The Federal Government established the Federal Employees' Group Life Insurance (FEGLI) Program on August 29, 1954. It is the largest group life insurance program in the world, covering over 4 million Federal employees and retirees, as well as many of their family members.
FEGLI provides group term life insurance. As such, it does not build up any cash value or paid-up value. The FEGLI program includes options for Basic insurance and Optional insurance. Basic insurance equal to an employee's salary rounded up to the next even thousand, plus two thousand dollars. In addition to the Basic coverage, there are three forms of Optional insurance one can elect. One must have Basic insurance in order to elect any of the options.
The cost of Basic insurance is shared between employer and employee. The employee pays 2/3 of the total cost and the employer pays 1/3. Your age does not affect the cost of Basic insurance. One pays the full cost of Optional insurance, and the cost depends on your age.