Union Calendar No. 218
105TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 2675
[Report No. 105–373]
A BILL
To require that the Office of Personnel Manage-
ment submit proposed legislation under which
group universal life insurance and group variable
universal life insurance would be available under
chapter 87 of title 5, United States Code, and for
other purposes.
NOVEMBER 4, 1997
Reported with an amendment, committed to the Commit-
tee of the Whole House on the State of the Union, and
ordered to be printed
Union Calendar No. 218
105TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 2675
[Report No. 105–373]
To require that the Office of Personnel Management submit proposed legisla-
tion under which group universal life insurance and group variable uni-
versal life insurance would be available under chapter 87 of title 5,
United States Code, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
OCTOBER 21, 1997
Mr. MICA (for himself, Mr. CUMMINGS, Mr. PAPPAS, Mrs. MORELLA, Mr.
SESSIONS, Mr. FORD, and Ms. NORTON) introduced the following bill;
which was referred to the Committee on Government Reform and Over-
sight
NOVEMBER 4, 1997
Additional sponsor: Ms. DELAURO
NOVEMBER 4, 1997
Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole
House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed
[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic]
[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on October 21, 1997]
A BILL
To require that the Office of Personnel Management submit
proposed legislation under which group universal life in-
surance and group variable universal life insurance would
be available under chapter 87 of title 5, United States
Code, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Federal Employees Life
Insurance Improvement Act’’.
SEC. 2. REQUIREMENT THAT A LEGISLATIVE PROPOSAL BE
SUBMITTED.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Within 6 months after the date of
enactment of this Act, the Office of Personnel Management
shall submit to Congress proposed legislation under which
there would be made available to Federal employees and
annuitants the following:
(1) Group universal life insurance.
(2) Group variable universal life insurance.
(3) Additional voluntary accidental death and
dismemberment insurance.
The proposal shall indicate whether any such insurance
could be taken in addition to, in lieu of, or in combination
with any insurance otherwise offered under chapter 87 of
title 5, United States Code.
(b) DESCRIPTION OF POLICIES AND COSTS.—The pro-
posed legislation shall be accompanied by a report which
shall include a concise description of the policies proposed,
an estimate of the cost to the Government anticipated with
respect to each of those policies, and any other information
which the Office of Personnel Management may consider
appropriate.
SEC. 3. UNREDUCED ADDITIONAL OPTIONAL LIFE INSUR-
ANCE.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 8714b of title 5, United
States Code, is amended—
(1) in subsection (c)—
(A) by striking the last 2 sentences of para-
graph (2); and
(B) by adding at the end the following:
‘‘(3) The amount of additional optional insurance con-
tinued under paragraph (2) shall be continued, with or
without reduction, in accordance with the employee’s writ-
ten election at the time eligibility to continue insurance
during retirement or receipt of compensation arises, as fol-
lows:
‘‘(A) 
The 
employee 
may 
elect 
to 
have
withholdings cease in accordance with subsection (d),
in which case—
‘‘(i) the amount of additional optional in-
surance continued under paragraph (2) shall be
reduced each month by 2 percent effective at the
beginning of the second calendar month after the
date the employee becomes 65 years of age and
is retired or is in receipt of compensation; and
‘‘(ii) the reduction under clause (i) shall
continue for 50 months at which time the insur-
ance shall stop.
‘‘(B) The employee may, instead of the option
under subparagraph (A), elect to have the full cost of
additional optional insurance continue to be withheld
from such employee’s annuity or compensation on
and after the date such withholdings would otherwise
cease pursuant to an election under subparagraph
(A), in which case the amount of additional optional
insurance continued under paragraph (2) shall not be
reduced, subject to paragraph (4).
‘‘(C) An employee who does not make any elec-
tion under the preceding provisions of this paragraph
shall be treated as if such employee had made an elec-
tion under subparagraph (A).
‘‘(4) If an employee makes an election under para-
graph (3)(B), that individual may subsequently cancel such
election, in which case additional optional insurance shall
be determined as if the individual had originally made an
election under paragraph (3)(A).’’; and
(2) in the second sentence of subsection (d)(1) by
inserting ‘‘if insurance is continued as provided in
subparagraph (A) of paragraph (3),’’ after ‘‘except
that,’’.
(b) TECHNICAL AMENDMENT.—The last sentence of
section 8714b(d)(1) of title 5, United States Code, is amend-
ed by inserting ‘‘(and any amounts withheld as provided
in subsection (c)(3)(B))’’ after ‘‘Amounts so withheld’’.
(c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by this
section shall take effect on the 120th day after the date of
enactment of this Act and shall apply with respect to em-
ployees who become eligible, on or after such 120th day, to
continue additional optional insurance during retirement
or receipt of compensation.
SEC. 4. IMPROVED OPTIONAL LIFE INSURANCE ON FAMILY
MEMBERS.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Subsection (b) of section 8714c of
title 5, United States Code, is amended to read as follows:
‘‘(b) The optional life insurance on family members
provided under this section shall be made available to each
eligible employee who has elected coverage under this sec-
tion, under conditions the Office shall prescribe, in mul-
tiples, at the employee’s election, of 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5 times—
‘‘(1) $5,000 for a spouse; and
‘‘(2) $2,500 for each child described in section
8701(d).
An employee may reduce or stop coverage elected pursuant
to this section at any time.’’.
(b) TECHNICAL
AND CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—
Section 8714c of title 5, United States Code, is amended—
(1) in subsection (c)(2) by striking ‘‘section
8714b(c)(2) of this title’’ and inserting ‘‘section
8714b(c)(2)–(4)’’; and
(2) in subsection (d)(1) by inserting before the
last sentence the following: ‘‘Notwithstanding the pre-
ceding sentence, the full cost shall be continued after
the calendar month in which the former employee be-
comes 65 years of age if, and for so long as, an elec-
tion under this section corresponding to that described
in section 8714b(c)(3)(B) remains in effect with re-
spect to such former employee.’’.
(c) EFFECTIVE DATE; OPEN ENROLLMENT PERIOD.—
(1) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made
by this section shall take effect on the first day of the
first pay period which begins on or after the 180th
day following the date of enactment of this Act or on
any earlier date that the Office of Personnel Manage-
ment may prescribe.
(2) OPEN ENROLLMENT PERIOD.—
(A) IN GENERAL.—Before the effective date
under paragraph (1), the Office shall afford eli-
gible employees a reasonable opportunity to elect
to begin coverage under section 8714c of title 5,
United States Code (as amended by this section),
or to increase any existing optional life insur-
ance on family members to any amount allow-
able under such section (as so amended), begin-
ning on such effective date.
(B) DEFINITION
OF
AN
ELIGIBLE
EM-
PLOYEE.—For purposes of subparagraph (A), the
term ‘‘eligible employee’’ means any employee
(within the meaning of section 8701 of title 5,
United States Code) covered by group life insur-
ance under section 8704(a) of such title.