How do I compare two FEHB plans properly?

Premium alone is the wrong test. Total annual cost is the premium you pay plus what you expect to spend out of pocket, and the cheaper plan changes with how much care you use. A low-premium plan with a high deductible wins in a quiet year and loses in a heavy one. This tool adds the two together at the spend level you enter and names the break-even spend where the answer flips.

What is the break-even spend between two FEHB plans?

It is the amount of annual medical charges at which both plans cost you the same for the year. Below it, one plan is cheaper; above it, the other is. The tool scans the spend axis from zero up to $60,000 and reports the crossover, or tells you plainly when one plan is cheaper at every spend level in that range.

Why does the tool ask me for a coinsurance percentage?

Because this dataset does not have one, and the tool will not invent a number for a health plan. The 2026 premium data in this repo carries each plan deductible, catastrophic limit, and copays, but no coinsurance rate. So your percentage is an input, and the result also shows the full envelope: what you pay if the plan covers everything past the deductible, and what you pay if nothing is covered until the out-of-pocket maximum binds. Your plan brochure has the real figure.

Is the premium shown what I pay or the full premium?

What you pay. Under 5 U.S.C. 8906(b) the government contributes 72 percent of the program-wide weighted average premium, capped at 75 percent of any single plan premium, and the enrollee pays the rest. Every premium figure in the comparison is the enrollee share after that contribution, which is the number that leaves your paycheck.

What does the out-of-pocket maximum actually do here?

It stops your spending. Once your share of in-network charges reaches the plan catastrophic limit, the plan pays the rest for the year. The comparison applies that ceiling, flags when it binds, and the envelope column shows what the cap is worth in the worst case. In the 2026 dataset the limits run from $6,000 to $8,050 for Self Only.

Does the comparison include the HSA or HRA contribution from an HDHP?

No, and it says so rather than guessing. The dataset records which plans are HSA eligible but not the pass-through dollar amount, so no HSA credit is subtracted from any plan. If your HDHP pass-through is worth several hundred dollars a year, subtract it from that plan yourself after reading the comparison.

Which plans can I compare?

The nationwide-priced plans in the 2026 dataset, which is why regional HMOs are not in the list: OPM prices those per state or region, so no single rate would be honest. The scope table below names exactly what is in and out.

Does this work for retirees?

The premium figures shown are the active-employee enrollee share. FEHB annuitants keep the same government contribution and pay the same enrollee share, but annuitants are billed monthly from the annuity rather than biweekly from pay, so the per-pay-period line will not match an annuity statement. Check the FEHB Calculator for the monthly view.

Calculator

FEHB Plan Comparison

Premium is only half the cost. Put two or three 2026 plans side by side on premium plus expected out-of-pocket, then read the break-even spend that tells you how far your year would have to go before the cheaper plan changes.

Reviewed by Jonathan D., 20-year federal employee · Formulas verified against OPM 2026 premium rates · Updated October 2026

Rule snapshot

Reviewed October 3, 2026 · Sources: OPM 2026 fee-for-service premium rates and HMO and other-plan rates (every biweekly premium, copied cell for cell), 5 U.S.C. 8906(b) (the government contribution removed from every premium below), and each plan's own OPM brochure for the deductible and catastrophic limit. Inputs stay in your browser.

Plans to compare

Show only high deductible health plans (HDHP)Both HDHPs in the 2026 dataset are HSA eligible. The HSA pass-through dollar amount is not in the dataset, so no HSA credit is subtracted from any plan.

Plan 1

Plan 2

Plan 3 (optional)

Enrollment tier

Your expected year

Expected in-network charges for the year

The total billed amount for your care, not what you pay. Zero is a valid answer and gives the premium-only comparison.

Share you pay above the deductible (%)

Your assumption. This dataset has no coinsurance field, so the tool will not invent one. Your plan brochure is the authority.

What this models / Not modeled

The honest limits of this comparison. Premiums and benefit fields are read from the OPM-verified dataset; only the out-of-pocket figure is modeled, and the model shows its envelope.
What this models	Not modeled
Enrollee premium by tier for 10 nationwide-priced 2026 plans, from the OPM-verified repo dataset	Regional HMOs (Kaiser, UnitedHealthcare and similar). OPM prices those per state or region, so one number would be wrong
In-network deductible and catastrophic limit (out-of-pocket maximum)	Out-of-network deductibles and limits, which are higher and are not applied here
Primary care and specialist copays, shown for reference	Copays inside the cost math. The dataset has no per-service utilization, so the model uses charges and the deductible, not visit counts
Your coinsurance percentage as an explicit input, plus the 0 to 100 percent envelope	A real coinsurance rate. The 2026 dataset has no coinsurance field, so none is assumed for you
HSA eligibility per plan	HSA or HRA pass-through dollars, shown as n/a for every plan. The dataset records eligibility but not the amount
Active-employee enrollee share (5 U.S.C. 8906(b))	Annuitant monthly billing, FEHB and Medicare coordination, PSHB, and TRICARE interactions
Break-even spend scanned from $0 to $60,000 in $1 steps	Crossovers above $60,000, and any crossover driven by services the model does not see
Precision: premiums to the cent, totals rounded to the dollar for display	Prescription tiers, dental and vision (FEDVIP), FSA offsets, and taxes

Why the cheapest premium is often not the cheapest plan

Two plans can differ by $1,400 a year in premium and still land within $50 of each other on total cost, because the plan with the lower premium carries the higher deductible and you pay that difference back the first time you use the plan. The only comparison that answers the question is premium plus out-of-pocket, computed at the amount of care you actually expect.

That is also why the break-even number matters more than the winner. If the crossover sits at $500 of charges, you are one urgent-care visit away from the other plan being the better pick, and the choice is close to a coin flip. If the crossover sits at $30,000, the decision is stable and you can stop thinking about it.

What the tool refuses to guess

FEHB plans pay a share of charges above the deductible, and that share varies by plan and by service. The 2026 dataset in this repo does not carry a coinsurance rate, so rather than quietly assume one, the tool takes your figure as an input and reports the whole envelope alongside it: the floor, where the plan covers everything past the deductible, and the ceiling, where nothing is covered until the catastrophic limit stops your spending. Your real answer sits inside that band, and your plan brochure narrows it.

HSA pass-through dollars get the same treatment. The dataset records which plans are HSA eligible, and both high deductible plans here are, but it does not carry the contribution amount. So the comparison shows n/a for that line and subtracts nothing. Subtract your own pass-through from the HDHP column after you read the result.

Where the premiums come from

Every biweekly premium in the 10-plan set was copied cell for cell from OPM's published 2026 rate files, and the government and enrollee split is computed with OPM's own rule: the government pays the lesser of 75 percent of the total premium or the program-wide contribution cap for the tier. The figure the comparison uses is the enrollee share, which is what leaves your pay.

Regional HMOs are deliberately absent. OPM prices those per state or region, so representing one with a single nationwide number would be inaccurate on a money tool. For the single-plan view, including the monthly figures an annuitant sees, use the TRICARE vs FEHB comparison or the PSHB Part B calculator if you are postal.