Q & A
I am a CSRS annuitant over 65 with Blue Cross/Blue Shield Service Benefit Plan as my Federal Employees Health Benefits insurer. My wife, who is turning 65 next month, and is covered under my FEHB has been served a notice that she will have $104.90 per month deducted from her Social Security benefit to pay for Part B. Is there something in the laws governing the FEHB program that requires covered spouses of retired federal employees to pay for Part B or forfeit benefits under the FEHB program?
Answer: No one is required to have Medicare Part B. If she doesn’t want that coverage, she needs to refuse it. Source: http://blogs.federaltimes.com – 11/12/2013
What are the benefit amounts for which a spouse may be entitled?
Answer: A spouse receives one-half of the retired worker’s full benefit if the spouse retires at full retirement age. If the spouse begins collecting benefits before full retirement age, we reduce those benefits by a percentage based on how much earlier…
How Does Social Security Consider Multiple Impairments When Making Disability Decisions?
Answer: Many applicants for Social Security disability benefits have several different medical issues that are preventing them from working. The Social Security Administration (SSA) must consider the combined effects of all your impairments, both severe and non-severe, in deciding whether you…
I’m a federal employee. If I receive a medical disability, do I pay the full Federal Employees Health Benefits premiums plus 2 percent?
Answer: Assuming that you are currently enrolled in the FEHB program, you would pay the same premiums in retirement that you are now paying as an employee. Note: If you are a Postal Service retiree, you’d lose the subsidy gained through…
What is Medicare Extra Help?
Answer: Part of Medicare Part D (prescription drug coverage), Extra Help helps people with limited income and resources pay for part of their prescription drug coverage premiums, annual deductibles, and prescription co-payments. Social Security administers the Extra Help program, even though…
How Does Social Security’s Lump Sum Option Work?
Answer: If you wait until after your full retirement age to claim your Social Security retirement benefits, there is a little-known rule that could entitle you to a large chunk of cash all at once. This provision enables retirees who meet this requirement…
My wife passed away 18 years ago and had worked 15 to 20 years. Can I collect survivor benefits? I am 63 and plan on working until 66. Her earnings were quite high during her career, so how does that affect my benefits?
Answer: Survivor benefits are available starting at age 60. Let me ignore for the moment the fact that you’re still working and assume that your age-70 retirement benefit exceeds your survivor benefit. If you start taking your survivor benefit immediately, it…
My husband will be 62 next February. I am 60 and have been the higher wage earner for many years. He is a farmer and I’m a nurse. With what I’ve been reading, it sounds like, if necessary, it would be best for my husband to apply for his retirement benefits early, and then check when I turn 66 to see if the spousal benefits would be greater than his reduced retirement benefits. Does that sound right? (I provide health benefits through my employer.)
Answer: No, this doesn’t sound right. What may be the best option is for you to take your retirement benefit at age 64, thus permitting your husband to apply, at his full retirement age, just for his spousal benefit based on your…
My husband of 25 years started drawing his reduced Social Security benefits 10 years ago at the age of 62. Is there a spousal benefit for which I am eligible? I am 65, and we are thinking about my filing for spousal benefits at 66 and deferring my own Social Security until 70. Since he is on reduced benefits for taking it early, would my spousal benefit be based on his current benefit amount or what he would have received if he had waited until 65?
Answer: If you wait until 66 to file, you’ll be, as you correctly understand, able to apply just for your own spousal benefit while letting your own retirement benefit grow by 32 percent through age 70. In this case, your spousal…
Is it possible to benefit from a previous spouse’s Social Security if I married and divorced again?
Answer: Provided you’re not now married yet again and that you were married to both former spouses for 10 or more years, you can take the larger of the two spousal benefits (provided you are eligible for both). To collect a…