What is the deadline to accept the OPM DRP or VERA offer?

July 13, 2026 at 5 p.m. Eastern. No extensions have been announced. Employees in the Office of the Actuaries and Systems Development and Implementation are excluded.

Do I lose FEHB if I accept the OPM DRP offer?

It depends on VERA. Pair DRP with VERA retirement and FEHB continues into retirement, with the 5-year rule waived automatically under the VERA authority. Take DRP alone without VERA and you are resigning, not retiring: FEHB ends at your March 1, 2027 separation.

Is there an annuity penalty for retiring early under VERA?

No. VERA pays the standard FERS formula, 1% of your High-3 per year of service (1.1% at 62 with 20+ years), with no early-retirement reduction. That is different from MRA+10 retirement, which cuts 5% per year under age 62.

Does the FERS Supplement start immediately under VERA?

Only once you reach your Minimum Retirement Age, 57 for most people. Retire under VERA at 51 and you wait roughly 6 years before the supplement begins, which creates an income gap to plan for.

OPM Buyout Deadline July 13: The DRP + VERA Offer Explained

Q: Is the OPM offer a $25,000 VSIP buyout?

No. The OPM Healthcare and Insurance offer is the Deferred Resignation Program (DRP) paired with Voluntary Early Retirement Authority (VERA), not a cash VSIP. Under DRP you receive full salary and benefits on paid administrative leave from August 31, 2026 until a March 1, 2027 separation. No lump-sum cash component has been confirmed.

Last Updated: July 3, 2026 Reading Time: 8 min

OPM has given its own Healthcare and Insurance division until July 13, 2026 at 5 p.m. Eastern to accept an exit offer. First, a correction to what you may have heard: this OPM buyout is not a $25,000 VSIP check. It is the Deferred Resignation Program (DRP) paired with VERA early retirement, and the difference decides whether you keep your health insurance and your annuity.

The division that runs FEHB, PSHB, and FEDVIP for roughly 8 million people is now working through its own separation math. If you or someone you know works in H&I, here are the three paths, the seven traps, and the ten days left to decide.

The deadline is July 13, 2026 at 5 p.m. ET. DRP acceptees stop working August 31, 2026 and officially separate March 1, 2027, with full salary and benefits in between.
There is no confirmed cash payment. The value of this OPM buyout is roughly 6 months of paid leave, plus an immediate annuity if you pair it with VERA.
DRP without VERA is a resignation, not a retirement. No annuity, and FEHB ends at separation. This is the single most expensive mistake available here.
VERA eligibility: age 50 with 20 years of service, or any age with 25 years. No early-retirement penalty on the FERS formula.
The Office of the Actuaries and Systems Development and Implementation are excluded. OPM says these offers come "before considering any involuntary actions," which is a plain hint about what follows low uptake.

What the OPM Buyout Actually Includes

Per Federal News Network's reporting, the offer has two parts that can be taken separately or together:

The DRP piece. Accept by July 13 and you go on paid administrative leave starting August 31, 2026. Salary and benefits continue while you no longer report to work. Your official separation date is March 1, 2027. DRP participants are protected from any RIF during the leave period, but forfeit their FY2026 performance award.

The VERA piece. Voluntary Early Retirement Authority lets eligible employees retire now with an immediate annuity: age 50 with 20 years of service, or any age with 25 years. Unlike MRA+10 retirement, VERA carries no penalty reduction.

H&I has already lost 80 employees in 2026 through retirements, an earlier DRP round, attrition, and probationary terminations. OPM senior advisor James Muetzel framed this round as a second chance, offered "before considering any involuntary actions."

The Three Decision Paths

Every eligible H&I employee lands in one of three boxes, and the box decides what this offer is actually worth to you.

Path	What You Get	What You Give Up	Who It Fits
DRP only	~6 months paid leave, then separation	Annuity, FEHB in retirement, FY2026 award	Not VERA-eligible, has another job or coverage lined up
VERA only	Immediate annuity now, FEHB continues	The 6 months of paid leave	VERA-eligible, ready to retire immediately
DRP + VERA	Paid leave through March 1, THEN immediate annuity + FEHB	FY2026 award	VERA-eligible employees; usually the strongest package

Path 3 is the one to study. OPM's guidance confirms agencies can pair DRP with VERA through the end of 2026. Pairing them means salary through March 1, 2027, then your annuity starts immediately, and FEHB follows you into retirement. For a VERA-eligible employee, taking DRP alone would be leaving the annuity on the table for nothing.

Seven Traps to Check Before July 13

1. The OPM buyout without VERA is a resignation. No annuity. No FEHB in retirement. The 5-year FEHB waiver only applies to retirements. If you're not VERA-eligible and take the DRP, make sure you have health coverage and income lined up past March 1, 2027.

2. The FERS Supplement waits for your MRA. The supplement that bridges you to Social Security only starts at your Minimum Retirement Age, 57 for most people. Retire at 51 with 25 years and you'll wait about 6 years for it. Budget for that gap with real numbers. A GS-13 step 5 retiring at 51 with 25 years might draw roughly a $28,000 annuity while the supplement, often $12,000 to $15,000 a year, sits out of reach until 57. That's a five-figure annual difference for six years, and it's the line item that turns a comfortable-looking OPM buyout into a tight one. Also note the 2026 earnings limit: $24,480, with $1 withheld per $2 earned above it if you take a private-sector job in the meantime.

3. Confirm the FEHB 5-year waiver is attached. You normally need 5 continuous years of FEHB enrollment to carry it into retirement. Under an active VERA authority, that rule is waived and your agency attaches the waiver memo to your retirement application automatically. Confirm with HR that it's in your package. The waiver does not exist for deferred retirements.

4. CSRS component? Check the under-55 reduction. FERS transferees with a CSRS component lose 1/6 of 1% per month under age 55 on the CSRS portion only. Pure FERS employees have no such reduction under VERA.

5. Open Season happens during your paid leave. November-December 2026 is your last chance to switch health plans before separation, and it lands while DRP acceptees are on leave. Pick the plan you want to carry into retirement, not the one that made sense while working.

6. The FY2026 performance award is gone. For strong performers at the GS-13 to GS-15 level, that can be a few thousand dollars. Weigh it against roughly 26 weeks of paid leave.

7. The involuntary path is explicitly on the table. The OPM buyout language, "before considering any involuntary actions," is not boilerplate. If uptake is low, a RIF is the likely next step, and RIF terms are worse than DRP terms. If that possibility worries you, our RIF Survival Guide walks through retention standing and what a RIF actually pays.

Run Your OPM Buyout Numbers Before July 13

Ten days is a short window for an OPM buyout decision this size. Three tools, fifteen minutes:

VERA/VSIP Decision Calculator: Model the annuity you'd start with now versus staying, side by side.
VERA Eligibility Checker: Confirm you actually clear the 50/20 or any-age/25 bar before you plan around Path 3.
FERS Retirement Calculator: See your full pension picture, including what waiting to your MRA would have paid instead.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is the OPM offer a $25,000 VSIP buyout?

No. The OPM buyout is the DRP plus VERA, not a cash VSIP. The value is roughly 6 months of paid administrative leave (August 31, 2026 to March 1, 2027) plus, for VERA takers, an immediate unreduced annuity. No lump-sum component has been confirmed in any reporting.

What exactly is the deadline?

July 13, 2026 at 5 p.m. Eastern. No extensions announced. The Office of the Actuaries and Systems Development and Implementation are excluded from the offer.

Do I lose FEHB if I accept the DRP?

Only if you take the OPM buyout's DRP without VERA. Paired with VERA retirement, FEHB continues into retirement and the 5-year rule is waived automatically. DRP alone is a resignation, and FEHB ends at separation.

Is there an early-retirement penalty under VERA?

No. VERA pays the standard FERS formula, 1% of High-3 per year (1.1% at 62 with 20+ years), with no reduction. MRA+10 retirement, by contrast, cuts 5% per year under age 62.

Does the FERS Supplement start right away?

Only at your MRA (57 for most). A 51-year-old VERA retiree waits about 6 years for the supplement, so plan the income bridge before accepting.

VERA/VSIP Decision Calculator: Model this exact decision with your numbers
VERA + VSIP Guide 2026: The complete rules behind both programs
Fall 2026 VERA/VSIP Agency Tracker: Which agencies have live offers right now
The Buyout vs. RIF Severance Trap: Why timing an exit against a RIF matters
DRP Cost Per Employee: What deferred resignation actually costs the government

Sources: Federal News Network, OPM.gov VERA overview, OPM agency DRP/VERA guidance bulletin (GovDelivery, 2026).