What Is the 5-Year Rule for FEHB and FEGLI?

Who the 5-year rule applies to

The rule applies to every FERS and CSRS employee who wants to keep FEHB or FEGLI as a retiree — including those retiring on an immediate annuity, a discontinued-service retirement, or MRA+10. It does not apply to your TSP balance, your FERS basic annuity, or the FERS supplement; those are governed by separate rules.

What counts as "continuous" coverage

Continuous means without a break. You can have been the enrollee, or covered as a family member on another federal employee's FEHB plan, or have an OPM-recognized substitute (TRICARE often qualifies as a substitute for FEHB) — but you generally need to be enrolled in FEHB at the moment of retirement. Document the entire window: every plan year for the prior 5 years.

Common mistakes — and how to avoid them

• Cancelling FEHB during open season and inadvertently restarting the 5-year clock.
• Assuming TRICARE alone is enough — you generally still need active FEHB enrollment at retirement.
• Reducing FEGLI without modeling the post-65 reductions on Option B and the impact on survivors.
• Waiting until the retirement-application meeting to check enrollment history — by then it is usually too late to fix.

How to verify your eligibility

Request a written FEHB and FEGLI enrollment history from your HR/benefits office or pull the SF-2809 / SF-2817 forms from your eOPF. Confirm continuous enrollment for every plan year in the 5-year window. Do this 2–3 years before your target retirement date so a gap can still be repaired through re-enrollment in time.

Survivor annuitants: how FEHB and FEGLI continue

The 5-year rule decides whether you keep coverage. A separate set of rules decides whether your surviving spouse keeps it after you pass away. These rules are where the largest, most avoidable losses happen for federal families.

• FEHB for the survivor — your spouse can only continue FEHB after your death if (1) you were enrolled in a self-plus-one or self-and-family plan at the time of death, AND (2) your spouse is entitled to a portion of your FERS or CSRS annuity as a survivor annuitant. Electing zero survivor annuity at retirement permanently terminates the spouse's FEHB eligibility after your death.
• FEGLI for the survivor — FEGLI Basic and Options A/B/C cover you, but Option C is the only FEGLI option that pays a benefit to you when your spouse or eligible child dies. Make sure Option C multiples are sized to the spouse's actual income-replacement need.
• Survivor benefit election trade-off — under FERS, the full survivor annuity election reduces your monthly annuity by 10% and provides 50% to your spouse for life. The partial election reduces by 5% and provides 25%. A zero election keeps your full annuity but locks your spouse out of FEHB after your death. The 10% reduction is almost always cheaper than self-insuring the same income and healthcare risk.
• Court-ordered former-spouse coverage — a divorce decree can entitle a former spouse to FEHB continuation under the Spouse Equity Act, but only if specific language is in the decree and OPM is notified within 60 days of the divorce. Missing the 60-day window is generally permanent.

Together, the 5-year rule + survivor-annuity election + FEGLI Option C decisions form a single linked system. Optimizing any one of them in isolation can quietly break the others. ACM models the full system in the FRC benefits review so the post-death healthcare and life-insurance picture is documented in writing before retirement papers are signed.

Frequently asked questions

This page is educational and is not individualized legal, tax, or benefits advice. Federal benefit rules change; always confirm current OPM guidance and your specific enrollment history before making election decisions.

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