Your Guide to Retiring from or Leaving Federal Service

Retiring from federal service

CSRS and FERS retirees

If you retire under the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) or Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS) and pay your premiums through payroll deductions, we'll work with the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) to transition your deductions to your annuity. You do not need to do anything. This process will happen automatically, but we can't deduct premiums from your annuity while you're receiving interim payments (sometimes called "special pay"). We will send direct bills to collect your premiums while your annuity is processing. Your premium deductions will resume once your annuity is finalized, assuming your annuity is sufficient to cover your premiums. If you have any past-due premiums, we will notify you and adjust your deduction amount until the past-due balance is paid off.

All other federal retirees

We'll update your payment method to direct bill after receiving notice of your retirement or after two missed payroll deductions. If you'd like to automate your premium payments, submit a Billing Change Form to request retirement pay/annuity deductions or log into your My BENEFEDS account to set up automatic bank withdrawals.

Leaving federal service

If you leave federal service (voluntarily or involuntarily), we'll update your payment method to direct bill after receiving notice of your employment ending or after two missed payroll deductions. You may also change your payment method to automatic bank withdrawals by logging into your My BENEFEDS account or submitting a Billing Change Form.

What we need from you

Review your contact information

Log into your My BENEFEDS account to make sure your contact information is current. It's important that we can still contact you once you leave federal service.

Pay your direct bills so your coverage is not canceled

We send direct bills monthly, the month before the premium is due. Once we receive notice of your retirement or leave, we will place you in the next direct bill cycle. Your premium does not change when you retire, but it may look different. In most cases, it will change from a bi-weekly premium amount (based on 26 pay periods) to a monthly premium amount (based on 12 monthly payments).

You can pay your direct bill by mail or make one-time payments online.

You may also change your payment method to automatic bank withdrawals by logging into your My BENEFEDS account or submitting a Billing Change Form.

Other resources