By John Grobe – December 15, 2015
Upon receiving the leave and earnings statement for the first full pay-period of 2016, many employees will notice that their premiums for Federal Employees Group Life Insurance (FEGLI) have increased. HR offices are used to fielding calls on this topic each January. Retirees might notice a change in FEGLI premiums in their annuity change statement.
FEGLI has changed premiums for current enrollees effective the first full pay period of 2016. The changes are minor and can be easily summarized by saying that premiums for older enrollees have gone up slightly and premiums for younger enrollees have gone down slightly.
Also, employees who have Basic FEGLI and Option B may see a slight increase in their premiums for those two types of FEGLI, as they are based upon salary. For retirees, the amount of Basic and Option B are based on their salary at the time of retirement.
The cost of basic FEGLI is $0.15 per $1,000 of coverage, and the amount of coverage is based on your salary. With a salary increase for 2016, many employees will see their premiums increase.
FEGLI Option B is also based on salary (multiples of 1 to 5 times your salary) and when salary goes up, so will the Option B premiums of many employees.
Any employee over age 30 will see an increase in their premium(s) for Option A, Option B and Option C if they have a birthday that results in their age ending in a 5 or a 0 (e.g., 35, 40, 45 etc.). All FEGLI Optional insurance is five-year renewable term insurance; in other words it will get more expensive every five years all the way up to the age of 80.
Another bit of news on FEGLI: there will be an open season in September 2016. It has been 12 years since the last open season and, I guess, FEGLI thought it was time for another one. In fact, there have been only 9 open seasons (up to now) since 1954. In an open season, an employee can enroll without having to go through underwriting. Sorry retirees, you cannot participate in FEGLI open seasons. Changes made in the open season will not be effective until the first full pay period after October 1, 2017.
Source: Premium Changes for FEGLI in 2016 : FedSmith.com
Related: Federal Employees’ Group Life Insurance (FEGLI) – OPM.gov