Employee Benefits - NIH Benefits Information - Did You Know? July 2007
What's New?
Topics of Interest:
- If I Separate From Federal Service, What Happens To My Federal Long Term Care (LTC) Insurance?
- When Is The Best Date To Retire?
- What Happens To My Child’s Health And Life Insurance Coverage When He/She Turns Age 22?
- Can I Continue My Federal Employees Health Benefits (FEHB) and Federal Employees Group Life Insurance (FEGLI) Coverage Into Retirement?
- I Have Misplaced My myPay PIN. How Do I Obtain A New One?
Where Do I Go If I Have Questions About My Benefits?
1. BENEFITS CALENDAR OF EVENTS
2. CHECK OUT THE FEDERAL BALLPARK ESTIMATE! SEE HOW WELL YOU ARE DOING IN MEETING YOUR SAVINGS GOAL.
The Federal Ballpark Estimate - a savings goal worksheet—is now available on the Office of Personnel Management’s web site. The Federal Ballpark Estimate allows users to automatically calculate estimates of future Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) or Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS) retirement benefits and Thrift Savings Plan account balances. It will also let you know how well you are doing in meeting your savings goal. The Federal Ballpark Estimate was developed in partnership with the American Savings Education Council of the Employee Benefits Research Institute.
3. IF YOU ARE ENROLLED IN A HIGH DEDUCTIBLE HEALTH PLAN (HDHP) WITH A HEALTH SAVINGS ACCOUNT (HSA), THERE IS AN ADDITIONAL SAVINGS OPPORTUNITY AVAILABLE TO YOU!
If you are enrolled in High Deductible Health Plans (HDHP), you will be able to make pre-tax allotments to your Health Savings Account (HSA). The Office of Personnel Management has worked with the Defense Finance and Accounting Service (DFAS) to begin providing this service to all eligible employees effective September 2, 2007. Watch for more information on this in an upcoming Benefits Newsletter! Unlike Flexible Spending Account allotments, employees who elect HSA allotments may modify or revoke the allotment election at any time.
There are IRS limits to the amounts that can be set aside each year in HSAs. The 2007 HSA maximum contribution limit is $2,850 for single coverage or $5,650 for a family coverage. Individuals who are age 55 or older may make an additional catch-up contribution of $800 in 2007. Please note that premium pass-through amounts that are received from the health plan provider counts toward the IRS limits. Employees are responsible for ensuring their enrollment and contributions are in accordance with IRS rules. DFAS will not verify employee eligibility or check to ensure employee contributions are within annual limits.
4. IF I SEPARATE FROM FEDERAL SERVICE, WHAT HAPPENS TO MY FEDERAL LONG TERM CARE (LTC) INSURANCE?
Your LTC insurance is fully portable as long as you continue paying the premiums. However, if you are paying premiums through payroll deductions, you must change to another payment method. To make the change, contact the LTC Partners at 1-800-LTC-FEDS (1-800-582-3337) (TTY: 1-800-843-3557) or complete a Billing Change form.
5. WHEN IS THE BEST DATE TO RETIRE?
If you are covered by the Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS), you must retire on the last day of the month in order to have your annuity commence the next day. If you are covered by the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) or CSRS-Offset, you must retire on the first, second, third, or last day of the month to have your annuity commence the next day.
For those of you who have wondered why so many individuals choose to retire at the end of the year, here’s why, retiring at the end of the calendar year will typically maximize your lump sum payment for your unused annual leave, including use or lose. It will also ensure that the lump sum payment for some of your annual leave, likely the majority of it, will be paid at the new 2008 pay rate. Additionally, the lump sum annual leave payout will be in 2008 when you may have less taxable income. With that said, if you are covered by FERS, the best end of year retirement date is probably December 31, 2007. However, if you are covered by CSRS or CSRS-Offset, the best date could be January 3, 2008. If you have questions, please notify your Benefits Contact.
6.WHAT HAPPENS TO MY CHILD’S HEALTH AND LIFE INSURANCE COVERAGE WHEN HE/SHE TURNS AGE 22?
Did you know that when your child reaches age 22 (or marries before age 22) he or she is no longer eligible to be covered under your Federal health benefits enrollment? This is true even if your child is still in school. You have 60 days from the date he/she gets married or turns age 22 (whichever occurs first) to notify your Benefits Contact. We will give you information on how your child may enroll in his/her own right for Temporary Continuation of Coverage (TCC) (OPM).
The TCC enrollment can be for up to 36 months and the child will have to pay the full premium (no government contribution), plus a 2% administrative charge. TCC enrollments are also available to you (coverage for up to 18 months) should you leave the government and for a former spouse should you get divorced (coverage for up to 36 months). All TCC enrollments must be submitted within 60 days of the event allowing the enrollment. If you have specific questions, please notify your Benefits Contact.
With regard to Option C (Family) coverage under the Federal Employees' Group Life Insurance (FEGLI) Program, when your dependent child reaches age 22, he or she is no longer eligible to be covered under your FEGLI family option. To determine if you have Option C, review your most recent SF-50 (Notification of Personnel Action) or your Leave and Earnings Statement. If your two-digit Life Insurance code ends in number 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5 then you are carrying Option C.
If your child loses coverage under your health and/or life policy, and this child is your last eligible family member, you must also submit a request to change your enrollment under both programs from family to a self-only policy. This is not automatic. Please notify your Benefits Contact if you have questions.
7. CAN I CONTINUE MY FEDERAL EMPLOYEES HEALTH BENEFITS (FEHB) AND FEDERAL EMPLOYEES GROUP LIFE INSURANCE (FEGLI) COVERAGE INTO RETIREMENT?
You may continue your FEHB coverage after you retire if you meet the following conditions: 1) You retire on an immediate annuity; AND 2) You have been enrolled in FEHB (or covered as a family member) for at least the last five years of service immediately preceding retirement. You may continue your FEGLI coverage after you retire if you meet the following conditions: 1) You retire on an immediate annuity; AND 2) You have been insured for at least the last five years of service immediately preceding retirement; AND 3) You do not convert to an individual policy.
8. I HAVE MISPLACED MY myPAY PIN. HOW DO I OBTAIN A NEW ONE?
You can request a new PIN in one of two ways. One of which is by selecting “New Pin” on the myPay (DFAS) website. Please make sure you use the “Go” button to finalize your request. Using this method your PIN will be mailed to your current record of address within 7 to 10 business days.
If you need it sooner, your second option is to send a fax to 216-367-3549. You will need to include in your request, your name, SSN, a daytime phone number, a copy of your NIH ID, and you must sign the fax. Upon receiving your fax, the Defense Finance & Accounting Service (DFAS) will reset your PINusing the last 5 numbers of your SSN as your temporary PIN. You will then be able to log in within 3 days using your temporary PIN. Upon logging in, you will be prompted to reset your PIN.
If you encounter problems with your PIN or using myPay (DFAS), contact the DFAS Centralized Customer Support Unit toll-free at 1-888-332-7411. This support line is available Monday through Friday, 7:00 A.M. to 7:30 P.M. Eastern Standard Time. The Centralized Customer Support Unit can provide assistance on how to use the options available to you in myPay. The Centralized Customer Support Unit will also provide support for establishing and changing your PIN.
9. HOW CAN I GET IN TOUCH WITH MY BENEFITS CONTACT?
Your contact in the Benefits and Payroll Liaison Branch will be able to help you with a variety of issues pertaining to the health and life insurance programs, designating beneficiaries, the Thrift Savings Plan (TSP), calculating your retirement annuity estimate, working with you to pay a redeposit for prior civilian service if you previously withdrew your retirement funds, paying a deposit for prior civilian or military service for which retirement deductions were not withheld, etc. To find your benefits contact, review our list of contacts. In addition, the Benefits and Payroll Liaison Branch (BPLB) website has a wealth of information regarding your Federal benefits.
Human resource topics not related to your benefits are normally handled by your Client Services Division HR Representative.
