The Foreign Service Journal, March 2016

76 MARCH 2016 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL AFSA NEWS Retiree Corner articles are written by Retiree Counselor Todd Thurwachter. Self-Plus-One Enrollment Still Open If you missed the Dec. 14 open season deadline to enroll in the self-plus-one health benefit, you’re in luck. Per guidance from the Office of Personnel Man- agement, “annuitants are allowed to decrease enroll- ment at any time. This means that if you have a self-and- family enrollment and you decide you would like to change to a self-plus-one enrollment, you may do so throughout the year. … “If you have a self-only enrollment, however, you must experience a qualify- ing life event (QLE) in order to change to self-plus-one. These are events such as marriage, divorce or a family member’s loss of coverage under another health insur- ance program. For a full list of allowed QLEs, please view the [form] SF-2809.” To get an SF-2809 form, call HRSC at 1(866) 300-7419 or download it from www.afsa.org/retiree. You must file the form with the Department of State’s Human Resources Service Center in Charleston, South Carolina, either as an attachment to your email to HRSC@state.gov, or by U.S. mail to: U.S. Department of State, HR Service Center, 1999 Dyess Ave., Building E, Charleston SC 29405. Be forewarned: While OPM reported that self-plus- one enrollment would save, on average, 6 percent over the self-and-family option, in some plans self-plus-one costs more! For example, self-plus-one costs $3.61 per month more than self-and- family in the popular Foreign Service Benefit Plan adminis- tered by the American Foreign Service Protective Asso- ciation. Definitely check with your insurer before switching. You can rest assured that self-plus-one is considered a type of self-and-family plan and thus meets the require- ment allowing the survivor of an annuitant to continue Federal Employees Health Benefits coverage, provided that the couple had been enrolled in a self-and-family (including self-plus-one) plan for at least the preceding five years and the annuitant had set up the spouse to receive survivor benefits. AFSA Outreach Expands The American Foreign Service Association Govern- ing Board has committed to explaining what the Foreign Service does to a broader audience across the United States. To do so AFSA has aggressively increased the ranks of its Speakers Bureau, a program connecting For- eign Service speakers with groups that request one. In the past year, we have more than doubled the number of Speakers Bureau members to 360, and speak- ing engagements have tripled to almost 100. Half of those resulted from speakers pro- actively setting up speaking engagements on their own. But that’s just scratch- ing the surface of what the Speakers Bureau might accomplish. Thanks to a new partnership with the Cox Foundation, AFSA is also targeting high school social studies teachers in an effort to get Foreign Service speak- ers in front of a new genera- tion of future leaders. To succeed, we need more retirees—especially those outside the D.C. area—to step forward and join the Speakers Bureau. All that is required is a willingness to share your personal Foreign Service story. AFSA will help you get started by providing back- ground information, sug- gested talking points and a free copy of its popular guide to the Foreign Service, Inside a U.S. Embassy , to take with you to the venue. To learn more, visit our Speakers Bureau page at www.afsa.org/speakers. Update on OPM Data Breach As of December, the Office of Personnel Management had sent letters to about 93 percent of the current and former federal employees who were affected by last year’s cybertheft of OPM records. The letters contain infor- mation on credit monitoring, identity theft protection ser- vices and insurance provided at no cost to affected indi- viduals and their dependent minor children (under the age of 18 as of July 1, 2015) for a period of three years. OPM has established a verification center oper- ated by the Department of Defense to collect valid addresses for individuals who could not be located and to assist with PIN issues. Those who believe they may have been affected, but have not yet received a letter, may contact the center by calling (866) 408-4555 or by visiting www.opm.gov/cybersecurity. After contacting the verification center, the individual will receive a letter (the process can take a few weeks). Recipients should confirm that the letter is valid by matching it to the sample STAY INFORMED. STAY CONNECTED. AFSA is pleased to roll out this inaugural edition of the Retiree Corner—a new feature that will appear in every other issue of AFSA News. The Retiree Corner will augment the existing AFSA Newsletter, which transitioned to all-digital distribution in 2016. Between the Retiree Corner, the electronic AFSA Newsletter and the long-established Retiree VP Voice Column, AFSA is bringing our members even more robust coverage of issues of interest in retirement. To continue receiving the AFSA Newsletter, send your email address or, if you don’t have one, that of a family member or friend to member@afsa.org.