Last Updated: October 8, 2026 Reading Time: 9 min

Leave federal service without an immediate annuity, and your FEHB plan does not have to end. Temporary Continuation of Coverage (TCC) lets you keep it for up to 18 months, measured from your separation date, at the plan's full premium plus 2% in most cases. Two clocks control it, and they run from different events: your agency has 61 days to notify you, and you have 60 days from the later of your separation or that notice to elect. Here are the rules from 5 U.S.C. § 8905a and 5 C.F.R. part 890, subpart K, and FedTools' computation of what TCC costs in 2027 on five large plans.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long does FEHB TCC last?

Under 5 U.S.C. § 8905a(e), a former employee's TCC ends 18 months after the effective date of separation. A child who stops qualifying as a family member, or a qualifying former spouse, usually gets up to 36 months counted from that loss of eligibility. If the child loses eligibility while covered under the former employee's TCC, or the marriage ends within 18 months after the separation, the 36 months run from the former employee's separation date instead.

What are the two TCC deadlines?

Under 5 C.F.R. § 890.1104(a), your HR office must send the notice no later than 30 days after the free 31-day extension ends, which OPM states as within 61 days after your enrollment terminates. Under § 890.1105(b), your election must reach the employing office within 60 days after the later of your separation or receipt of that notice.

How much does TCC cost?

For most enrollees, the full enrollment charge, your share plus the government's, plus a 2% administrative charge under 5 C.F.R. § 890.1113(a). For BCBS Standard Self and Family in 2027 that is $2,962.99 a month, by FedTools' computation from OPM's rate chart. Under 5 U.S.C. § 8905a(d)(5), someone involuntarily separated from the VA by RIF or title 38 staffing readjustment, or separated from certain Department of Energy closure-project facilities, pays only the employee share and the agency pays the rest.

Do I get any free coverage after I leave?

Yes. Under 5 C.F.R. § 890.401, coverage continues for 31 days after your enrollment ends with no contribution from you or the government. Those 31 days are inside the 18 months, which run from the separation date.

Can I get TCC if I am laid off in a RIF?

Yes. Under 5 U.S.C. § 8905a(b)(1)(A), TCC is available whether the separation is voluntary or involuntary. The only separation-based exclusion is an involuntary separation for gross misconduct, and under 5 C.F.R. § 890.1112 the agency must give written notice of intent to deny by the separation date. Someone otherwise eligible for FEHB, such as a retiree whose coverage continues, cannot take TCC.

Can my spouse get TCC?

Not in their own right. OPM's TCC page says spouses are not eligible on their own; you elect Self Plus One or Self and Family TCC to cover a spouse. A former spouse may qualify separately after a divorce or annulment.

What if I miss the 60-day window?

OPM says the opportunity to elect TCC ends. Under 5 C.F.R. § 890.1105(f), the employing office must accept a late election within 60 days after it notifies you of its finding that you were unable to elect on time for cause beyond your control; that route is not open to a child or former spouse whose required notice to the employing office was never given. Losing FEHB also opens a 60-day Marketplace special enrollment period.

Can I switch plans while on TCC?

Yes. Under 5 C.F.R. § 890.1108(e), a TCC enrollee may change plans or enrollment type during Open Season, which runs November 9 through December 14, 2026 for coverage starting the first pay period of January 2027. You can decrease your enrollment type at any time, and a former spouse may not increase enrollment type unless the added person qualifies.

What happens when TCC ends?

OPM's FEHB Handbook says you get another free 31-day extension and may convert to an individual policy from your plan. A qualifying loss of minimum essential coverage generally opens a Marketplace special enrollment period from 60 days before to 60 days after the loss, but FedTools did not verify that TCC counts as minimum essential coverage, so confirm the end-of-TCC route with healthcare.gov before relying on it. Cancelling TCC early or losing it for nonpayment forfeits the extension and is not a qualifying loss.

I am on administrative leave under a deferred resignation. When does my TCC clock start?

At your separation date. While you are on leave you are still an employee with regular FEHB coverage, and the 18 months under 5 U.S.C. § 8905a(e) run from the effective date of separation.

Who Can Elect TCC

Under 5 C.F.R. § 890.1103(a), three groups qualify:

  • A former employee separated "under any circumstances except an involuntary separation for gross misconduct."
  • A child who stops qualifying as a family member under a Self Plus One or Self and Family enrollment, which OPM says usually happens at age 26. Under the FEHB family-member rules in 5 C.F.R. part 890, a child incapable of self-support because of a disability that existed before 26 stays a covered family member past 26 and does not need TCC because of that birthday.
  • A former spouse who would qualify for spouse-equity coverage but for a documentation or timing requirement.

One exclusion applies to all three under § 890.1103(b): anyone otherwise eligible for FEHB under part 890 cannot take TCC. If you retire on an immediate annuity with FEHB, OPM's page says you are not eligible for TCC because your regular coverage does not stop. Spouses are not eligible on their own.

The Clock, Day by Day

Call your separation date S. Under 5 C.F.R. § 890.304(a)(1)(i), your regular enrollment ends on the last day of the pay period containing S. Call that day E.

Step When Rule
18-month cap starts S 5 U.S.C. § 8905a(e)(1)(A); 5 C.F.R. § 890.1107(a)
Regular enrollment ends E 5 C.F.R. § 890.304(a)(1)(i)
Free 31-day extension E+1 through E+31 5 C.F.R. § 890.401(a)(1)
TCC effective, if elected E+32, retroactive if you elect later in the window 5 C.F.R. § 890.1105(g)
Agency notice due By E+61 5 C.F.R. § 890.1104(a)
Your election due 60 days after the later of S or receipt of the notice 5 C.F.R. § 890.1105(b)
TCC ends S + 18 months, or earlier if you regain FEHB, stop paying, or cancel. Ordinary expiration brings another free 31 days and a conversion right; cancelling or nonpayment forfeits both, and new FEHB coverage ends the extension 5 C.F.R. §§ 890.1107(a), 890.1110(a)-(b), 890.401(a)

Two details follow from that table. First, because the 18 months run from S and TCC starts only after the free month, you pay for about 17 months of TCC, not 18. Second, the 61-day figure is the agency's duty, not your deadline. Under § 890.1104(d) a mailed notice is deemed received 5 days after its date, which is why OPM's handbook states your election deadline as 60 days after separation or 65 days after the date of the notice, whichever is later.

An election made late in the window is retroactive to E+32, "as though no break in coverage occurred," and you owe the premiums back to that day.

What TCC Costs in 2027

Under 5 C.F.R. § 890.1109(a) the enrollee pays the full enrollment charge, and under § 890.1113(a) the administrative charge is 2% of it. The statute caps that charge at 2%. Most enrollees get no government contribution; the exception is 5 U.S.C. § 8905a(d)(5), under which the agency pays all but the employee share after an involuntary VA separation by RIF or title 38 staffing readjustment, or certain Department of Energy closure-project separations. FedTools computed the 2027 monthly bill from OPM's non-postal fee-for-service rate chart, verified cell by cell against OPM's file: biweekly total times 26, divided by 12, times 1.02.

Plan and enrollment TCC per month at 102% Your share per month as an employee Increase per month
BCBS Standard, Self Only $1,230.28 $443.41 $786.87
BCBS Standard, Self Plus One $2,690.50 $974.76 $1,715.74
BCBS Standard, Self and Family $2,962.99 $1,076.62 $1,886.37
BCBS Basic, Self Only $1,099.48 $315.16 $784.32
BCBS Basic, Self Plus One $2,470.80 $759.37 $1,711.43
BCBS Basic, Self and Family $2,721.31 $839.67 $1,881.64
FEP Blue Focus, Self Only $655.62 $160.68 $494.94
FEP Blue Focus, Self Plus One $1,409.41 $345.43 $1,063.98
FEP Blue Focus, Self and Family $1,550.14 $379.93 $1,170.21
GEHA Standard, Self Only $766.85 $187.96 $578.89
GEHA Standard, Self Plus One $1,648.79 $404.11 $1,244.68
GEHA Standard, Self and Family $2,046.00 $501.48 $1,544.52
GEHA HDHP, Self Only $721.50 $176.84 $544.66
GEHA HDHP, Self Plus One $1,551.15 $380.19 $1,170.96
GEHA HDHP, Self and Family $1,906.15 $467.20 $1,438.95

FedTools analysis of OPM's 2027 FEHB rates (five large nationwide plan options, not ranked by enrollment). The TCC and employee-share figures are each rounded once at the end, and the increase column subtracts those two rounded figures. Computed from OPM's separately rounded monthly columns instead, three TCC cells and nine employee-share cells differ by one cent. The employee share here is pre-tax under premium conversion and TCC is paid after tax, so the real gap is larger than shown.

Eighteen months of BCBS Standard Self and Family at 102% is $53,333.84 from the unrounded biweekly figure ($53,333.82 if you multiply the rounded monthly cell). On plans where the government pays the maximum 75% share, TCC is a flat 4.08 times your current deduction. On BCBS Standard, where you already pay about 37%, it is about 2.75 times. Cheaper plans see the bigger shock in percentage terms, expensive plans in dollars.

The biggest lever is Open Season. A family on BCBS Standard TCC that switches to FEP Blue Focus for January cuts the monthly bill from $2,962.99 (about $2,963) to $1,550.14.

Layoffs, Removals, and the Gross-Misconduct Rule

A RIF never costs you TCC. Neither does a deferred resignation, a VERA separation without an immediate annuity, or a term appointment expiring. Someone otherwise eligible for FEHB, such as a retiree whose coverage continues, cannot take it. Under 5 C.F.R. § 890.1112, the only separation-based bar is an involuntary separation the employing office deems gross misconduct, and the procedure is specific: written notice of intent to deny no later than the separation date, at least 7 days to respond, the right to a representative and an oral answer, and a written final decision that OPM will not reconsider. The regulation does not define gross misconduct; the employing office decides. Resigning after the agency notifies you that it intends to separate you involuntarily, but before the scheduled separation date, is treated as an involuntary separation for TCC purposes.

For a child or former spouse, the clock depends on notice. Under § 890.1104(b) and (c), the enrollee can notify the employing office within 60 days after a child loses family-member eligibility, and the employee or former spouse can notify it within 60 days after the marriage ends or the former spouse loses spouse-equity coverage. The office then has 14 days to notify the child or former spouse. Under § 890.1105, a child's election is due 60 days after the later of the qualifying event or that notice; a former spouse's is due 60 days after the latest of the qualifying event, a loss of spouse-equity coverage within the 36 months, or that notice. If the required notice was never given, the election window closes 60 days after the event, and OPM's handbook says the office cannot accept a late election in that case. A child who loses eligibility while covered under your TCC gets 36 months counted from your separation date, not from the date eligibility ended.

Paying, Stopping, and the Marketplace Trap

Your former agency's payroll office bills TCC each pay period, generally monthly. Under § 890.1109(c), if a payment is late the office must tell you in writing that coverage depends on paying within 15 days after you receive the notice (45 days overseas); if no payment follows, it terminates the enrollment 60 days (90 days overseas) after the date of the notice, retroactive to the end of the last pay period you paid for. Under § 890.1109(d), reinstatement is possible only if circumstances beyond your control prevented payment: the written request is due within 30 calendar days from termination, must include verification of those circumstances, and the employing office decides. A nonpayment termination also forfeits the free 31-day extension and conversion right that otherwise follow the end of TCC.

The same distinction matters on healthcare.gov. Under 45 C.F.R. § 155.420, losing minimum essential coverage opens a special enrollment period 60 days before and after the loss, but "loss of coverage does not include voluntary termination" or failure to pay premiums. Whether TCC running out at 18 months qualifies depends on TCC counting as minimum essential coverage, which the rule we read does not address, so confirm with healthcare.gov before you rely on it. Dropping TCC early or letting it lapse for nonpayment does not qualify.

If your spouse is a federal employee, there is a cheaper route than TCC. Under 5 C.F.R. § 890.301(i), your loss of FEHB lets your spouse enroll or increase to Self Plus One or Self and Family at the employee rate, from 31 days before to 60 days after the loss. File before your regular coverage ends.

Price a Cheaper Plan Before Open Season

Enter two plans and your enrollment type in the FEHB Plan Comparison with the 2027 plan year selected to see each plan's 2027 enrollee share side by side. The FEHB Calculator shows the government share next to yours for a single plan and tier; together they are the total premium your 102% TCC bill is built on.

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