Federal Benefits Open Season
Federal Benefits Open Season is the most important time of year for federal employees and annuitants to make critical decisions about their health, dental, and vision coverage.
The current Open Season runs from Monday, November 10, 2025, to 11:59 AM per the location of your electronic enrollment system, on Monday, December 8, 2025, according to the federal government.
This is the only period when eligible participants can actively enroll in, change, or cancel coverage for the upcoming year.
Federal Benefits Open Season
Open Season allows federal employees to review their current plans, compare new premiums and benefits, and make adjustments to match their personal health and financial needs for the coming year.
The choices employees make during this period will take effect on the first day of the new year and are binding for the entire plan year, unless an employee experiences a Qualifying Life Event.
This period encompasses three primary programs: the Federal Employees Health Benefits (FEHB) Program, the Federal Employees Dental and Vision Insurance Program (FEDVIP), and the Federal Flexible Spending Account Program (FSAFEDS).
Each program has distinct rules that employees must understand to manage their benefits effectively.
What You Can Do During Open Season
Open Season offers the flexibility to create a benefits package tailored to your needs and your family’s.
- For the Federal Employees Health Benefits (FEHB) Program, eligible employees can make several key changes. If you previously waived coverage, you can now enroll in a plan.
- You can change from your current FEHB plan to a different one, which is crucial if your plan’s premiums have increased, your doctors have left the network, or another plan offers better coverage.
- You can also change your enrollment type from Self Only to Self plus One or Self and Family. You can also cancel your FEHB coverage, but you must certify that you have other qualifying health coverage.
- For the Federal Employees Dental and Vision Insurance Program (FEDVIP), eligible employees and annuitants can also make important elections. You can enroll in a new dental plan, a new vision plan, or both. You can also change plans by moving from your current FEDVIP carrier to another, or cancel your coverage entirely.
- For the Federal Flexible Spending Account Program (FSAFEDS), Open Season is your only chance to participate. FSAs let you save pre-tax earnings for health and dependent care expenses.
- The most critical rule for FSAFEDS is that you must re-enroll annually; enrollment does not carry over from one year to the next.
During this time, you can enroll in a Health Care FSA (HCFSA), a Limited Expense HCFSA (LEX HCFSA) if you have a High Deductible Health Plan with a Health Savings Account, or a Dependent Care FSA (DCFSA) for eligible childcare or elder care expenses.
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Who Qualifies for Open Season?
Eligibility for Open Season extends to most of the federal workforce. This includes current, permanent federal employees who are eligible to participate in these benefits programs.
Federal retirees, also known as annuitants, can participate. Annuitants may make changes to their existing FEHB and FEDVIP plans. However, annuitants typically cannot enroll in FEHB for the first time after retirement if they were not enrolled for the five years immediately preceding their retirement.
An employee’s eligible family members, such as spouses and children under age 26, may also be covered under a Self Plus One or Self and Family enrollment. Employees should consult their agency’s human resources office if they have questions about their specific eligibility.
What Happens If You Miss the Open Season Deadline?
Failing to take action during Open Season has significant consequences that vary by program. If you miss the December deadline, you are generally “locked in” for the rest of the year.
- For FEHB and FEDVIP, your current enrollments will automatically continue into the new year.
- While this prevents a lapse in coverage, it is a passive decision. You will assume responsibility for the new, and often higher, premium rates for your existing plan.
- You also miss out on the opportunity to switch to a plan that may offer better benefits or a more suitable provider network.
The rule for FSAFEDS is much stricter.
- Enrollment is not automatic. If you fail to re-enroll in an FSA by the deadline, you will not have an FSA in the new year.
- You cannot start one in the middle of the year, and you will lose the significant tax savings that FSAFEDS provides.
- This is the most common and costly mistake employees make during Open Season.
The only way to change your FEHB, FEDVIP, or FSAFEDS elections outside of Open Season is if you experience a Qualifying Life Event (QLE). A QLE is a specific, defined change in your personal status.
Common examples include events such as divorce, marriage, birth, adoption, a change in employment status for you or a spouse that causes a loss of other coverage, or a child who loses eligibility by turning 26.
When a QLE occurs, you have a limited window, typically 31 to 60 days, to make benefit changes that are consistent with that event.
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About the author
Editor-in-Chief Joe Wallace is a 13-year veteran of the United States Air Force and a former reporter/editor for Air Force Television News and the Pentagon Channel. His freelance work includes contract work for Motorola, VALoans.com, and Credit Karma. He is co-founder of Dim Art House in Springfield, Illinois, and spends his non-writing time as an abstract painter, independent publisher, and occasional filmmaker.
