General Eligibility:
Retirees have the option to continue their state group health and life insurance
at retirement and have 60 days from their last day on payroll to elect continuation
of this coverage.
Retirees will pay premiums for state retiree health coverage based on their eligibility
for Medicare. Early retirees and their spouses (under age 65) will pay higher premiums
for state health coverage until they become eligible to enroll in Medicare.
Please see the following link for applicable premium rates: Premium Rate Table.
These rates are subject to change each year by the Legislature.
The state retiree health plan includes hospital, medical, and prescription drug
coverage and is offered to retirees enrolled in the State PPO Plan as well as the
state HMO plans through AVMED, United Healthcare, Aetna, and Capital Health Plan.
Medicare Advantage and Prescription Drug Plans (MA-PD) are also available for retirees through Capital Health Plan and Humana.
1
1This is a list of current state-contracted healthcare providers as of January 1, 2020. Please note that these providers are subject to change by the Legislature.
Retirees have the option of converting their $25,000 basic state life insurance
into one of two policies:
- A $10,000 life policy for $21.26
per month, or
- A $2,500 life policy for $5.32 per
month
Retirees interested in continuing their optional state life insurance will be required
to contact Securian directly to convert to a private whole life policy at:
1-888-826-2756.
Retirees may continue their state dental and vision coverage through COBRA and will
automatically receive a COBRA packet from People First, if enrolled in the coverage
at the time of retirement. People First is required to mail the COBRA packet within
14 days of the notice of termination (or the date the PAR is processed in
the system). Retirees must ensure that their correct mailing addresses are in
People First.
Any other pre-tax or post-tax supplemental policies will need to be continued by
contacting the company directly to convert to a private policy. Contact information
for Supplemental Provider Companies: Pre-tax Supplemental Providers and Post-tax Supplemental Providers.
Pension Plan Retirees:
Pension Plan members will automatically receive the New Retiree Benefits Packet from People First once the Personnel
Action Request (PAR) has been processed by JAC.
For the purposes of determining eligibility for the continuation of state benefits
as a retiree, DMS will consider a Pension Plan member “retired”, upon termination
of employment and the receipt of a monthly benefit.
The PAR for a Pension Plan member should be coded as a “termination” with a reason
code of “56” for “retirement”. See DMS Management Advisory 14-005.
Pension Plan retirees (including DROP retirees) may elect to have premiums deducted
directly from their monthly Pension check. Pension Plan retirees will still be
required to submit a personal check, however, for the first month of retiree premiums.
Thereafter, the Division of Retirement can set up an automatic deduction of premiums
from the member’s monthly Pension check.
Investment Plan Retirees:
Investment Plan members are required to take a distribution before they are considered
“retired” under the Florida Retirement System and thus eligible for continuation
of state health and life insurance as a retiree.
The PAR for an Investment Plan member should therefore be submitted to JAC as a
“termination” with the reason code of “53” for “other”. See DMS Management Advisory 14-005.
Investment Plan members interested in continuing their state group coverage as a
retiree should be advised of the following:
- The Investment Plan retiree will
need to elect to continue their state health insurance coverage under COBRA, immediately
upon termination.
- This will ensure the Investment Plan
retiree has seamless health coverage as well as establish their eligibility to later
enroll in state retiree coverage once they have taken a distribution.
- The member will automatically
receive a COBRA Packet from People First once JAC has processed the termination
PAR. Again, it is important that members have their correct mailing address listed
in People First in order to receive this packet.
- The member may also contact People
First for additional information regarding COBRA at 1-866-663-4735, option 2, for
the Retiree/COBRA Section.
- The final step will be for the retiree
to initiate a distribution or rollover from their Investment Plan account by contacting
the FRS Plan Administrator at 1-866-446-9377.
People First will receive notification of all distributions taken each month from
the FRS Plan Administrator. Once notified of a member’s distribution, People First
will update the member’s records to indicate they are officially “retired” and will
mail the member the New Retiree Benefits Packet.
Investment Plan members may also contact the People First Service Center directly,
once they have taken a distribution, to enroll in retiree health and life coverage
at 1-866-663-4735.
Investment Plan retirees will be required to submit their health and life premiums
by personal check each month or they may submit payments up to six months in advance.
No other payment options are available at this time.
Investment Plan retirees will submit their personal check or money order, payable
to DSGI, to: The People First Service Center, P.O. Box 5437, Tallahassee, FL 32314-5437. Premiums are due by the 10th of each month prior to the month of
coverage. *** For example, premiums for June 2022 retiree coverage must be received
by the People First Service Center no later than May 10, 2022.
Investment Plan retirees do have the option of requesting payment coupons from People
First as a helpful reminder of when premiums are due each month. Coupons can be
requested by contacting the People First Service Center at 1-866-663-4735, option
2, for the Retiree/COBRA Section.
Medicare:2
Employees become eligible for Medicare at age 65, or upon receipt of disability
benefits from Social Security. Employees have the following options for enrolling
in Medicare:
- Employees may visit their local Social
Security Office,
- Employees may contact the Social
Security Administration to request forms at: 1-800-772-1213, or
- Employees may enroll online at: Apply for Medicare
online
The initial eligibility period to enroll in Medicare begins three months prior to
your 65th birthday and ends three months after.
Employees and their spouses who are covered under employer group coverage, have
the option of deferring enrollment in Part B of Medicare, until a Special Enrollment
Period. See the following Special Enrollment Period provisions.
Employees and their spouses with active state group coverage, may defer enrolling
in Part B of Medicare until one of two dates, whichever occurs first:
- The date their active state group
coverage ends or
- The date they or their spouse elects
to retire
Medicare eligible employees electing to continue their state group health coverage
as a retiree, should be aware of the following:
1 This is a list of current state-contracted healthcare providers as of January
1, 2016. Please note that these providers are subject to change by the Legislature.
2 JAC staff cannot provide specific guidance with regard to Medicare or Social
Security.
