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

FEHB for Retirees and Survivor Annuitants

Federal retirees and their surviving spouses retain their eligibility for FEHB health coverage at the same cost as current employees. In order to carry your FEHB coverage into retirement, you must be entitled to retire on an immediate annuity under a retirement system for civilian employees (including the Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS) Minimum Retirement Age (MRA) + 10 retirement); and you must have been continuously enrolled (or covered as a family member) in any FEHB plan(s) for the 5 years of service immediately before the date your annuity starts, or for the full period(s) of service since your first opportunity to enroll (if less than 5 years). The 5 year requirement period can include the following: the time you are covered as a family member under another person's FEHB enrollment; or the time you are covered under the Uniformed Services Health Benefits Program (also known as TRICARE) as long as you were covered under an FEHB enrollment at the time of your retirement.

Information for Retirees and Survivor Annuitants
The web version of our print pamphlet Information for Retirees and Survivor Annuitants, RI 79-2, summarizes the principal FEHB requirements and benefits from the retiree's viewpoint.

Frequently Asked Questions
The questions that we are most asked by annuitants and their families.

FEHB Handbook Chapter
This chapter in the FEHB Handbook discusses the special FEHB considerations for annuitants and compensationers.