United States 

Office of 

Personnel Management 

The Federal Government’s Human Resources Agency

Benefits Administration Letter

Number: 12- 201 Date: April 3, 2012

Subject: Federal Employees’ Group Life Insurance (FEGLI) Program: End of Election 

Opportunity for Certain Contingency Operation Employees 

Background and Purpose 

On December 23, 2011, the Secretary of Defense announced that contingency operations in Iraq 

would end on December 31, 2011. That means the FEGLI expanded election opportunities ended 

as of December 31, 2011 for certain employees authorized by Public Law 110-417, the Duncan 

Hunter National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2009 (the Act), as it relates to the 

national emergency in Iraq. The purpose of this Benefits Administration Letter (BAL) is to 

provide guidance to agencies on the termination of these special FEGLI election opportunities. 

Which Employees Are Affected? 

Civilian employees deployed in support of contingency operations (CO), as defined by section 

101(a) (13) of title 10, in Iraq, including Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation New Dawn. 

How Are Employees Affected? 

If the employee received notice of deployment in support of a CO, timely elected FEGLI 

Basic and/or Optional insurance prior to January 1, 2012, and deployed to Iraq prior to 

January 1, 2012, the employee is allowed to retain elected FEGLI coverage. Coverage is 

effective on the date the employing office received the election if the employee was in 

pay and duty status on that date. If the employee is not in pay and duty status on the day 

the employing office receives the election, the coverage becomes effective on the date the 

employee returns to pay and duty status. 

If the employee received notice of deployment in support of a CO, timely elected FEGLI 

Basic and/or Optional insurance prior to January 1, 2012, and deployed to Iraq after 

January 1, 2012, the employee is not allowed to retain elected coverage. The 

contingency operation ended on December 31, 2011, before the employee deployed. 

Any “enrollment” must be voided effective on the commencing date of coverage and 

erroneous withholdings, if any, refunded to the employee. The SF2817 “Life Insurance 

Election” form (or its electronic equivalent) should be voided with the statement 

“Election Not Allowed Due to End of Military Operations in Iraq” added to “Remarks” in 
2

Section 6. 

If the employee received a notice of deployment, but requested an election after January 

1, 2012, the employee is not eligible to enroll in FEGLI coverage, even if he or she 

timely filed the request within 60 days after receiving the notice of deployment. The 

reason is the contingency operation ended on December 31, 2011. Any “enrollment” 

must be voided effective on the commencing date of coverage and erroneous 

withholdings, if any, refunded to the employee. The SF2817 “Life Insurance Election” 

form (or its electronic equivalent) should be voided with the statement “Election Not 

Allowed Due to End of Military Operations in Iraq,” added to “Remarks” in Section 6.

 

If the employee received a notice of deployment on or after January 1, 2012, and the 

agency erroneously offered a FEGLI enrollment opportunity, the employee will not be 

allowed to enroll because the CO ended December 31, 2011. Any “enrollment” must be 

voided effective on the commencing date of coverage and erroneous withholdings, if any, 

refunded to the employee. The SF2817 “Life Insurance Election” form (or its electronic 

equivalent) should be voided with the statement “Election Not Allowed Due to End of 

Military Operations in Iraq,” added to “Remarks” in Section 6. 

If the employee received a notice of deployment to Iraq and timely requested to elect 

FEGLI, but never deployed, the employee is not eligible to enroll in FEGLI because 

he/she never deployed in support of a CO as required by the Act. Any erroneous 

enrollment must be voided effective the commencing date of coverage and erroneous 

withholdings, if any, refunded to the employee. The SF 2817 “Life Insurance Election” 

form (or its electronic equivalent) should be voided with the statement “Election Not 

Allowed Due to End of Military Operations in Iraq,” added to “Remarks” in Section 6. 

Effective Date 

The FEGLI changes discussed in this BAL were effective on January 1, 2012, the day after the 

ending date of the CO in Iraq. The election opportunities for those deployed to Iraq and subject 

to the Duncan Hunter National Defense Authorization Act were in effect from October 14, 2008 

through December 31, 2011. Please note that an employee who is no longer eligible to enroll 

due to the end of this special election opportunity may still be eligible to apply for FEGLI Basic 

and/or Optional insurance. The employee must contact his/her agency HR Specialist and provide 

satisfactory medical evidence of insurability. 

If you have any other questions or comments regarding this BAL, you may contact Kathleen 

Healy or Chris Meuchner, Program Analysis Officers at 202.606.1413 or email fegli@opm.gov. 

Sincerely, 

John O’Brien

Director 

Healthcare and Insurance