Optional Insurance

While Basic life insurance may be enough coverage for some people, others may want more protection. That's why the Federal Employees' Group Life Insurance (FEGLI) Program offers you three types of Optional insurance: Option A — Standard, Option B — Additional, and Option C — Family.

You must be enrolled in Basic in order to elect any Optional insurance. You pay the full cost for all Optional insurance.

Enrollment in Optional insurance is not automatic.

You must submit a completed Life Insurance Election (SF 2817) to the Management Division, Benefits Section within 31 days of becoming eligible.

  Option A — Standard  

You may elect Option A — Standard Life Insurance in the amount of $10,000.

  Option B — Additional  

You may elect Option B — Additional Life Insurance in an amount equal to one, two, three, four, or five times your annual basic pay (after rounding up to the next $1,000).

A 38-year-old employee, married with three children, paid on a biweekly basis, wants to get the maximum amount of Option B he can. He chooses five times his annual pay of $39,500, which totals $200,000. His cost is $8.00 biweekly ($0.04 x 200).

  Option C — Family  

You may elect Option C — Family Life Insurance to provide coverage for your spouse and eligible dependent children. When you elect Option C, all of your eligible family members are automatically covered. You may elect one, two, three, four, or five multiples of coverage. Each multiple is equal to $5,000 for your spouse and $2,500 for each of your eligible dependent children.

For example, if you elect three multiples, that means that if your spouse dies, you would receive $15,000 (3 times $5,000). If one of your eligible dependent children dies, you would receive $7,500 (3 times $2,500).

Each multiple is a unit. For example, if you elect two multiples, that means you have two multiples on your spouse and two multiples on your eligible dependent children. You cannot elect a number of multiples for your spouse that is different from the number of multiples for your eligible dependent children.

You receive Option C benefits; you cannot designate a beneficiary.