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AMC
Fellows
Federal Employee Benefits |
AMC Fellows are federal employees. Brief descriptions of some of the benefits associated with federal employment are provided below.
Health
The Federal Employees Health Benefits (FEHB) program can help you meet your health care needs. Federal employees, retirees and their survivors enjoy the widest selection of health plans in the country. You can choose from among Managed Fee-for-Service (FFS) plans, regardless of where you live, or Plans offering a Point of Service (POS) Product and Health Maintenance Organizations (HMO) if you live (or sometimes if you work) within the area serviced by the plan.
Life
The Federal Employees Group Life Insurance (FEGLI) provides group term life insurance. As such, it does not build up any cash value or paid-up value. It consists of Basic life insurance coverage and three options. In most cases, if you are a new Federal employee, you are automatically covered by Basic life insurance and your payroll office deducts premiums from your paycheck unless youwaive the coverage. In addition to the Basic, there are three forms of Optional insurance that you can elect. You must have Basic insurance in order to elect any of the options. Unlike Basic, enrollment in Optional insurance is not automatic -- you must take action to elect the options.
The cost of Basic insurance is shared between you and
the
Government. You pay 2/3 of the total cost and the Government pays 1/3.
Retirement
The Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS) is a response to the changing times and Federal workforce needs. Many of its features are "portable" so that employees who leave Federal employment may still qualify for the benefits. The new retirement system is flexible. Covered employees are able to choose what is best for their individual situation. FERS is a three-tiered retirement plan. The three components are:
Social Security Benefits (SSA),
Basic Benefit Plan, and
Thrift Savings Plan Benefits (TSP).
As a FERS covered employee, TSP is an integral part of
your
retirement benefits, providing retirement savings income. The
government will contribute an automatic one percent of your basic pay into
your TSP account each pay period. Additionally, the
government will match your contributions up to four percent of your basic
pay. This brings the maximum government contribution to 5 percent.
OPM Retirement
Homepage
FERS Overview
Thrift Savings Plan
The Thrift Savings Plan (TSP)
offers Federal civilian employees the same type of savings and tax benefits
that many private
corporations offer their employees under 401(k) plans.
The TSP is a defined contribution plan. The retirement income that you receive from your TSP account will depend on how much you (and your agency, if you are a FERS employee) have contributed to your account during your working years and the earnings on these contributions. The contributions that you make to your TSP account are voluntary and are separate from your contributions to your FERS Basic Annuity or CSRS annuity.
Two of the main features of TSP are "tax savings" and "tax
deferred earnings". This means the contributions you make to TSP come
out of your pay before taxes and the earnings made on your TSP account
are not taxed until you receive the money. Other features of the plan include
a choice of investment options, interfund transfers, loans from your own
contributions and earnings, in-service withdrawals, and portable benefits
if you leave Federal service.