5 U.S.C. § 8708 — Government contributions

(a) For each period an employee is insured under a policy the Office of Personnel Management buys under section 8709, an amount equal to half of what's withheld from the employee's pay under section 8707 must be contributed from the same appropriation or fund used to pay the employee. (b) When an employee is paid by the Chief Administrative Officer of the House of Representatives, that officer may contribute this required amount from the applicable accounts of the House of Representatives. (c) When the employee is an elected official, this amount is contributed from an appropriation or fund available for paying other salaries in the same office or establishment. (d) (1) Except as this subsection otherwise provides, for each period an employee continues life insurance after retirement, or while receiving compensation under subchapter I of chapter 81 for a work-related disease or injury, as section 8706(b) provides, the Office must contribute an amount equal to half of what's withheld from the employee's annuity or compensation under section 8707, from annual appropriations authorized for that purpose, which may remain available until spent. (2) These contributions: (A) apply only to individuals who retire, or start receiving compensation, after December 31, 1989; (B) don't apply for months after the individual turns 65; and (C) for anyone who elects coverage under section 8706(b)(3)(B), must equal what would apply under this subsection if that person had instead elected coverage under section 8706(b)(3)(A). (3) The United States Postal Service must pay these contributions for anyone who (A) first becomes an annuitant after retiring from Postal Service employment after December 31, 1989, or (B) starts receiving compensation under subchapter I of chapter 81 after December 31, 1989, if the position they last held before that was within the Postal Service.