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Title 5 — Government Organization and EmployeesRelease 119-73

§8702 Automatic coverage

Title 5 › Part PART III— - EMPLOYEES › Subpart Subpart G— - Insurance and Annuities › Chapter CHAPTER 87— - LIFE INSURANCE › § 8702

Last updated Apr 6, 2026|Official source

Summary

Employees get federal group insurance automatically on the day they become eligible, and OPM must include that automatic coverage in its policies. If an employee does not want the insurance, they must give written notice on OPM’s form to their office. If OPM gets the form before coverage starts, they will not be covered. If OPM gets it after coverage began, coverage ends at the end of that pay period. Even after opting out, an employee who is notified of deployment for a contingency operation or a DoD employee designated as emergency essential can choose coverage by filing the prescribed written election within 60 days of that notification. Work by officers or employees on benefits under this law is treated, for purposes of 31 U.S.C. 1342, as emergency services for protecting life or property.

Full Legal Text

Title 5, §8702

Government Organization and Employees — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)An employee is automatically insured on the date he becomes eligible for insurance and each policy of insurance purchased by the Office of Personnel Management under this chapter shall provide for that automatic coverage.
(b)An employee desiring not to be insured shall give written notice to his employing office on a form prescribed by the Office. If the notice is received before he has become insured, he shall not be insured. If the notice is received after he has become insured, his insurance stops at the end of the pay period in which the notice is received.
(c)Notwithstanding a notice previously given under subsection (b), an employee who is deployed in support of a contingency operation (as that term is defined in section 101(a)(13) of title 10) or an employee of the Department of Defense who is designated as an emergency essential employee under section 1580 of title 10 shall be insured if the employee, within 60 days after the date of notification of deployment or designation, elects to be insured under a policy of insurance under this chapter. An election under the preceding sentence shall be effective when provided to the Office in writing, in the form prescribed by the Office, within such 60-day period.
(d)Any services by an officer or employee under this chapter relating to benefits under this chapter shall be deemed, for purposes of section 1342 of title 31, services for emergencies involving the safety of human life or the protection of property.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Historical and Revision Notes

DerivationU.S. CodeRevised Statutes andStatutes at Large 5 U.S.C. 2094(a) (less 1st par.).Aug. 17, 1954, ch. 752, § 5(a) (less 1st par.), 68 Stat. 738. In subsection (a), the words “eligible for insurance” are coextensive with and substituted for “eligible under the terms of this chapter”. Standard changes are made to conform with the definitions applicable and the style of this title as outlined in the preface to the report.

Editorial Notes

Amendments

2019—Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 116–92 added subsec. (d). 2008—Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 110–417 inserted “an employee who is deployed in support of a contingency operation (as that term is defined in section 101(a)(13) of title 10) or” after “subsection (b),” and substituted “the date of notification of deployment or” for “the date of the”. 2000—Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 106–398 added subsec. (c). 1978—Subsecs. (a), (b). Pub. L. 95–454 substituted “Office of Personnel Management” for “Civil Service Commission” and “Office” for “Commission”.

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date

of 2019 Amendment Pub. L. 116–92, div. A, title XI, § 1110(d), Dec. 20, 2019, 133 Stat. 1600, provided that: “The

Amendments

made by subsection[s] (a) and (b) [amending this section and section 8905 of this title] shall apply to any lapse in appropriations beginning on or after the date of enactment of this Act [Dec. 20, 2019].”

Effective Date

of 1978 AmendmentAmendment by Pub. L. 95–454 effective 90 days after Oct. 13, 1978, see section 907 of Pub. L. 95–454, set out as a note under section 1101 of this title.

Regulations

Pub. L. 116–92, div. A, title XI, § 1110(c), Dec. 20, 2019, 133 Stat. 1600, provided that: “(1) In general.—Not later than 90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act [Dec. 20, 2019], the Office of Personnel Management shall prescribe

Regulations

to carry out the

Amendments

made by subsections (a) and (b) [amending this section and section 8905 of this title]. “(2) Pay status for furloughed employees.—The

Regulations

prescribed under paragraph (1) for the

Amendments

made by subsection (a) [amending section 8905 of this title] shall provide that an employee furloughed as result of a lapse in appropriations shall, during such lapse, be deemed to be in a pay status for purposes of enrolling or changing the enrollment (as the case may be) of that employee under chapter 89 of title 5, United States Code.” Applicability Pub. L. 106–398, § 1 [[div. A], title XI, § 1134(b)], Oct. 30, 2000, 114 Stat. 1654, 1654A–318, provided that: “For purposes of section 8702(c) of title 5, United States Code (as added by subsection (a)), an employee of the Department of Defense who is designated as an emergency essential employee under section 1580 of title 10, United States Code, before the date of the enactment of this Act [Oct. 30, 2000] shall be deemed to be so designated on the date of the enactment of this Act.”

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

5 U.S.C. § 8702

Title 5 — Government Organization and Employees

Last Updated

Apr 6, 2026

Release point: 119-73