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 Manage-
ment 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
proposed 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 an-
ticipated with respect to each of those policies, and any
other information which the Office of Personnel Manage-
ment 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
paragraph (2); and
(B) by adding at the end the following:
‘‘(3) The amount of additional optional insurance
continued under paragraph (2) shall be continued, with
or without reduction, in accordance with the employee’s
written election at the time eligibility to continue insur-
ance during retirement or receipt of compensation arises,
as follows:
‘‘(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 compensa-
tion; 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 with-
held from such employee’s annuity or compensation
on and after the date such withholdings would other-
wise cease pursuant to an election under subpara-
graph (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 para-
graph shall be treated as if such employee had made
an election 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 ‘‘ex-
cept that,’’.
(b) TECHNICAL AMENDMENT.—The last sentence of
section 8714b(d)(1) of title 5, United States Code, is
amended by inserting ‘‘(and any amounts withheld as pro-
vided in subsection (c)(3)(B))’’ after ‘‘Amounts so with-
held’’.
(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 employees who become eligible, on or after such 120th
day, to continue additional optional insurance during re-
tirement 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 fol-
lows:
‘‘(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 amend-
ed—
(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
preceding sentence, the full cost shall be continued
after the calendar month in which the former em-
ployee becomes 65 years of age if, and for so long
as, an election under this section corresponding to
that described in section 8714b(c)(3)(B) remains in
effect with respect to such former employee.’’.
(c) EFFECTIVE DATE; OPEN ENROLLMENT PE-
RIOD.—
(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 Person-
nel Management may prescribe.
(2) OPEN ENROLLMENT PERIOD.—
(A) IN
GENERAL.—Before the effective
date under paragraph (1), the Office shall af-
ford eligible 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 op-
tional life insurance on family members to any
amount allowable under such section (as so
amended), beginning on such effective date.
(B) DEFINITION
OF
AN
ELIGIBLE
EM-
PLOYEE.—For purposes of subparagraph (A),
the term ‘‘eligible employee’’ means any em-
ployee (within the meaning of section 8701 of
title 5, United States Code) covered by group
life insurance under section 8704(a) of such
title.
Passed the House of Representatives November 4,
1997.
Attest:
Clerk.