§ 8706. Termination of insurance; assignment of ownership
(a)
A policy purchased under this chapter shall contain a provision, approved by the Office of Personnel Management, to the effect that insurance on an employee stops on his separation from the service or 12 months after discontinuance of his pay, whichever is earlier, subject to a provision for temporary extension of life insurance coverage and for conversion to an individual policy of life insurance under conditions approved by the Office. Justices and judges of the United States described in section
8701
(a)(5)(ii) and (iii) of this chapter are deemed to continue in active employment for purposes of this chapter.
(b)
(1)
In the case of any employee who retires on an immediate annuity and has been insured under this chapter throughout—
(B)
the full period or periods of service during which the employee was entitled to be insured, if fewer than 5 years,
life insurance, without accidental death and dismemberment insurance, may be continued, under conditions determined by the Office.
(2)
In the case of any employee who becomes entitled to receive compensation under subchapter
I of chapter
81 of this title because of disease or injury to the employee and has been insured under this chapter throughout—
(A)
the 5 years of service immediately preceding the date the employee becomes entitled to compensation, or
(B)
the full period or periods of service during which the employee was entitled to be insured, if fewer than 5 years,
life insurance, without accidental death and dismemberment insurance, may be continued, under conditions determined by the Office, during the period the employee is receiving compensation and is held by the Secretary of Labor or the Secretary’s delegate to be unable to return to duty.
(3)
The amount of life insurance continued under paragraph (1) or (2) of this subsection shall be continued, with or without reduction, at the end of each full calendar month after the date the employee becomes 65 years of age and is retired or is receiving compensation for disease or injury, in accordance with the employee’s written election at the time eligibility to continue insurance during retirement or receipt of compensation arises, as follows:
(A)
the employee may elect to have the deductions required by section
8707 of this title withheld from annuity or compensation, and the employee’s life insurance shall be reduced each month by 2 percent of the face value until 25 percent of the amount of life insurance in force before the first reduction remains; or
(B)
in addition to any deductions which would be required if the insurance were continued as provided under subparagraph (A) of this paragraph, the employee may elect continuous withholdings from annuity or compensation in amounts determined by the Office, and the employee’s life insurance coverage shall be either continued without reduction or reduced each month by no more than 1 percent of its face value until no less than 50 percent of the amount of insurance in force before the first reduction remains.
(4)
If an employee elects to continue insurance under subparagraph (B) of paragraph (3) of this subsection at the time eligibility to continue insurance during retirement or receipt of compensation for disease or injury arises, the individual may later cancel that election and life insurance coverage shall continue as if the individual had originally elected coverage under subparagraph (A) of paragraph (3) of this subsection.
(c)
Notwithstanding subsections (a) and (b) of this section, an employee who enters on approved leave without pay to serve as a full-time officer or employee of an organization composed primarily of employees as defined by section
8701
(a) of this title, within 60 days after entering on that leave without pay, may elect to continue his insurance and arrange to pay currently into the Employees’ Life Insurance Fund, through his employing agency, both employee and agency contributions from the beginning of leave without pay. The employing agency shall forward the premium payments to the Fund. If the employee does not so elect, his insurance will continue during nonpay status and stop as provided by subsection (a) of this section.
(d)
(1)
An employee who enters on approved leave without pay in the circumstances described in paragraph (2) may elect to have such employee’s life insurance continue (beyond the end of the 12 months of coverage provided for under subsection (a)) for an additional 12 months and arrange to pay currently into the Employees’ Life Insurance Fund, through such employee’s employing agency, both employee and agency contributions, from the beginning of that additional 12 months of coverage. The employing agency shall forward the premium payments to the Fund. If the employee does not so elect, such employee’s insurance will continue during nonpay status and stop as provided by subsection (a). An individual making an election under this subsection may cancel that election at any time, in which case such employee’s insurance will stop as provided by subsection (a) or upon receipt of notice of cancellation, whichever is later.
(e)
If the insurance of an employee stops because of separation from the service or suspension without pay, and the separation or suspension is thereafter officially found to have been erroneous, the employee is deemed to have been insured during the period of erroneous separation or suspension. Deductions otherwise required by section
8707 of this chapter shall not be withheld from any backpay awarded for the period of separation or suspension unless death or accidental dismemberment of the employee occurs during such period.
(f)
(1)
Under regulations prescribed by the Office, each policy purchased under this chapter shall provide that an insured employee or former employee may make an irrevocable assignment of the employee’s or former employee’s incidents of ownership in the policy.
(2)
A court decree of divorce, annulment, or legal separation, or the terms of a court-approved property settlement agreement incident to any court decree of divorce, annulment, or legal separation, may direct that an insured employee or former employee make an irrevocable assignment of the employee’s or former employee’s incidents of ownership in insurance under this chapter (if there is no previous assignment) to the person specified in the court order or court-approved property settlement agreement.
(g)
If the insurance of a former employee receiving a disability annuity under section
8337 of this title stops because of the termination of such annuity, and such annuity is thereafter restored under the second or third sentence of subsection (e) of such section, such former employee may, under regulations prescribed by the Office, elect to resume the insurance coverage which was so stopped.
(h)
The insurance of an employee under a policy purchased under section
8709 shall not be invalidated based on a finding that the employee erroneously became insured, or erroneously continued insurance upon retirement or entitlement to compensation under subchapter
I of chapter
81 of this title, if such finding occurs after the erroneous insurance and applicable withholdings have been in force for 2 years during the employee’s lifetime.