Federal Benefits Open Season 2027: Check key dates, FEHB premium hike, and VA employee guide

The Federal Benefits Open Season is set to open on November 9, 2026 (Monday) for the Federal Employees Dental and Vision Insurance Program (FEDVIP) and the Federal Flexible Spending Account Program (FSAFEDS). It will remain open till 11:59 pm. Eastern Time, Monday, December 14, 2026, according to the US Office of Personnel Management (OPM).

Open Season for the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program (FEHB) and Postal Service Health Benefits Program (PSHB) will end at 11:59 pm, per the location of your electronic enrollment system, on Monday, December 14, 2026.

During this period, active Federal employees can do the following:

• Enroll in a Federal Employees Health Benefits plan for the first time.
• Change health plans or options within a program.
• Opt-out of a plan in which you’re enrolled
• Change their enrollment type (self-only, self-plus-one, or family coverage).
• Adjust contributions to your Federal Flexible Spending Account (FSA) for dependent care or health care.
• Retirees cannot enroll in a medical plan for the first time but can change to their current enrollments.
• For all those who do not want to change their FEHB or FEDVIP, they are not required to take any actions. For all those people who fall in this category, their current enrollments will rollover into 2027.

Will FEHB Premiums Increase in 2027?

The increase in the amount of health insurance premiums continues in 2027. This year federal employees and retirees will experience another double-digit increase to their health insurance premiums. Those enrolled in FEHB are required to pay an average of 10.9% more in 2027. This is a third consecutive year when the premiums have seen a rise.

The latest rise follows a 12.3% increase in 2026 and a 13.5% increase in 2025. For all the enrollees, actual premium changes vary by plan and enrollment type. They must review their individual plan rates to understand how their costs may change.

How can a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) employee change FEHB health insurance

• Those who are currently active VA employees and are willing to change their FEHB health insurance have three options during the open season:
• To make your benefit selections using Employee Benefit Self Service, you can access your Employee Dashboard. (This option can only be accessed within the VA Firewall).
• Employees can make changes by submitting a SF-2809 to their servicing HR office. The HR office points of contact are listed below.
• Employees can make changes online in their DFAS MyPay account. The effective date of your FEHB change will be January 10, 2027.