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

The Federal Employees' Group Life Insurance (FEGLI) Program is the Federal Government’s group life insurance program, covering over 4 million Federal employees and retirees, as well as many of their family members.

Almost everyone needs life insurance; how much is for you to decide. To get help on how much you need, see page 5 of the FEGLI Program Booklet for Federal Employees or the FEGLI Program Booklet for U.S. Postal Service Employees.

FEGLI provides group term life insurance. It consists of Basic life insurance coverage and three types of Optional insurance.

Basic
In most cases, if you are a new Federal employee, you are automatically covered by Basic life insurance and your payroll office deducts premiums from your paycheck unless you waive the coverage. There are no preexisting conditions that disqualify you from enrollment.

Optional 
There are three types of Optional insurance. You must have Basic insurance in order to elect any of the options. Unlike Basic, enrollment in Optional insurance is not automatic - you must take action to elect the options and your time limit to elect Optional insurance is limited.  You have 31 days from the date of your appointment to an eligible position to elect Optional insurance. 

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