Last Updated: October 5, 2026 Reading Time: 9 min

If you are a federal employee rated 100% permanent and total, your spouse and children may qualify for CHAMPVA, which has no premium. That raises a fair CHAMPVA vs FEHB question for the 2027 Open Season: keep paying for Self and Family, or drop to Self Only and let CHAMPVA cover the family? On Blue Cross Standard the premium difference is $7,598.50 a year. Before you switch, check the FEHB survivor rule below.

Your CHAMPVA and FEHB Questions, Answered

Is CHAMPVA really free with a $3,000 maximum?

There is no monthly premium. For most covered outpatient care, your family's costs are a $50 per person deductible ($100 per family) and 25% of CHAMPVA's allowed amount, capped at $3,000 per family per calendar year. Some services are exempt from the deductible or cost share, and inpatient care uses separate cost-sharing formulas. The deductible counts toward the $3,000. The cap applies to covered care, and it does not include charges above CHAMPVA's allowed amount.

Does CHAMPVA cover me, the veteran?

No. Your own rating does not make you a CHAMPVA beneficiary. CHAMPVA covers your spouse and eligible children. (A veteran can qualify separately as the spouse of another qualifying veteran.) You get your own care through VA health care, where a service-connected rating of 50% or more places you in Priority Group 1, and through any FEHB enrollment you keep.

I am a military retiree rated 100% P&T. Can my family use CHAMPVA?

Generally no. Families of military retirees are generally eligible for TRICARE, and anyone eligible for TRICARE can't use CHAMPVA. Check your family's TRICARE eligibility first, especially if you are a medical retiree or a Reserve retiree not yet drawing retired pay.

Can my family keep FEHB and add CHAMPVA?

Yes. FEHB pays first and CHAMPVA pays second. VA's guidebook says that when CHAMPVA is the second payer, the patient pays nothing in most cases. You report the FEHB coverage to VA on VA Form 10-7959c.

How much would I save by dropping to Self Only in 2027?

It depends on the plan. Moving from Self and Family to Self Only saves $7,598.50 a year on Blue Cross Standard and $3,762.20 on GEHA Standard, based on OPM's 2027 rates. Compare that with CHAMPVA's $3,000 family cap. Premiums are usually paid pre-tax, so the take-home difference is smaller.

What happens to my spouse's coverage if I die while enrolled Self Only?

Your spouse cannot continue FEHB. Only a Self Plus One or Self and Family enrollment that covers them can pass to a survivor. CHAMPVA can continue for the spouse and eligible children of a veteran who was permanently and totally disabled at death, but remarriage before 55 puts it at risk, and a survivor entitled to Medicare Part A generally needs Part B to keep it.

Can I switch to Self Only as soon as my family gets CHAMPVA?

Plan on Open Season. If you pay premiums pre-tax, which most employees do, you can reduce your enrollment only at Open Season or after a qualifying life event that matches the change. We could not confirm that a family member gaining CHAMPVA counts, so ask your benefits office before relying on a mid-year change.

If my child ages out of CHAMPVA, can I put them back on FEHB?

Yes, if the child is still an eligible FEHB family member. Losing coverage under another federally sponsored health program lets you increase your enrollment, from 31 days before the loss to 60 days after it.

Does dropping to Self Only hurt my FEHB in retirement?

Not for you. Self Only counts toward the rule for carrying FEHB into retirement, which generally requires five years of coverage before you retire, or coverage since your first opportunity to enroll if that is shorter. As a retiree you can add family members at a later Open Season or when they lose other coverage. The survivor rule still applies at your death.

Can I contribute to an HSA if my family is on CHAMPVA?

VA care for your service-connected conditions does not disqualify you from contributing to a health savings account with an FEHB high-deductible plan. A family member covered by CHAMPVA has other, non-high-deductible coverage. Ask a tax adviser about VA care you receive for conditions that are not service-connected.

Who Qualifies, and Who Is Shut Out

CHAMPVA is the Civilian Health and Medical Program of the Department of Veterans Affairs. Under 38 U.S.C. § 1781, it covers the spouse or child of a veteran who has a permanent and total service-connected disability. It also covers survivors of a veteran who died from a service-connected disability or who was permanently and totally disabled at death.

Three limits decide whether any of this applies to you:

  • The rating has to be permanent and total. A 100% rating that is not permanent does not qualify the family.
  • TRICARE eligibility rules the family out. VA's CHAMPVA page says family members who are eligible for TRICARE can't get CHAMPVA. That generally covers military retirees' families.
  • Children age out at 18, or 23 for students. CHAMPVA covers an unmarried child until then, and students have to certify school enrollment every year. A child who became permanently unable to support themselves before 18 can stay covered.

What CHAMPVA Costs Your Family

The cost rules are in 38 C.F.R. § 17.274:

Cost Amount
Premium or enrollment fee None
Outpatient deductible $50 per person, $100 per family, per calendar year (waived for some services)
Cost share after the deductible 25% of CHAMPVA's allowed amount for most outpatient care; inpatient care uses separate formulas
Catastrophic cap $3,000 per family per calendar year

As of October 2026, those are the amounts in VA's rules.

Two details matter in practice. A provider who accepts CHAMPVA must accept its allowed amount as payment in full, so there is no balance billing. Many providers can choose whether to accept CHAMPVA, though hospitals that participate in Medicare must accept it for inpatient services. Ask before the appointment.

The free Meds by Mail pharmacy is only for family members with no other prescription coverage. A family that stays on FEHB can't use it.

The 2027 Premium Math, Plan by Plan

Here is what the enrollee pays in 2027 on five widely held nationwide plans, and what moving the family off FEHB would save.

Plan Self Only per year Self Plus One per year Self and Family per year Saved moving Self Plus One to Self Only Saved moving Self and Family to Self Only
Blue Cross Standard $5,320.90 $11,697.14 $12,919.40 $6,376.24 $7,598.50
MHBP Standard $3,980.86 $11,512.02 $10,420.28 $7,531.16 $6,439.42
Blue Cross Basic $3,781.96 $9,112.48 $10,076.04 $5,330.52 $6,294.08
GEHA Standard $2,255.50 $4,849.26 $6,017.70 $2,593.76 $3,762.20
GEHA HDHP $2,122.12 $4,562.22 $5,606.38 $2,440.10 $3,484.26

FedTools analysis of OPM's 2027 FEHB rate file for non-postal employees: the biweekly enrollee share times 26 pay periods. Premiums are usually paid pre-tax, so the take-home difference is smaller. The table does not subtract what the family would have paid in FEHB deductibles and copays.

Set each saving against CHAMPVA's $3,000 family cap:

  • On Blue Cross Standard, the Self and Family saving is $4,598.50 more than the cap. Even in a year when the family hits the cap, the premium saved is larger.
  • On GEHA Standard, the margin is $762.20.
  • For a two-person household on GEHA Standard or GEHA HDHP, the premium saved is less than the cap, by $406.24 and $559.90. In a heavy-use year, CHAMPVA alone could cost more than the premium you saved.

One oddity in the 2027 rates: MHBP Standard charges more for Self Plus One ($442.77 biweekly) than for Self and Family ($400.78). That is $1,091.74 a year.

To price your own plan, the FEHB Premium Calculator shows the enrollee share by plan and enrollment type. Choose plan year 2027 to see next year's premiums. For the government's share by plan, see the 2027 government share by plan.

The Survivor Rule to Check First

Under 5 C.F.R. § 890.303, an enrollment passes to survivors only if it is Self Plus One or Self and Family and covers them. OPM puts it plainly: if you have a Self Only enrollment when you die, your survivors are not eligible to continue FEHB.

Even with a family enrollment, your spouse keeps FEHB only if they receive a survivor annuity or the FERS basic death benefit. A retiree who elects no survivor annuity cuts off the spouse's FEHB too.

CHAMPVA continues for the surviving spouse and eligible children of a veteran who was permanently and totally disabled at death. It has its own conditions:

  • A surviving spouse who remarries after 55 keeps CHAMPVA. Remarrying before 55 puts it at risk.
  • A spouse entitled to Medicare Part A generally needs Part B to keep CHAMPVA, and CHAMPVA then pays after Medicare. The rule has exceptions. People who were 65 or older before June 5, 2001, are entitled to Part A and have not purchased Part B can keep CHAMPVA. People 65 or older who are not entitled to Part A can also keep it. Those in the older group who did purchase Part B must keep carrying it.

The choice is which coverage your spouse would rely on after your death: FEHB as a survivor annuitant, or CHAMPVA under those rules.

Three Ways to Set It Up

Option A: Self and Family, no CHAMPVA. Nothing changes. You pay the full family premium and never deal with CHAMPVA paperwork.

Option B: Self and Family plus CHAMPVA as second payer. You keep paying the family premium, and your spouse keeps the FEHB survivor path. CHAMPVA picks up costs after FEHB pays. This costs the most in premiums and leaves the least to pay at the doctor.

Option C: Self Only plus CHAMPVA as the family's only coverage. You save the premium difference in the table. Your family pays CHAMPVA's deductible and cost shares, up to the $3,000 cap, and needs providers who accept CHAMPVA. Your spouse gives up FEHB survivor coverage unless you move back to a family enrollment before you die.

While you are alive you can reverse Option C. You can move back to a family enrollment at a later Open Season, or when a family member loses CHAMPVA.

How to Apply and When to Switch

  1. Apply for CHAMPVA first. Use VA Form 10-10d, online, by mail or by fax. VA does not publish a processing time, so apply well before you change your FEHB.
  2. Wait for the ID card. Your CHAMPVA effective date is printed on the card.
  3. Report other insurance. If the family stays on FEHB, file VA Form 10-7959c. File it again if you later drop them from FEHB.
  4. Change FEHB at Open Season, November 9 through December 14, 2026, if you choose Option C. Our Open Season guide walks through the steps.
  5. Check providers. Call your family's doctors and ask whether they accept CHAMPVA.

If you are also weighing TRICARE because of a military retirement, this is the wrong comparison. Use TRICARE vs FEHB, which compares TRICARE and FEHB costs.

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