Ten federal health plans will not be offered next year, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) says: nine in the Federal Employees Health Benefits (FEHB) Program and one in the Postal Service Health Benefits (PSHB) Program. Enrollees in those plans have to choose a new one during open season, which runs from November 9 through December 14, 2026. Anyone who skips it is moved to a default plan, OPM’s open season highlights say: Compass Rose Standard for the FEHB plans and the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Service Benefit Plan’s FEP Blue Focus for the postal plan.
The nine FEHB plans and the postal plan that end
OPM’s list of FEHB plans that will not be available in 2027 has nine entries:
- Independent Health Standard
- Independent Health HDHP
- Blue Care Network of Michigan, Southeast High
- UHC Choice Primary West High
- UHC Choice Plus Primary West High
- Health Net of California (Northern) High
- Health Net of California (Southern) Standard
- Health Net of California (Southern) Basic
- Health Net of California (Southern) High
The postal plan is UnitedHealthcare Choice Plus Primary Postal East, the only PSHB plan on OPM’s list.
What the default plan means for someone who does nothing
An enrollee in one of the nine FEHB plans who makes no choice is “automatically enrolled in the designated default Plan, Compass Rose Standard,” in OPM’s words. A PSHB enrollee in the ending postal plan lands in the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Service Benefit Plan FEP Blue Focus. In both cases the default is one plan chosen by OPM for everyone in the group, so it is not matched to any single household’s doctors, prescriptions or family size.
The question for an affected enrollee is simple to state and takes real work to answer: which plan should replace the one that is ending, before December 14? The answer turns on three things a household can look up, which are whether its doctors are in the new plan’s network, whether its prescriptions are covered, and what the premium is for the household’s coverage level.
The next date in this story is November 9, when open season begins and the replacement choices for the ten ending plans can be made.
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Open season elections take effect on different dates, per OPM. For non-Postal FEHB enrollees, changes take effect January 10, 2027. For enrollees who receive workers’ compensation through OWCP, the date is January 24, 2027. PSHB enrollees and annuitants have January 1, 2027. The open season page says FEHB and PSHB elections close at 11:59 pm local time on December 14, 2026.
The 2027 choices and what premiums are doing
OPM says FEHB offers 45 carriers and 118 plan options for 2027, and PSHB offers 17 carriers and 65 plan options. The two programs cover about 7.9 million people. Premiums are rising in both. OPM puts the overall average FEHB premium increase at 9.3 percent, with the government contribution up 8.6 percent, and the overall average PSHB increase at 6.7 percent, with the government contribution up 6.0 percent.
Two details on the open season page matter for anyone comparing options. OPM notes that Self Plus One premiums may be higher than Self and Family premiums for some enrollees, and that someone who wants to cover one eligible family member may choose either type. And an enrollee adding a new family member to an FEHB or PSHB plan during open season has to submit supporting documents.
Dental and vision plans run on the same calendar. OPM says 11 dental and 5 vision carriers offer 31 FEDVIP plan options, with average dental premiums up 1.0 percent and vision premiums up 1.6 percent, and open season enrollments take effect January 1, 2027.
Enrollees who also use a health care flexible spending account should note that FSAFEDS participation does not roll over. Anyone who wants to continue for 2027 has to reenroll, and OPM says a Visa debit card is a new option for the health care account.
Picking a replacement plan before December 14
The free route is OPM’s own: its open season page links the FEHB Plan Comparison Tool and pages for active employees, retirees and other annuitants, Postal Service employees and Tribal employees. The comparison tool is where the nine ending plans can be set against the 2027 options side by side.
Before opening it, it helps to put together a list of every doctor and facility the household uses, a list of prescriptions with their doses, and the coverage level now in place, whether Self Only, Self Plus One or Self and Family. Those three lists turn a comparison tool from a catalog into an answer. A plan whose premium is lower but whose network drops a regular doctor is not cheaper in practice.
The election has to be in by December 14 for everyone; only the date the change takes effect differs by group.
More Financial Reading
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- 17 Ways Retirees Are Tapping a Record $14.9 Trillion in Home Equity
This article was produced with AI assistance and edited for accuracy against the sources linked above.
