When do enrollments terminate, cancel or suspend?
5 C.F.R. § 890.807
in effectEffective: 2024-07-01(a)(1) Except for former spouses meeting the requirements in § 890.803(a)(3) (iv) and (v) of this part, a former spouse's enrollment terminates, subject to the temporary extension of coverage for conversion, at midnight of the last day of the pay period in which the earliest of the following events occurs:
(i) Court order ceases to provide entitlement to survivor annuity or portion of retirement annuity under a retirement system for Government employees.
(ii) Former spouse remarries before age 55.
(iii) Former spouse dies.
(iv) Employee or annuitant on whose service the benefits are based dies and no survivor annuity is payable.
(v) Separated employee on whose service the benefits are based dies before the requirements for deferred annuity have been met.
(vi) Employee on whose service benefits are based leaves Federal service before establishing title to an immediate annuity or a deferred annuity.
(vii) Refund of retirement money is paid to the separated employee on whose service the health benefits are based.
(2) OPM may authorize a longer time frame for the temporary extension of coverage for conversion than the 31 days provided in § 890.401(a) if in OPM's judgment the former spouse could not have known that (1) the employee on whose service benefits are based left Federal service before establishing title to an immediate or deferred annuity; or (2) the separated employee on whose service the benefits are based died before the requirements for deferred annuity had been met. In such cases, the right of conversion may be exercised up to 31 days after the employing office's notice of termination. The former spouse must pay the full premium (employee's and Government's share) during the extended period, exclusive of the 31-day period following the notice.
(3) Termination of enrollment for failure to pay premiums within the time frame established in accordance with § 890.808(d)(1) is retroactive to the end of the last pay period for which payment has been timely received.
(4) A former spouse whose enrollment is terminated under this paragraph may not reenroll.
(b) The enrollment of a former spouse who meets the requirements in § 890.803(a)(3) (iv) or (v) of this part terminates, subject to the temporary extension of coverage for conversion, at midnight of the last day of the pay period in which the earliest of the following events occurs:
(1) Former spouse remarries before age 55.
(2) Former spouse dies.
(c) Failure to make an election under § 890.806(m). (1) If the annuity is insufficient to pay the full subscription charge due for the plan in which the former spouse is enrolled, the former spouse may elect one of the two opportunities offered under § 890.806(m) (electing a plan with a full subscription charge that is less than the annuity; or paying premiums directly to the retirement system in accordance with § 890.808(d)). Except as provided in paragraph (c)(3) of this section the enrollment of a former spouse who fails to make an election within the specified time frame will be terminated.
(2) If the individual was prevented by circumstances beyond his or her control from making an election within the time limit after receipt of the final notice, he or she may request reinstatement of coverage by writing to the retirement system. The retirement system will determine if the individual is eligible for reinstatement of coverage; and, when the determination is affirmative, the individual's coverage may be reinstated retroactively to the date of termination or prospectively. If the determination is negative, the individual may request reconsideration of the decision from OPM.
(3) If the former spouse does not make an election under paragraph (c)(1) of this section and is enrolled in the high option of a plan that has two options, the former spouse is deemed to have elected enrollment in the standard option of the same plan unless the annuity is insufficient to pay the full withholdings for the standard option.
(d) Coverage of members of the family. The coverage of a member of the family of a former spouse terminates, subject to the temporary extension of coverage for conversion, at midnight of the earlier of the following dates:
(1) The day on which the individual ceases to be an eligible family member.
(2) The day the former spouse ceases to be enrolled, unless the family member is entitled as a survivor annuitant to continued enrollment or is entitled to continued coverage under the enrollment of another.
(e) Cancellation. (1) A former spouse may cancel his or her enrollment at any time by filing an appropriate request with the employing office. The cancellation takes effect on the last day of the pay period in which the appropriate request cancelling the enrollment is received by the employing office.
(2) A former spouse may suspend enrollment in FEHB for the purpose of enrolling in a Medicare sponsored plan under sections 1833, 1876, or 1851 of the Social Security Act, or to enroll in the Medicaid program or a similar State-sponsored program of medical assistance for the needy, or to use Peace Corps or CHAMPVA or TRICARE (including the Uniformed Services Family Health Plan) or TRICARE-for-Life coverage instead of FEHB coverage. To suspend FEHB coverage, documentation of eligibility for coverage under the non-FEHB Program must be submitted to the employing office or retirement system. If the documentation is received within the period beginning 31 days before and ending 31 days after the effective date of the enrollment in the Medicare sponsored plan, or the Medicaid or similar program, or within 31 days before or after the day designated by the former spouse as the day he or she wants to suspend FEHB coverage to use Peace Corps or CHAMPVA or TRICARE (including the Uniformed Services Family Health Plan) or TRICARE-for-Life coverage instead of FEHB coverage, then the suspension will be effective at the end of the day before the effective date of the enrollment or the end of the day before the day designated. Otherwise, the suspension is effective the first day of the first pay period that begins after the date the employing office or retirement system receives the documentation.
(3) The former spouse and family members, if any, are not entitled to the temporary extension of coverage for conversion or to convert to an individual contract for health benefits.
(4) A former spouse who cancels his or her enrollment for any reason may not later reenroll in the FEHB Program.
Source: eCFRURL: https://www.ecfr.gov/api/versioner/v1/full/2024-07-01/title-5.xmlFetched: 7/26/2026