Last Updated: November 4, 2026 Reading Time: 7 min

FEDVIP Open Season runs November 9 to December 14, 2026, and most dental and vision enrollees can skip it. If you do nothing, your current FEDVIP enrollment continues into 2027, unless it ends under the program's termination rules. Skipping has a cost for two groups: people who want out, and people who want a different plan.

The FEDVIP Open Season Dates That Matter

Step Date Rule to remember
Open Season opens November 9, 2026 Same window as FEHB and PSHB
FEDVIP deadline December 14, 2026, 11
pm Eastern		 FEHB and PSHB use a different time rule
Coverage starts January 1, 2027 Applies to Open Season FEDVIP enrollments and changes
If you cancel Coverage ends at midnight December 31, 2026 FEDVIP has no TCC or conversion option

Your FEHB choice and your FEDVIP choice are separate. Changing one in your agency's system does nothing to the other, so a dental or vision change has to go through BENEFEDS. Our FEHB Open Season guide covers the health side.

Who Can Skip FEDVIP Open Season

You can leave things alone if all of this is true:

  • You like your current carrier and option.
  • You've checked your 2027 premium and can live with it.
  • Nobody on your enrollment is about to stop qualifying.

Rollover keeps your plan, not your price. Check your 2027 row, especially on EmblemHealth High, United Concordia Standard or Delta Standard. Our 2027 FEDVIP premiums by plan post has every table.

Who Should Act Before December 14

You want to cancel. If you want out of FEDVIP, Open Season is generally your one chance each year; three narrow exceptions apply. Miss it and you may keep paying through 2027.

You want a different carrier or option. Open Season is the main window to switch plans. A baby lets you change enrollment type, not carrier or option. So if braces or a crown are coming in 2027, make the plan decision now.

You have a child near 22. For civilian FEDVIP coverage, a child generally stops qualifying at 22, or on marrying. A qualifying disability beginning before 22 can preserve eligibility, and TRICARE-dependent age rules differ. The ACA's age-26 rule does not apply to FEDVIP. That catches families who assume dental works like FEHB.

You're new and eligible. You do not need to be in FEHB to buy FEDVIP as an employee; you need to be eligible for FEHB. A pre-existing condition cannot keep you out of FEDVIP.

Your pay or annuity is too small to cover the premium. If your pay or annuity can't cover the premium, contact BENEFEDS to pay directly. If you don't, coverage stops and employees generally wait for the next Open Season after pay recovers. Restored annuity or compensation can instead create a 60-day enrollment window.

How to Compare Plans Before You Switch

Before switching, use BENEFEDS' new tool, which estimates out-of-pocket ranges for 75 common dental services across all 11 carriers (FEDVIP account required). The figures are estimates and ranges.

Then look at three things:

  1. Your 2027 premium. Use the by-plan tables, since carrier pages may still show older rates.
  2. Your enrollment type. Self Plus One covers the one person you name. Self and Family has to list everyone eligible. You can hold a dental and a separate vision plan.
  3. Your orthodontia limits. OPM's FAQ says there are no orthodontia waiting periods, but limits differ by plan, so read the 2027 brochure before counting on braces coverage. Check the brochure for age limits, lifetime maximums and how the plan pays during the first year of treatment.

United Concordia Standard, for example, lists orthodontia for children to age 19 with a $1,500 lifetime maximum; its High option covers adults too. If braces are already under way, ask the new carrier how it handles them before you switch, because we could not confirm one rule that applies to every carrier.

If You Also Have FEHB Dental or Vision

If your FEHB plan has dental benefits, it pays first and FEDVIP pays after, by law. The same first-payor rule applies to vision: FEHB vision benefits pay before FEDVIP vision.

That matters when you add up what a FEDVIP premium buys. Look at what your FEHB plan already pays, then judge the FEDVIP plan on what it adds. Our FEDVIP guide walks through plan choice in more depth.

The Rules Differ for Retirees and Military Retirees

Retirees. Retirees use the same Open Season and the same BENEFEDS route as employees. Retirees on an immediate or disability annuity, survivor annuitants and OWCP compensationers can enroll, even without FEHB. A former spouse receiving part of an annuity cannot, unless a TRICARE vision route applies.

A postponed MRA+10 retirement ends FEDVIP at separation; you can enroll again within 60 days after the annuity starts.

Taxes. Active employees pay FEDVIP premiums pre-tax through payroll when pay covers the allotment and the agency can process it; there is no opt-out. Retirees, survivor annuitants, compensationers and TRICARE-eligible enrollees do not get pre-tax treatment; annuitants pay through annuity allotments.

Military retirees. Military retirees, including gray-area retirees, can buy FEDVIP dental through TRDP-based eligibility; a TRICARE health plan is not required for dental. Vision requires a listed TRICARE health plan: Prime, Select, Reserve Select, Retired Reserve or TRICARE for Life. For TFL that means Medicare Part B too.

A military retiree generally has to enroll in dental to cover family. A family member may enroll instead only if the retiree gets VA dental, has employer dental with no family option, or has a condition preventing dental benefits. Military retirees whose retired pay can't cover the premium must arrange direct payment or bank withdrawal with BENEFEDS. TRICARE's own dates differ, so see our TRICARE Open Season guide.

What If You Miss the December 14 Deadline

Your options narrow after that date.

  • To enroll: If you miss Open Season, you can enroll only with a listed event, such as losing other dental or vision coverage or getting married, generally from 31 days before to 60 days after it. Whether marriage works for an annuitant is less clear in the rules, so confirm with BENEFEDS.
  • To add people: For civilian enrollees, a new baby or marriage lets you move up from Self Only or Self Plus One, from 31 days before to 60 days after the event. The marriage route has exclusions for some TRICARE-eligible survivors, former spouses and children.
  • To drop people: After a divorce, a death or a child aging out, you can drop to a smaller enrollment any time from 31 days before the event, if the remaining family count fits.
  • For reasons beyond your control: Miss the deadline for reasons beyond your control and BENEFEDS may allow a late change, up to 3 months after Open Season ends. If approved, you must enroll or change within 30 days after BENEFEDS notifies you. Expect retroactive premiums, usually after-tax.

A life-event change generally takes effect at the start of a pay period, not January 1. Confirm the exact date with BENEFEDS.

A shutdown does not end FEDVIP for furloughed or excepted employees; premiums are paid from back pay.

Check Your Health Premium While You're There

FEDVIP is usually the smaller half of the decision. Set the plan year to 2027, then pick your plan and enrollment tier in our FEHB calculator to see your 2027 health premium, and check the FSAFEDS checklist too, since that election has its own Open Season rule.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I have to re-enroll in FEDVIP during Open Season?

No. If you do nothing, your current FEDVIP enrollment continues into 2027, unless it ends under the program's termination rules. Every 2026 option returns for 2027, so nobody has to re-enroll because their plan left.

What is the FEDVIP Open Season deadline?

FEDVIP changes are due by 11

pm Eastern on Monday, December 14, 2026. West Coast and overseas enrollees should work from Eastern Time.

Can I cancel FEDVIP outside Open Season?

Generally no. If you want out of FEDVIP, Open Season is generally your one chance each year; three narrow exceptions apply. Cancel during Open Season and coverage ends at midnight December 31, 2026.

Does my FEHB plan pay before FEDVIP?

Yes, where your FEHB plan has the benefit. If your FEHB plan has dental benefits, it pays first and FEDVIP pays after, by law. The same first-payor rule applies to vision.

Can my 24-year-old stay on my FEDVIP?

Generally no. For civilian FEDVIP coverage, a child generally stops qualifying at 22, or on marrying. A qualifying disability beginning before 22 can preserve eligibility, and TRICARE-dependent age rules differ. The ACA's age-26 rule does not apply to FEDVIP.

Do FEDVIP plans have waiting periods for braces?

OPM's FAQ says there are no orthodontia waiting periods, but limits differ by plan, so read the 2027 brochure before counting on braces coverage.

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