Eligibility to Enroll at Own Cost
If your position is excluded from coverage because your appointment is limited to one
year or less, you will be eligible to enroll under 5 U.S.C. 8906a when you have completed
one year of current continuous
employment, excluding any break in service of 5 days or less. You must pay both the
employee and the Government shares of the premium.
The one-year requirement may be met at the end of a one-year appointment in a single
agency or it may be based on a series of shorter appointments served in one or more
agencies, as long as you have not had a break in service of more than 5 days.
In many cases, a temporary appointment lasts one year. If your appointment is renewed
at the end of that year, you are eligible to enroll.
Student Employees
If you are a student employee (for example, a student aide or Stay-in-School Program
participant), you generally serve on temporary appointments limited to 1 year or less. You
typically work part-time during the school year and full-time during summers and vacations
and become eligible to participate after completing one year on the employment rolls,
provided you pay the full premium cost.
Intermittent Employment
If you are an intermittent employee (you do not have a prearranged regular tour of
duty), you are not eligible for coverage. Seasonal or occasional employment for one
calendar year that amounted to less than 6 months of work does not meet the one year of
current continuous employment requirement.
Exception
You are eligible for FEHB coverage if your appointment follows, with a break in service
of no more than 3 days, a position in which you were insured.
Mixed Tour of Duty
If you work, under an appointment limited to one year or less, a mixed tour of duty
(combining periods of full-time, part-time, and intermittent tours of duty during the
year), you may be eligible to enroll as a temporary employee. You must be on a full-time
or prearranged part-time work schedule at the beginning of the one-year period of current continuous employment and at
the time you enroll under this provision. When counting the one year of current continuous employment, include
any periods of intermittent service. If you change to an intermittent tour of duty after
your enrollment begins, your enrollment will continue as long as you didn't have a break
in service of more than three calendar days.
Employees Excluded from Coverage
District of Columbia Employees
You are excluded from FEHB coverage if you were first employed by the District of Columbia government on or after October 1, 1987.
Exceptions
You are eligible for FEHB coverage if you are:
- an employee of St. Elizabeth's Hospital, who accepts employment with the District of
Columbia government following Federal employment without a break in service, as provided
in Pub. L. 98-621;
- an employee of the D.C. Control Board (District of Columbia Financial Responsibility and
Management Assistance Authority), who makes an election under the Technical Corrections to
Financial Responsibility and Management Assistance Act (section 153 of P. L. 104-134) to
be considered a Federal employee for FEHB coverage and other benefits purposes;
- effective August 5, 1997, the Corrections Trustee and the Pretrial Services, Defense
Services, Parole, Adult Probation, and Offender Supervision Trustee and employees of these
Trustees who accept employment with the District of Columbia Government within 3 days
after separating from the Federal Government, as provided by P. L. 105-33; and
- effective October 1, 1997, a judge or nonjudicial employee of the District of Columbia
Courts, as provided by Pub. L. 105-33.
Noncitizens
You are excluded from FEHB coverage if you are not a citizen or national of the United
States and your permanent duty station is located outside the United States and its
territories and possessions.
Exception
You are eligible for FEHB coverage if you met the definition of employee on September
30, 1979, by service in an Executive agency (as defined in 5 U.S.C. 105), the United
States Postal Service, or the Smithsonian Institution in the area which was then known as
the Canal Zone.
TVA Employees
You are excluded from FEHB coverage if you are an employee of the Tennessee Valley
Authority.
Employees of Farm Credit Administration-Supervised Corporations
You are excluded from FEHB coverage if you are an employee of a corporation supervised
by the Farm Credit Administration, if private interests elect or appoint a member of the
board of directors. The corporations are Regional Banks for Cooperatives, Federal
Intermediate Credit Banks, Federal Land Banks, Production Credit Corporations, and the
Central Bank for Cooperatives.
Temporary Employees
You are excluded from FEHB coverage if you are:
- serving under an appointment limited to one year or less and you have not completed at
least one year of current continuous
employment, excluding any break in service of 5 days or less; or
- expected to work less than 6 months in each year.
Exceptions
You are eligible for FEHB coverage if:
- your full-time or part-time temporary
appointment has a regular tour of duty and follows a position in which you were insured,
with a break in service of no more than 3 days;
- you are an acting postmaster;
- you are a Presidential appointee appointed to fill
an unexpired term;
- you are a temporary employee who receives a provisional
appointment as defined in 5 CFR 316.401 and 316.403;
- you are employed under an OPM-approved career-related work-study program under Schedule
B lasting at least one year and in pay status for at least one-third of the total period
of time from the date of your first appointment to the completion of the work-study
program; or
- your appointment follows, with a break in service of no more than 3 days, a position in
which you were insured.
Patient Employees
You are excluded from FEHB coverage if you are a beneficiary or patient employee in a
Government hospital or home.
Employees Paid on a Contract or Fee Basis
You are excluded from FEHB coverage if you are paid on a contract or fee basis.
Exception
You are eligible for FEHB coverage when you are a:
- United States citizen, appointed by a contract between you and the Federal employing
authority which requires your personal service, and paid on the basis of units of time; or
- Personal Service Contractor employed by the Department of the Treasury.
Employees Paid on a Piecework Basis
You are excluded from FEHB coverage if you are paid on a piecework basis.
Exception
You are eligible for FEHB coverage when your work schedule provides for full-time or
part-time service with a regularly scheduled tour of duty.
OPM Determination
OPM makes the final determination about whether the above categories apply to a
specific employee or group of employees.
Part-time career employment or certain interim appointments are not excluded from FEHB coverage.