroll or not to enroll, the same as a new employee.

Employing Office Action when You do not Make an Election

If you don't make an election, your employing office will contact you before the election period ends and urge you to make an election. If you still don't make an election, you are considered to have elected not to enroll.

If you are an eligible temporary employee who doesn't enroll, your employing office will document in your Official Personnel Folder your date of eligibility, the date it sent notification of your eligibility, and the date of its follow-up contact urging you to make an election.

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Handbook Contents

• Introduction
• Cost of Insurance
• Health Plans
• Eligibility for Health Benefits
• Enrollment
• Leave Without Pay Status and Insufficient Pay
• Termination, Conversion, and Temporary Continuation of Coverage
• Annuitants and Compensationers
• Military Service
• Family Members
• Former Spouses

Appendices

• Forms and Brochures
• Glossary
• Table of Permissible Changes
• Chapter 89 of title 5, United States Code
• Part 890 of title 5, Code of Federal Regulations

Other

• Search the Handbook
• Handbook Changes