Last Updated: November 11, 2026 Reading Time: 9 min

Most retirement checklists put "pick your health plan" near the top. That is the one health decision you do not have to get right before your last day, because retirees keep Open Season every year. The decisions that lock at retirement are different: whether you can carry FEHB at all, and when the Medicare Part B clock runs out, for you and for a spouse on your plan.

The Checklist, Keyed to Your Retirement Date

Decision Deadline or clock Who it applies to If you miss it
Confirm 5 years of FEHB (or all service since your first chance to enroll) The 5 years of service ending on your retirement date Everyone retiring on an immediate annuity No FEHB in retirement unless OPM grants a discretionary waiver
On TRICARE or CHAMPVA? Enroll in FEHB before retiring Before your retirement date; Open Season (Nov 9 to Dec 14, 2026) is the usual way in Military retirees and veterans in civil service The TRICARE or CHAMPVA years do not count, so no FEHB in retirement
Retiring at 65 or older without Part B: sign up Last day of the 8th month after your employment-based coverage ends Feds who delayed Part B while working Unless another Special Enrollment Period applies, the January to March General Enrollment Period, and a possible 10% surcharge for each full 12 months of countable delay
Spouse 65 or older on your FEHB: same clock Their window ends on the same schedule as yours Medicare-eligible spouses on the retiring fed's enrollment Same penalty, for the spouse
Retiring before 65: mark your 7-month window 3 months before through 3 months after your 65th birthday month (count from the month before if your birthday is on the 1st) Pre-65 retirees Unless another Special Enrollment Period applies, the General Enrollment Period, and a possible penalty after enough countable delay
Postal: check the PSHB Part B rule Part A entitlement, with exceptions fixed to January 1, 2025 USPS employees retiring into PSHB PSHB coverage ends if the rule applies and you skip Part B
FEGLI: confirm 5 years of FEGLI coverage and make your reduction election FEGLI coverage for the 5 years before retirement, or all your service since your first chance to enroll if shorter; reduction election at retirement FEGLI enrollees Life insurance ends at separation, with a 31-day conversion right
Open Season plan change for 2027 December 14, 2026 Everyone Wait for the next Open Season or a qualifying life event

1. The FEHB 5-Year Rule Locks on Your Retirement Date

To keep FEHB in retirement you need FEHB coverage for the 5 years of service right before you retire, or for all your service since you could first enroll if that's shorter. Time on a spouse's FEHB counts. It does not have to be the same plan, and switching plans at Open Season does not reset anything.

It has to be an immediate annuity. Leave with a deferred annuity and FEHB doesn't follow you.

OPM can waive the 5-year rule, but only at its discretion, and you have to show you meant to keep FEHB and that what stopped you was outside your control, and that you acted reasonably to protect your right to keep it. Don't count on getting one. Our 5-year rule myths post walks through the edge cases.

The TRICARE and CHAMPVA catch. TRICARE time counts toward the 5 years only if you're in an FEHB plan on the day you retire, and CHAMPVA counts the same way. If you are covered by TRICARE or CHAMPVA now and not by FEHB, enroll in FEHB before your retirement date. Open Season is the usual way in. Once you are retired with FEHB, you can suspend it for TRICARE, CHAMPVA or a Medicare Advantage plan and come back later. Suspending is not cancelling.

2. The Part B Clock Starts When the Job Ends, Not When FEHB Ends

This is the costliest item on the list.

If you're 65 or older and covered by FEHB because you or your spouse still work for the government, you can skip Part B for now and sign up later without a penalty. That right comes from a Special Enrollment Period. You have until the end of the 8th month after your employment-based coverage ends. Medicare.gov describes the 8 months as running from when the coverage or the job ends, whichever comes first.

Retiree FEHB keeps paying claims, but it doesn't stop the 8-month clock. That clock starts when your job ends.

Miss the window and two things follow:

  • You wait for the General Enrollment Period, January 1 to March 31, unless another Special Enrollment Period applies to you. Coverage starts the month after you sign up in the general window (not July 1, as under the old rule).
  • You may pay a penalty. The penalty is 10% of the Part B premium for each full 12 months you went without Part B when you could have had it. Months you were on FEHB as a working employee (or on your working spouse's plan) don't count against you. Months on retiree FEHB do.

Your spouse is on the same clock. A spouse 65 or older on your FEHB was covered because of your current employment. When you retire, their Special Enrollment Period runs out on the same schedule as yours, even though they keep FEHB through your annuity.

Retiring before 65? If you reach 65 with only retiree FEHB, you don't get the 8-month window. Your window is the 7 months around your 65th birthday month: the 3 months before, the month itself and the 3 months after. If your birthday is on the 1st, count from the month before.

If you're not a postal retiree, FEHB doesn't make you take Part B, so whether it is worth the premium comes down to cost. Our FEHB and Medicare Part B guide runs the numbers by income bracket. Miss the deadline and you lose that choice, and you pay a surcharge if you enroll later.

3. Postal Retirees: Part B Can Be Required to Keep PSHB

The Postal Service Health Benefits program has its own rule. Postal retirees on Part A must have Part B to keep PSHB, unless an exception applies. If the rule applies to you and you skip Part B, PSHB ends.

You're exempt if you were already a postal retiree on Jan 1, 2025 without both Parts A and B, were a postal employee 64 or older on Jan 1, 2025, live abroad, are enrolled in VA health care, or are IHS-eligible.

Two more points for postal workers retiring now:

  • The 2024 window is closed. The special postal Part B enrollment period ran April through September 2024.
  • No penalty help. Only people who signed up in the 2024 postal window get their late penalty paid by the Postal Service retiree health fund. Postal workers retiring now get no such help.

Check whether the requirement applies to you against OPM's PSHB rules. The PSHB Part B calculator then estimates what Part B costs at 2026 rates after your plan's reimbursement. The details of when coverage ends after a missed enrollment are in our PSHB Part B trap post.

4. FEGLI, FEDVIP and the Rest

FEGLI has its own 5-year rule, and accidental death coverage stops at retirement. You also make your Basic life insurance reduction election at retirement. The FEGLI calculator shows what your coverage costs today; it does not model the post-retirement reduction elections, so read our FEGLI coverage cliff post for those.

FEDVIP dental and vision is open to retirees, and the program's eligibility rules contain no 5-year test.

FSAFEDS and FLTCIP: use up your health care FSA before your last day, and check FSAFEDS for the exact rule. Long-term care insurance is yours to keep; the premium moves to direct billing or an annuity deduction.

5. Your Plan Choice Can Wait

You do not have to pick your retirement FEHB plan before you retire. Annuitants keep Open Season every year and can change plans after a qualifying life event, so a plan that fits your working years can be changed later.

For 2027 coverage, Open Season runs Nov 9 to Dec 14, 2026. FEDVIP, FSAFEDS and PSHB close at 11

pm Eastern on Dec 14; check your FEHB enrollment system or employing office for its cutoff time. Employee FEHB changes start January 10, 2027; annuitant FEHB and PSHB changes start January 1, 2027.

If you are retiring early in 2027, use Open Season to make sure your enrollment type matches the household you will have in retirement, then compare 2027 premiums in the FEHB calculator.

Check Your Part B Status

Postal retirees: once you know whether the PSHB Part B rule applies to you, use the PSHB Part B calculator to estimate your net annual cost at 2026 rates. Everyone else: mark the date your job-based coverage ends and count 8 months forward. That is your Part B deadline if you are 65 or older.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I have to have the same FEHB plan for 5 years to keep it in retirement?

No. You need FEHB coverage for the 5 years of service right before you retire, or for all your service since you could first enroll if that is shorter. Any FEHB plan counts, and so does time covered as a family member on someone else's FEHB enrollment.

I'm retiring at 66 and never took Part B. How long do I have?

Until the last day of the 8th month after your employment-based coverage ends. Medicare.gov counts the 8 months from when the coverage or the job ends, whichever comes first, and retiree FEHB does not extend it.

Does retiree FEHB stop the Part B penalty?

No. Only months on group coverage through current employment, yours or a working spouse's (FEHB or another employer's plan), are left out of the penalty count. Months on retiree FEHB can count toward the 10% surcharge, which applies for each full 12 months of countable delay after your enrollment window closes.

My spouse is 67 and on my FEHB. What happens when I retire?

Their Special Enrollment Period ends on the same schedule as yours, because their coverage came from your current employment. They should enroll within that 8-month window. Otherwise, unless another Special Enrollment Period applies, they must use the General Enrollment Period, and a penalty may apply after enough countable delay.

Does TRICARE or CHAMPVA count toward the FEHB 5-year rule?

Yes, but only if you are enrolled in an FEHB plan on the day you retire. If you are on TRICARE or CHAMPVA now and not FEHB, enroll in FEHB before your retirement date.

As a postal worker, do I have to take Part B to keep PSHB?

If you are entitled to Part A and no exception applies, yes. The exceptions cover people who were postal retirees on January 1, 2025 without both Parts A and B, postal employees who were 64 or older on that date, people living abroad, VA health care enrollees and people eligible for Indian Health Service care.

Can OPM waive the 5-year rule?

Only at its discretion, and you have to show that you meant to keep FEHB and that what stopped you was outside your control, and that you acted reasonably to protect your right to keep it.

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