Acronyms (colloquial) FEGLIA Public law 83-598 | Effective August 17, 1954 | |
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Long title An act to authorize the Civil Service Commission to make available group life insurance for civilian officers and employees in the Federal service, and for other purposes. Enacted by the 83rd United States Congress | ||
The Federal Employee's Group Life Insurance Act (FEGLIA) is a United States federal statute passed by the 83rd U.S. Congress and signed into law by President Dwight D. Eisenhower on August 17, 1954. The act provided for a group life insurance policy for most federal employees, similar to those provided for employees of most large industries.
The act established the Federal Group Life Insurance program, which covers over 4 million federal employees and is the largest group life insurance program in the world. Under the program, new federal employees are automatically enrolled in a basic insurance program with the option of waiving the plan. Insurance premiums are deducted from the employees' payroll checks. The cost of the plan is shared between the employee and the federal government in a 2:1 ratio.
The FEGLI program also covers NASA astronauts, in particular, those astronauts who died on board the space shuttles Challenger and Columbia.