FEHB plan options could eventually look different during Open Season. On September 15, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) published a request for information asking whether the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program should offer more options, fewer options, or different kinds of options than it does today. The request also covers the Postal Service Health Benefits (PSHB) Program.
Why Is This Coming Up Now?
The short answer is cost. The average FEHB enrollee share of premiums increased 13.5% in 2025 and another 12.3% in 2026.
OPM’s FY 2026-2027 performance plan also calls for establishing evidence-based criteria to assess the appropriate number and distribution of health plan options available to enrollees. The new request for information is part of that process.
What’s Different About This Request?
For 2026, there are 132 FEHB plan options from 47 carriers, along with 75 PSHB options from 17 carriers. Under current rules, health plans can offer three options, or two options plus a high-deductible health plan.
OPM has changed those rules before. In 2010 and again in 2018, the changes gave eligible plans more flexibility to offer additional options. This time, OPM is explicitly asking whether more, fewer or different FEHB plan options would better serve enrollees.
Nothing Has Changed Yet
This is a request for information, not a change to the FEHB program. OPM is asking for feedback on the effect of different numbers and types of plan options on premiums and health care costs, the consumer experience, and the operational impact on carriers and federal agencies.
Among other things, OPM wants to know whether having more choices helps enrollees or makes it harder to compare plans, and whether changes to the number of options could help address rising costs.
You Can Actually Comment
Public comments are open through November 16, 2026. Because the request covers PSHB as well as FEHB, Postal employees and retirees are included too.
If you have an opinion about whether the current number of FEHB plan options helps or overwhelms you, whether narrowing the choices would make Open Season easier, or whether more options are important to you, this is an opportunity to put that feedback into the official record.
What to Watch For
OPM says the information it receives will help determine whether changes to the current FEHB regulations are needed through future rulemaking. That means the request itself does not change your health plan choices for the upcoming Open Season.
For now, the takeaway is simple: OPM is considering whether the number and types of FEHB plan options should change, and federal employees, retirees, and Postal employees have until November 16 to weigh in.
