As the cost of medical care mounts, and new drugs and procedures are developed, happiness is having health insurance. This at a time when many companies are dropping coverage or reducing benefits.

But there are a number of safety nets for federal and postal workers, for retirees, and in some cases ex-spouses and dependent grandchildren.

For people leaving government there is the TCC safety net. It stands for Temporary Continuation of Coverage.

The second safety net is the ability to change insurance plans, immediately and anytime, if you gain or lose a spouse, through death or divorce, or have or adopt a baby. Or move from the geographic area covered by your HMO. They are known as Life Events. When you have one, you have an instant open season. No waiting to change health plans or coverage within a plan.

The other perk is TCC.

TCC applies to adult children of feds, and to feds who are leaving their government job but are not eligible (as they would be if they were retiring with coverage) to remain permanently in one of the federal health plans, known as FEHBP. The program covers a variety of HMOs plus national plans like Blue Cross, GEHA, Mail Handlers, APWU and NALC, etc.

TCC means that the individual in question can continue for a limited time period. According to the OPM, TCC is available to the following groups:

• FEDERAL OR POSTAL workers who are leaving (but not retiring) their jobs for any reason. They can continue coverage for up to 18 months. Since the government will no longer pay its share of of the plan’s premiums, look for your premiums to go up more than 70 percent.
• CHILDREN WHO REACH AGE 22 (unless severely handicapped and dependent) lose coverage under their parents family plan. But those children are eligible for TCC for up to 36 months. Again, they will pay the full premium. If they are in school many of them can get low-cost coverage through the college or a state-run program.
• FORMER SPOUSES who do not have a qualifying court order (which gives them lifetime coverage) may also stay in the FEHBP for up to 36 months. Again they will pay the full premium.
• FORMER SPOUSES with a qualifying court order can remain in the FEHBP for life. They will enjoy the same benefits and coverage but also must pay the full premium.

For more frequently asked questions, as answered by OPM, click here.

Red Evans

Andreas “Red” Evans, a long-time (and delightful) professional in the federal lobbying business, died Jan. 13 in Charleston, S.C. Red was 75 and had been ill for awhile. But that didn’t stop him from cranking out three books. The latest, very funny book of fiction is called On Ice.

Red was a hometown celebrity in Charleston, first as a very young disc jockey, then a TV anchor. He came here in 1978 as press secretary to a South Carolina congressman. He later got in the PR and lobbying business first with the National Federation of Federal Employees, then with the Federal Managers Association. He left here in 1994 and returned to South Carolina.

Final note for folks who knew him: The staff at the hospice where he died said that when they needed cheering up, or a laugh, they went to him. Vintage Red !!

Today’s Nearly Useless Factoid

Put the armadillo down and back away slowly. Unless you want leprosy. While the risk of transmission is very low, the disease has been found in the nine-banded armadillo, making them the only significant reservoir of leprosy other than humans. We try not to make this stuff up. Insert your own leprosy joke here.

To reach me: mcausey@federalnewsradio.com

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