On Friday, December 13, the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) completed the inaugural Open Season for the Postal Service Health Benefits (PSHB) Program. As the largest new federal health benefits initiative since the Affordable Care Act, the program now serves nearly 2 million individuals—representing 20% of the Federal Employees Health Benefits (FEHB) population. This milestone marks significant progress toward modernizing the FEHB system.
Coverage under the PSHB Program officially began on January 1, 2025.
Key Achievements in the PSHB Program Launch:
- Seamless Auto-Enrollment:
- Before Open Season, OPM successfully auto-enrolled approximately 1.7 million employees, retirees, and family members from existing FEHB plans into PSHB plans using a cutting-edge central enrollment system.
- Enhanced Online Experience:
- For the first time, PSHB participants could enroll entirely online, benefiting from a fully digital enrollment process.
- The system operated efficiently throughout Open Season, with no outages or service disruptions.
- Improved Decision Support Tools:
- Customers accessed enhanced tools over 500,000 times to compare plan benefits, verify participation of doctors and hospitals, and make informed coverage choices.
- Thousands of participants switched plans, optimizing their coverage and saving money.
- Robust Customer Support:
- OPM coordinated with multiple federal agencies to manage a comprehensive customer service system, handling over 200,000 calls related to enrollment, Medicare benefits, and technical assistance.
- Data Migration Success:
- A dedicated cross-functional team achieved a 99.6% success rate in migrating data from five agencies and 45 FEHB carriers into the PSHB system, ensuring seamless enrollment for participants.
Legislative Proposal and Future Enhancements:
As part of its budget request, OPM proposed accessing additional funds from the Federal Employees Health Benefits Fund to enhance eligibility and enrollment systems for both the PSHB and FEHB programs. This funding would enable the expansion of current technology and the addition of new features to benefit all federal employees and retirees.
Background on the PSHB Program:
Mandated by the Postal Service Reform Act of 2022, the PSHB Program provides health benefits to millions of Postal Service employees, retirees, and their families. During Open Season, OPM partnered with 17 carriers to offer 30 plans with 69 plan options.
A six-month Medicare Part B Special Enrollment Period preceded Open Season, supported by a newly established customer service ecosystem. This initiative brought together hundreds of OPM staff and seven federal agencies, including the USPS, Social Security Administration, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, and others, to ensure seamless program delivery.
