Last Updated: October 11, 2026

Update, October 11, 2026: OPM's 2027 Open Season Highlights list January 10, 2027 as the employee effective date, and we added a keep-or-change check and the 11

pm close rules.

Update, October 2, 2026: OPM confirmed the November 9 to December 14 dates in its Open Season Highlights for Plan Year 2027 (September 30). Our FEHB 2027 premiums tracker carries the 10.9% enrollee share increase and the list of plans ending after 2026. Reading Time: 10 min

FEHB Open Season for plan year 2027 runs Monday, November 9 through Monday, December 14, 2026. OPM confirmed those dates on September 30, 2026, in its Open Season Highlights for Plan Year 2027, the same document that puts the average 2027 FEHB enrollee share increase at 10.9%, and OPM's September 30 release lists 118 FEHB plan options from 45 carriers for 2027. The dates come from the regulation that sets the window every year unless OPM modifies it, and the calendar math is below. What OPM has published, and what has not changed in years, is the procedure: which system takes each election, what renews itself if you ignore the whole thing, and the one program that quietly deletes itself.

Quick Answers: Open Season 2026 for Plan Year 2027

When is FEHB Open Season for plan year 2027?

Monday, November 9 through Monday, December 14, 2026, confirmed by OPM on September 30, 2026. The dates come from 5 CFR 890.301(f), which runs Open Season "from the Monday of the second full workweek in November through the Monday of the second full workweek in December." Applied to the 2026 calendar, that is November 9 to December 14.

Has OPM officially confirmed the 2027 Open Season dates?

Yes. OPM's Open Season Highlights for Plan Year 2027, published September 30, 2026, states that "The Federal Benefits Open Season for the 2027 Plan Year will be held from November 9 through December 14, 2026." Before that, the dates rested only on the 5 CFR 890.301(f) formula.

If I do nothing during Open Season, what happens?

FEHB, PSHB and FEDVIP all continue, as long as your plan is still offered. OPM says a current FEDVIP enrollee's "enrollment will continue automatically." FSAFEDS does not: "Enrollment does NOT carry forward year to year." Do nothing and there is no account for the next plan year; claims for the old year, the dependent-care grace period and any health-care carryover follow their own rules.

Where do I actually make the change?

It depends on the program and on who pays you. FEHB employees use an agency system: Employee Express, a DoD enrollment system, MyPay at HHS and VA, a DOE system, Employee Personal Page for NFC agencies, or a paper SF 2809. Postal employees use PSHBS. Annuitants use OPM's Open Season Online or Open Season Express at 1-800-332-9798.

Can I change my dental or vision plan through my agency's HR system?

No. OPM is explicit: "You cannot enroll in a FEDVIP plan using the Health Benefits Election Form (SF 2809) or through an agency self-service system, such as Employee Express, PostalEase, EBIS, MyPay, or Employee Personal Page." FEDVIP runs through BENEFEDS only.

When does my new plan actually start?

It depends on the program. For an employee's FEHB enrollment, a change takes effect "on the first day of the first pay period which begins in January of the next following year," and a brand-new enrollment on the first day of the first pay period that begins in 2027, provided you were in pay status during some part of the pay period before it. A PSHB Open Season action "takes effect on January 1 of the next year" (5 CFR 890.1606(e)), OPM's Open Season Online FAQ puts an annuitant's change at January 1, with the premium change showing in the February annuity payment, and FSAFEDS elections are "effective January 1 of the following year." OPM's 2027 Open Season Highlights (p. 9) list January 10, 2027 for employee FEHB enrollment changes and January 24 for OWCP compensationers. Confirm the employee date against your agency's pay calendar.

How much can I put in a health care FSA for 2027?

For 2026 the IRS set the health FSA salary-reduction limit at $3,400 with up to $680 of carryover (Rev. Proc. 2025-32). As of October 11, 2026, OPM had not posted the 2027 figure; check your election screen before you choose an amount.

Is Open Season different for postal employees?

Same calendar, different system. OPM says PSHB Open Season "occurs the second Monday in November through the second Monday in December," which is November 9 to December 14 in 2026, and postal employees and annuitants enroll, change or cancel through PSHBS. Postal annuitants who mail a form use P.O. Box 5001, not 5000.

I missed FEDVIP Open Season. Can I still enroll?

Outside Open Season, FEDVIP takes new enrollments from the newly eligible, from qualifying reemployment, and on a qualifying life event, and the life-event list is short: losing other dental or vision coverage, getting married if you are an employee, having annuity or compensation restored, returning to pay status from certain leave, and a few situations specific to TRICARE-eligible individuals. Without one of those, the next chance is the following Open Season.

I just started this fall. Can I enroll in FSAFEDS now?

No, that window closed September 30, 2026. OPM's rule: new and newly eligible employees "must do so within 60 days after they become eligible, but before October 1 of the calendar year." From October 1, Open Season is your entry point for 2027, and the minimum election is $100.

Should I keep my FEHB plan or change it for 2027?

Run the six-question check: is your plan still offered for 2027; what does it cost at the enrollment type you need (OPM warns Self Plus One can cost more than Self and Family in some plans); did your situation change; does the change fit what Open Season allows; are you in the right system before 11

pm on December 14 (electronic filers; paper forms must be received by then); and what else expires on the same clock (FSAFEDS). If every answer holds, keeping the plan is a decision. If you are an employee with an FSAFEDS account you want next year, you still have to re-elect it; annuitants cannot participate in FSAFEDS.

My FEHB plan is ending after 2026. Do I have to do anything?

Yes. OPM's FEHB Handbook: "If your plan is discontinued at the end of a contract year, you must change your enrollment during Open Season." Our 2027 premiums tracker lists the FEHB options ending after 2026 and where OPM places enrollees who do not choose.

I retired and dropped FEHB. Can I re-enroll during Open Season?

Generally no. Open Season lets enrolled annuitants change plans. An annuitant who canceled FEHB generally cannot reenroll during Open Season, but an annuitant who suspended FEHB for qualifying alternative coverage may reenroll during Open Season (5 CFR 890.306(f)(1)(ii)). Ask OPM about any route outside it.

Three Programs Carry Forward. The Fourth Deletes Itself.

OPM runs the four programs on four websites, so this table does not exist anywhere in one place on opm.gov. Every cell below is taken from the program's own page or regulation.

Program If you take no action in Open Season Where you elect it When a change takes effect
FEHB Generally continues, subject to plan availability and next year's premiums and benefits Your agency's system, or SF 2809 to HR Employees: first day of the first pay period beginning in January 2027 (OPM's 2027 Open Season Highlights, p. 9: January 10, 2027; check your agency's pay calendar); annuitants: January 1
PSHB Generally continues, subject to plan availability and next year's premiums and benefits PSHBS January 1, 2027 (5 CFR 890.1606(e))
FEDVIP Continues automatically BENEFEDS only Plan year 2027
FSAFEDS Must be re-elected every year; prior-year claims, the dependent-care grace period and any carryover follow separate rules FSAFEDS January 1, 2027

The FSAFEDS row is the one that costs people money when they skip it. A health care FSA at the 2026 ceiling of $3,400 shelters that amount from federal income tax and FICA. For an employee in the 22% bracket, that is about $1,008 a year in tax, computed as $3,400 multiplied by 29.65% (22% federal plus 7.65% FICA), rounded once. Above the Social Security wage base, with a 1.45% marginal payroll-tax saving, the illustration is about $797; the Additional Medicare Tax, crossing a threshold mid-year, and Social Security coverage can change it. Forget to re-elect and there is no account for the next plan year. The 2026 carryover maximum is $680, and carryover is conditional on the plan's rules. Those are FedTools calculations from the published limits; your own bracket and state tax change the figure.

Which System Are You In?

The single most common Open Season mistake is going to the wrong website. OPM's enrollment page lists the routes by who employs you.

Employees. FEHB elections go through your agency's system: Employee Express for most agencies, the DoD automated enrollment systems for Defense, MyPay for HHS and VA, the DOE system for Energy, Employee Personal Page for agencies paid by the National Finance Center, or a paper Standard Form 2809 "submitted to Human Resources Office." If you do not know which one your agency uses, your pay stub tells you who your payroll provider is.

Annuitants. OPM handles retirees directly. The three routes are "Using OPM's Open Season Online system," "Using Open Season Express by calling 1-800-332-9798," or mailing a form to the Open Season Processing Center, P.O. Box 5000, Lawrence, KS 66046-0500.

Postal employees and annuitants. The Postal Service Health Benefits Program has the same calendar and a separate system. OPM describes PSHBS as the way "for U.S. Postal Service employees and annuitants to enroll, change current enrollment, or cancel enrollment." Postal annuitants also have OPM's PSHB landing page, the same Open Season Express number, and a different mailbox: P.O. Box 5001. If you are a postal annuitant deciding between staying put and moving, the GEHA Elevate default explainer and the PSHB program guide cover the plan side.

Military retirees with FEHB and TRICARE. The FEHB steps above apply to you. The decision itself is covered in the TRICARE Open Season switch guide.

Keep It or Change It: A Six-Question Check

Keeping your plan is a decision only if you checked it. Each question below sits on an OPM rule, so the whole check takes ten minutes.

1. Is your plan still offered for 2027? OPM lists 118 FEHB plan options from 45 carriers for 2027, and some options end after 2026. The FEHB Handbook leaves no room: "If your plan is discontinued at the end of a contract year, you must change your enrollment during Open Season." Our 2027 premiums tracker lists the options ending and where OPM places enrollees who do not choose. If your plan is on that list, you are changing; the only question is to what. If only an option inside your plan ends, confirm your placement in the tracker and with your carrier.

2. What will it cost at the enrollment type you need? Pull your plan's 2027 rate for your enrollment type, then read the row next to it. OPM's Open Season page warns that in some plans "the enrollee share of premiums for the Self Plus One enrollment type will be higher than for the Self and Family." A two-person household should check both rows every year.

3. Did your situation change? Retiring in 2027, turning 65, adding a family member, or moving can all change the answer. One rule surprises retirees: an Open Season change made as an annuitant takes effect January 1. An annuitant who canceled FEHB generally cannot reenroll during Open Season. An annuitant who suspended FEHB for qualifying alternative coverage may reenroll during Open Season (5 CFR 890.306(f)(1)(ii)).

4. Does the change you want fit what Open Season allows? Under 5 CFR 890.301(f)(3) an employee can enroll, switch plans or options, change enrollment type, or combine those. If a court or administrative order requires you to cover a child, you cannot cancel or reduce coverage below that child's needs during Open Season while the order is in effect unless you document other coverage.

5. Are you in the right system before the right clock? FEHB and PSHB close on Monday, December 14, 2026; OPM's Open Season Manual sets the closing time at 11

p.m. Eastern, so follow your agency's published submission instructions and file before then. A paper SF 2809 counts only when your HR office receives it by that day, though the employing office may accept a late election for causes beyond your control. An FEHB annuitant who mails a form needs a postmark no later than December 14. FEDVIP and FSAFEDS close at 11
pm Eastern.

6. What else expires on the same clock? FEHB, PSHB and FEDVIP continue into 2027 if you do nothing, as long as your plan still exists. FSAFEDS does not. If all five answers above came back "keep," and you are an employee who wants FSAFEDS next year, you still have one election to make. Annuitants cannot participate in FSAFEDS.

FEDVIP Goes Through BENEFEDS, and Nothing Else

Dental and vision are the program people try to change in the wrong place. OPM's instruction leaves no room: "You must use BENEFEDS to enroll or change enrollment in a FEDVIP plan." The same page names every system that cannot do it: the SF 2809, Employee Express, PostalEase, EBIS, MyPay and Employee Personal Page. No computer? BENEFEDS takes enrollments at 1-877-888-3337 (TTY 711). Cancelling FEDVIP is itself generally an Open Season-only action.

If you already have FEDVIP and like your plan, you are done. OPM: "If you are currently enrolled in FEDVIP and do not want to change plans or options, your enrollment will continue automatically."

If you do not have FEDVIP and miss the window, the door mostly closes. Outside Open Season, 5 CFR 894.501 lets newly eligible employees and certain reemployed annuitants and employees enroll, and 5 CFR 894.502 lists the qualifying events: you or a family member lose other dental or vision coverage, your annuity or compensation is restored after having been terminated, you marry while an eligible employee, you return to pay status from certain leave, or you meet one of the situations specific to TRICARE-eligible individuals. There is no general "I changed my mind" exception. The FEDVIP guide covers plan choice.

FSAFEDS: The Re-Election Trap

FSAFEDS is the one program that needs an active election every year. OPM's program page: "Current enrollees must remember to enroll each year to continue participating in FSAFEDS. Enrollment does NOT carry forward year to year."

Three rules to plan around:

  • Elections take effect January 1. OPM: "Open Season enrollments are effective January 1 of the following year." Employee FEHB changes generally begin with the first pay period in January; PSHB and annuitant FEHB changes begin January 1.
  • The minimum election is $100 for every account type.
  • New hires have a separate window. New and newly eligible employees "must do so within 60 days after they become eligible, but before October 1 of the calendar year." That door closed September 30, 2026. Anyone who became eligible this fall enters through Open Season for 2027.

As of October 11, 2026, OPM's FSAFEDS pages had not posted a 2027 health care FSA maximum. For 2026 it was $3,400, with a maximum carryover of $680, and OPM notes that carryover applies to health care and limited expense health care accounts. The dependent care account has its own limit and is not on the carryover list; that figure is not in this post because the 2026 change in the law has not been confirmed against a primary source yet. Check the FSAFEDS election screen for the live number before you commit an amount. New for 2027: an FSAFEDS Visa card for health care and limited-expense accounts, usable at the point of sale; paperless reimbursement stays available.

Adding a Family Member This Season

Plan year 2027 additions come with document checks. What they are and who they hit is in the family verification guide; gather the documents in October rather than in the last week of the window.

Medicare-Eligible Annuitants

If you or your spouse are 65 or older, this is the season to compare your FEHB plan against the Medicare Advantage plans some FEHB carriers offer. Part B itself is not elected here; it runs on Medicare's own enrollment periods. Those questions have their own posts: the FEHB and Medicare Part B guide and FEHB vs. Medicare Advantage at Open Season. The election route changes for annuitants: it is OPM's, not an agency's. So does the effective date: OPM's Open Season Online FAQ puts an annuitant's Open Season change at January 1, with the premium change in the February annuity payment.

Effective Dates, and Who Covers You in Between

The regulation splits effective dates by program and by whether you are new to it or changing within it. For an employee's FEHB enrollment: A new FEHB enrollment made during Open Season takes effect "on the first day of the first pay period that begins in the next following year," provided the employee was in pay status during some part of the preceding pay period. A change to an existing enrollment takes effect "on the first day of the first pay period which begins in January of the next following year." A PSHB Open Season enrollment or change "takes effect on January 1 of the next year" under 5 CFR 890.1606(e), and OPM's Open Season Online FAQ puts an annuitant's FEHB change at January 1. Your current carrier covers you until your effective date.

OPM's 2027 Open Season Highlights (p. 9) list January 10, 2027 for employee FEHB enrollment changes and January 24 for OWCP compensationers. The OPM Enroll page's January 24, 2027 date appears under compensationers. The regulation ties an employee's date to the agency's first pay period beginning in January, so confirm the employee date against your agency's 2027 pay calendar.

The FEHB regulation and OPM's PSHB page state the window with different formulas. The FEHB regulation says "second full workweek." OPM's PSHB page says "the second Monday." The wording differs, but under the calendar calculation used here both yield the same dates. Run both against the 2026 calendar and they agree, because November 1, 2026 is a Sunday and December 1 is a Tuesday: the first full workweek of November starts Monday, November 2, so the second starts November 9; December's first full workweek starts December 7, so the second starts December 14. The second Mondays are the same two dates. That is a FedTools check, not an OPM announcement.

What to Do Before Open Season Opens

  1. Find your enrollment system now. Employee Express, PSHBS, MyPay, Employee Personal Page or paper. Test your login in October.
  2. Pull your 2026 premium as a baseline. The FEHB Calculator returns your annual and per-pay-period cost for your plan and enrollment type.
  3. Decide whether FSAFEDS is worth re-electing, and put the re-election on your calendar for the first week of the window.
  4. Gather family-member documents if you are adding anyone.
  5. Read the 2027 premiums tracker for your plan's status and the confirmed averages, then run the six-question check above before you decide to keep or change.

Price Your 2026 Baseline

Use the free FEHB Calculator to set your status (active or retiree) and ZIP, find your plan in the comparison table and pick your enrollment type (Self Only, Self Plus One, or Self and Family) to get your annual and per-pay-period premium. OPM's September 30 Highlights put the average FEHB enrollee share increase at 10.9%. The calculator includes official 2027 premiums. Select your plan and enrollment type, then compare its 2026 and 2027 rates. Price your plan →

For a plan-by-plan view outside the calculator, FedTools publishes 2026 premiums, deductibles and out-of-pocket maximums for each major plan so you can see what a switch would cost you before coverage starts. If you are enrolled in Blue Cross Blue Shield Standard Option, its 2026 premium and cost page carries the biweekly employee share to write down now.

Sources

  • 5 CFR 890.301(f): Open Season timing and effective dates for employee enrollments and changes; 5 CFR 890.1606(e): PSHB Open Season actions take effect January 1; OPM FAQ "When will my Open Season change to the new coverage be effective?" (annuitants: January 1).
  • OPM, Open Season landing page (accessed October 11, 2026): dates and 11
    pm close rules; Self Plus One premium note.
  • OPM news release, September 30, 2026: plan and carrier counts; FSAFEDS Visa card.
  • OPM FEHB Handbook, Enrollment chapter: Open Season elections, discontinued plans, timely election, non-enrolled annuitants.
  • OPM Open Season Online FAQ (annuitants): January 1 effective date.
  • OPM, Enroll (FEHB enrollment instructions and systems; annuitant routes; compensationer effective-date language: January 24, 2027; annuitant postmark rule); OPM 2027 Open Season Highlights, p. 9 (employee date January 10, 2027).
  • OPM, FEDVIP Enrollment page: BENEFEDS-only rule; automatic continuation; 5 CFR 894.501 to 894.502 (enrollment windows and qualifying life events).
  • OPM, Flexible Spending Accounts (FSAFEDS): re-enrollment rule, January 1 effective date, $100 minimum, 60-day new-employee window, carryover scope.
  • IRS, IR-2025-103 and Rev. Proc. 2025-32: 2026 health FSA limit $3,400, carryover $680.
  • OPM, PSHB Open Season and Enrollment pages: second-Monday rule, PSHBS, annuitant mailbox P.O. Box 5001.