United States 

Office of 

Personnel Management

The Federal Government’s Human Resources Agency

Benefits Administration Letter

Number: 20-201 Date: March 25, 2020 

Subject: Insurance Benefits Processing During Disruption of Normal Agency Operations

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is reminding agencies of their responsibilities to 

continue benefits processing in the event of disruption to normal agency operations, such as may 

occur due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Agencies should review and adjust their processes and procedures as necessary to ensure that they 

can continue timely acceptance of documents and processing of transactions related to the Federal 

Employees Health Benefits (FEHB) Program and the Federal Employees’ Group Life Insurance 

(FEGLI) Program. These include, but are not limited to:

• new enrollments;

• changes to enrollments due to a qualifying life event (QLE);

• certification of coverage under the FEGLI Program; and 

• acceptance of documents related to these programs (e.g., FEGLI Designation of Beneficiary 

form). 

The guidance below is effective through June 30, 2020.

Employing Office Responsibilities

General guidance

Agencies should inform employees of how and where to submit benefits forms during a disruption of 

normal agency operations. Employees may visit www.opm.gov/forms/ to access the appropriate 

benefits forms. If an employing agency requires email submission of forms, please inform

employees about available methods to protect personally identifiable information in any required 

forms and supporting documentation during submission. 

If it is not practicable for agency personnel to review and verify documentation of family member 

eligibility or a qualifying life event, agencies should proceed with the transaction, but must track 

these transactions and perform the review and verification as soon as it is practicable to do so. If at 

that time adequate documentation is not provided, agencies must void the transaction.

You may also use your authority to accept a belated election if you determine an employee was 
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unable to submit the election on time due to circumstances beyond the employee’s control. Please 

see the FEHB Handbook and FEGLI Handbook for more information on processing belated 

elections.

FEHB transactions

To the extent possible, agencies should continue to submit FEHB enrollment actions through their 

normal electronic channels. For agencies that typically fax documents directly to FEHB Carriers, 

please consider the use of secure email when fax capabilities are not available. Agency personnel 

should visit http://www.opm.gov/plancontacts to find enrollment forms contact information for all 

FEHB Carriers.

FEGLI transactions

Agencies should continue to accept and process forms related to FEGLI. Agencies may accept 

documents by fax or email, with the original to follow as soon as practicable. This includes, but is 

not limited to, the SF 2821 (Agency Certification of Insurance Status) and SF 2823 (Designation of 

Beneficiary). Although the SF 2821 indicates in signature blocks 15a and 16a that a facsimile of the 

certifying official’s signature is not acceptable, OPM is temporarily suspending this requirement 

when necessary for an agency to complete timely processing of this form. FEGLI regulations at 5 

CFR 870.802 (b) allow agencies to determine the appropriate methods for receipt of the FEGLI 

Designation of Beneficiary form. 

Additional Benefit Programs: OPM’s contractors continue to operate for the administration of the 

programs listed below. Please see their websites for the most up-to-date operating status. 

Federal Employees Dental and Vision Insurance Program (FEDVIP): www.BENEFEDS.com; 

1-877-888-3337

Federal Long Term Care Insurance Program (FLTCIP): www.LTCFEDS.com; 1-800-582-3337

Federal Flexible Spending Account Program (FSAFEDS): www.FSAFEDS.com; 1-877-372-3337

If you have questions, please contact your Agency’s Headquarters Benefits Officer. If you do not 

know who this person is, please go to https://apps.opm.gov/abo/ where you will find a list of agencies 

and their Headquarters Benefits Officers. Thank you for your cooperation in ensuring the continuity 

of benefits administration. 

Sincerely, 

Laurie Bodenheimer 

Acting Director

Healthcare and Insurance