Last Updated: October 2, 2026

Update, October 2, 2026: OPM published the 2027 numbers on September 30, 2026, in its Open Season Highlights for Plan Year 2027. The FEHB enrollee share rises an average of 10.9% (overall premium 9.3%, government share 8.6%); PSHB rises 8.2% for enrollees (overall 6.7%). OPM has now announced the Open Season dates the regulation already set: November 9 through December 14, 2026. Nine FEHB plan options and one PSHB plan end after 2026. The status board, the baseline table, and rumors 1 and 2 are updated below. The FR 2026-18944 plan-offerings RFI remains open through November 16. Reading Time: 7 min

Every September the same thing happens on r/fednews and in agency break rooms: somebody heard the 2027 FEHB premium number, somebody else heard their plan is leaving, and a third person is sure Self Plus One is being killed. As of September 30, the headline number is real: OPM says the average FEHB enrollee share goes up 10.9% for 2027. This page tracks what OPM has published about FEHB and PSHB for 2027, separates it from what people are still guessing, and gets updated as the plan-by-plan rate charts and the FEHB Calculator catch up.

Status Board: FEHB and PSHB 2027 as of October 2, 2026

This table is the tracker. Each row is confirmed against an OPM or Federal Register document, marked as reported when the source is press coverage rather than OPM, or marked as a rumor with the reason.

Item Status What we know Source
Open Season dates Confirmed Monday, November 9 through Monday, December 14, 2026, announced by OPM on September 30 OPM Open Season Highlights, 2027 plan year; 5 CFR 890.301(f)
2027 premium rates Confirmed FEHB: overall +9.3%, enrollee share +10.9%, government share +8.6%. PSHB: overall +6.7%, enrollee +8.2%, government +6.0%. FEDVIP: dental +1.0%, vision +1.6%. Plan-by-plan dollar charts are posted on opm.gov OPM Open Season Highlights, 2027 plan year (September 30, 2026)
2027 plan exits Confirmed Nine FEHB options end: Independent Health Standard and HDHP; Blue Care Network of Michigan Southeast High; UHC Choice Primary West High and Choice Plus Primary West High; Health Net of California Northern High, Southern Standard, Southern Basic, and Southern High. Default for non-electors: Compass Rose Standard. One PSHB plan ends: UnitedHealthcare Choice Plus Primary Postal East; default FEP Blue Focus OPM Open Season Highlights, 2027 plan year
2027 plan counts Confirmed 45 FEHB carriers, 118 options (2026: 47 and 132). 17 PSHB carriers, 65 options (2026: 17 and 75). FEDVIP: 11 dental and 5 vision carriers, 31 options OPM Open Season Highlights, 2027 plan year
OPM plan-options RFI Confirmed Published September 15, 2026; asks whether fewer plan options would lower costs; comments due November 16, 2026 Federal Register 2026-18944
New OPM insurance chief Reported Matthew Kiley became Associate Director for Healthcare and Insurance on September 8, 2026, per GovExec's report of an internal memo GovExec, September 2, 2026
2027 benefit rules (call letter) Confirmed in March GLP-1 anti-obesity drug coverage required; the mid-treatment exception process for excluded gender-affirming surgical and hormonal services is removed for 2027 (counseling coverage stays); details in our call-letter post OPM Carrier Letter 2026-07
2026 baseline increase Confirmed Enrollee share +12.3% FEHB, +11.3% PSHB OPM Open Season Highlights, 2026 plan year

What Is Actually Confirmed for 2027

The dates

Open Season is not announced so much as calculated. The regulation says it runs "from the Monday of the second full workweek in November through the Monday of the second full workweek in December." For 2026 that is November 9 to December 14. Employee elections take effect with the first pay period beginning in January 2027, subject to the regulation's pay-status conditions; for most annuitants the effective date is January 1.

For comparison, last year's season ran November 10 through December 8, 2025, and OPM announced it (along with the 2026 rates) on October 9, 2025.

Who is running the program

OPM's Healthcare and Insurance Division has a new head. GovExec reported that Matthew Kiley started September 8, 2026, replacing Shane Stevens, who left in May. He arrives in the busiest six weeks of the FEHB calendar. We found no public statement from him about 2027 premiums, and we are not going to guess at one for him.

The plan-options request for information

This is the one new item since our last FEHB post.

On September 15, 2026, OPM published a request for information in the Federal Register titled "Federal Employees Health Benefits Program: Optimizing FEHB Plan Offerings." It asks the public two pointed questions, quoted directly:

  • "For enrollees, how might more, fewer, or different health benefits plan options offered lessen the cost burdens or mitigate premium increases?"
  • "For the government, how might more, fewer, or different health benefits plan options offered lessen cost burdens and mitigate increases to the government contribution?"

Today's rule caps each health benefits plan at three options, or two options plus a high-deductible plan. The RFI is OPM openly asking whether that cap should change. Comments must be received by November 16, 2026, which lands in the middle of Open Season.

Two things to keep straight. First, this is a request for information, not a proposed rule. Nothing changes for your 2027 election because of it. Second, the RFI sets no date for any later change; a change would need its own rule.

The baseline you are starting from

OPM's own Open Season Highlights give the trend:

Plan year FEHB enrollee share increase FEHB overall premium increase PSHB enrollee share increase PSHB overall premium increase
2025 13.5% 11.2% 11.1% 6.9%
2026 12.3% 10.2% 11.3% 9.0%
2027 10.9% 9.3% 8.2% 6.7%

Source: OPM Federal Benefits Open Season Highlights, 2025, 2026 and 2027 plan years. For 2026, OPM listed 47 FEHB carriers offering 132 plan options and 17 PSHB carriers offering 75. For 2027 it lists 45 carriers and 118 options in FEHB and 17 carriers and 65 options in PSHB.

That makes three straight double-digit years for the FEHB enrollee share, each one smaller than the last: 13.5%, then 12.3%, now 10.9%. OPM attributes the 2027 increase to hospital and physician prices and utilization, behavioral health, and prescription drug spending, with GLP-1 and specialty drugs named.

Those are program-wide averages, so if you want the starting point for your own plan rather than the program, we publish the 2026 baseline for each plan's premium with the biweekly employee share, deductible and out-of-pocket maximum you will be comparing the 2027 rate against.

Five Rumors, Checked

# What you have heard Verdict Why
1 "Premiums are going up double digits again for 2027" Confirmed for the enrollee share OPM's 2027 figure is a 10.9% average enrollee increase for FEHB. The overall premium rises 9.3% and the government share 8.6%, so the double-digit part is what comes out of your paycheck, not the total. PSHB enrollees pay 8.2% more.
2 "A wave of plans is leaving for 2027" Partly true Nine FEHB plan options and one PSHB plan end after 2026, and the program-wide option count drops from 132 to 118. Most of the exits are regional HMOs (Health Net of California, Independent Health, Blue Care Network Southeast Michigan, two UHC Choice Primary West options). Enrollees in a terminating plan who make no election go to a default plan.
3 "GLP-1 coverage gets a new crackdown for 2027" Direction confirmed, "crackdown" is not The March 2026 call letter already requires coverage of anti-obesity GLP-1 drugs with behavioral and nutrition support. No new 2027 restriction beyond the call letter has been published.
4 "Self Plus One is being eliminated" No evidence No OPM notice, rule, or carrier letter proposes it. Some plans price Self Plus One near the family rate, which feeds the rumor, but a pricing quirk is not an elimination.
5 "A fall shutdown will delay Open Season" Unconfirmed, no OPM statement Government funding runs through December 11, 2026 under the continuing resolution signed September 2. The Open Season dates come from regulation and stand until OPM says otherwise.

What to Do Before November 9

The averages are out. Your own plan's 2027 rate is in the plan-by-plan charts OPM posts on opm.gov, and we load those into the FEHB Calculator once they are published.

  1. Baseline your current plan today. Run it through the FEHB Calculator so you know your 2026 annual and per-pay-period cost. When the 2027 plan-by-plan rates are loaded into the calculator, run it again and compare.
  2. Check whether your plan is on the terminating list in the status board above. If it is, you must elect a new plan during Open Season or OPM moves you to the default plan (Compass Rose Standard for FEHB, FEP Blue Focus for PSHB). MHBP Value Plan and Consumer Option members are a separate case: their default is MHBP Standard Option.
  3. Gather dependent paperwork now. Starting this Open Season, agencies must verify the eligibility of every family member newly added through an Open Season election before the addition is finalized. Our family verification guide lists what counts.
  4. Read the 2027 benefit changes that are already set. The call letter locked the GLP-1 requirement months ago and, for 2027, removes the mid-treatment exception process for the gender-affirming surgical and hormonal services that were already excluded; counseling coverage stays required. Our call-letter breakdown has the details.
  5. Decide whether you want to comment on the plan-options RFI. Docket instructions are in the Federal Register notice. The deadline is November 16.
  6. Bookmark this page. We update the status board when the plan-by-plan charts post and when the calculator carries 2027 rates.

Compare Your FEHB Costs Before the Rates Change

Use our free FEHB Calculator to see what your current plan costs you for the year and per pay period. Enter your plan and enrollment type (Self Only, Self Plus One, or Self and Family). Save the number. When OPM posts the plan-by-plan 2027 charts and we load them into the calculator, run the same plan again and compare the two results before the December 14 deadline. Until then the calculator carries 2025 and 2026 rates only. Try it now →

Frequently Asked Questions

When is FEHB Open Season for 2027 coverage?

November 9 through December 14, 2026. The dates come from the standing formula in 5 CFR 890.301(f): the Monday of the second full workweek in November through the Monday of the second full workweek in December. Elections take effect in January 2027.

Has OPM announced 2027 FEHB premium increases yet?

Yes. OPM published the 2027 figures on September 30, 2026, in its Open Season Highlights for Plan Year 2027: the average FEHB enrollee share rises 10.9%, the overall premium 9.3%, and the government contribution 8.6%. For PSHB the enrollee share rises 8.2% and the overall premium 6.7%. Plan-by-plan dollar amounts are in the rate charts OPM posts on opm.gov.

Which FEHB plans are ending in 2027?

Nine FEHB plan options end after 2026: Independent Health Standard and HDHP, Blue Care Network of Michigan Southeast High, UHC Choice Primary West High, UHC Choice Plus Primary West High, and four Health Net of California options (Northern High, Southern Standard, Southern Basic, Southern High). One PSHB plan ends, UnitedHealthcare Choice Plus Primary Postal East. Enrollees who do not pick a new plan during Open Season are moved to Compass Rose Standard (FEHB) or FEP Blue Focus (PSHB).

Is OPM planning to reduce the number of FEHB plan choices?

OPM is asking the public that question. A September 15, 2026 Federal Register request for information (FR 2026-18944) asks whether offering fewer plan options per carrier would ease premium and cost burdens. Comments are due November 16, 2026, during Open Season. No decision has been made, the RFI itself changes no plan options, and it sets no date for any later change. Your 2027 election is unaffected.

How much did FEHB premiums go up for 2026?

The enrollee share rose an average of 12.3% for FEHB and 11.3% for PSHB for plan year 2026, according to OPM's Open Season Highlights. The year before, the enrollee share rose 13.5% for FEHB and 11.1% for PSHB. That is two straight years of double-digit increases, which is why the 2027 number matters so much.

Is the Self Plus One enrollment option going away in 2027?

We found no OPM document that says so. No notice, rule change, or carrier instruction proposes ending Self Plus One. Some plans price Self Plus One at or near the Self and Family rate, which is where the rumor comes from, but pricing quirks are not the same as an enrollment type being eliminated.

How can I prepare before Open Season opens?

Run your current plan through the FEHB Calculator now. Enter the plan and your enrollment type (Self Only, Self Plus One, or Self and Family) to see your annual and per-pay-period cost. When the 2027 plan-by-plan rates are loaded into the calculator, run the same plan again and compare the two results before you have to decide anything.

Sources