Open Season is the one stretch of the year when a federal employee or annuitant can change health plans for any reason at all, or no reason. Outside it, the door is mostly shut.
This page covers what is confirmed as of September 6, 2026, what the regulation says the dates should be, and what you can and cannot do inside the window. Where OPM has not published something yet, this page says so rather than guessing.
What Is Confirmed as of September 2026
OPM’s Open Season page has not yet been updated for this year. As of September 6, 2026 it reads that the Federal Benefits Open Season for FEDVIP, FSAFEDS and FEHB “has concluded,” followed by a single line: “We will see you in November 2026!”
So there is no officially announced 2026 date yet. That is normal for early September.
The precedent is useful. Last year OPM issued a news release on October 9, 2025 announcing that the 2025 Federal Benefits Open Season would run November 10 through December 8, 2025, and it published the 2026 plans and premiums the same day. Expect a similar announcement in the first half of October 2026.
There is also a statutory reason the timing clusters there. Under 5 U.S.C. 8906(a)(1), OPM must determine the weighted average of subscription charges for the coming contract year no later than October 1. Premiums cannot be published before that math is done, and Open Season cannot usefully start before premiums are published.
The Dates the Regulation Points To
The window is not invented fresh each year. It is written into 5 CFR 890.301(f)(1): “An open season will be held each year from the Monday of the second full workweek in November through the Monday of the second full workweek in December.”
Apply that to the 2026 calendar. November 1, 2026 is a Sunday, so the first full Monday-to-Friday workweek is November 2 to 6 and the second begins Monday, November 9. December 1, 2026 is a Tuesday, so the first full workweek is December 7 to 11 and the second begins Monday, December 14.
That produces November 9 through December 14, 2026 as the default window for plan year 2027. It is a longer season than the last several years, which is simply what happens when December starts on a Tuesday.
Two cautions before you write that on a calendar. First, 5 CFR 890.301(f)(2) gives the OPM Director explicit authority to modify those dates or hold additional open seasons, and OPM has used flexibility around the edges before. Second, at least one federal page already disagrees. TRICARE’s open season page, read on September 6, 2026, states that “Federal Benefits Open Season is Nov. 9-Dec. 7, 2026” and separately that TRICARE’s own open season is November 9 to December 8, 2026. Neither end date matches what the regulation produces, and the two do not match each other even though both programs run on the same second-full-workweek rule. That page appears to carry a partly updated 2025 window (the 2025 season ran November 10 to December 8). Until OPM posts its announcement, the honest answer is that the regulation says December 14, the Defense Department page says December 7, and only the start date of November 9 is agreed. Confirm against OPM’s own announcement when it lands.
FSAFEDS describes the same window loosely on its enrollment page as running “mid-November to mid-December,” which is consistent with both readings.
What You Can Change During Open Season
OPM’s enrollment page is specific. During the annual Open Season, anyone eligible to participate in FEHB may:
- enroll for the first time
- change from one plan to another
- change options within the same plan, such as Standard to Basic
- change enrollment type between Self Only, Self Plus One and Self and Family
- cancel FEHB coverage entirely
- start or waive premium conversion, the pre-tax payroll deduction
Annuitants can do the same set through OPM’s Open Season Online system, by calling Open Season Express, or by mail postmarked no later than the final day of the season.
The regulation adds one carve-out. Under 5 CFR 890.301(f)(3), an employee subject to a court or administrative order requiring coverage for a child cannot cancel, shrink enrollment type, or move to a plan that does not serve the area where the child lives, as long as that order is in effect.
What You Cannot Do
You cannot change your FEHB plan mid-year because you found a better one. You cannot add a family member outside a qualifying event. And you cannot get a plan you are not geographically eligible for, since HMO eligibility depends on where you live or work.
You also cannot use Open Season to fix a five-year problem. Carrying FEHB into retirement requires continuous coverage for the five years immediately before your annuity starts, so cancelling now to save money can quietly cost you lifetime coverage. That interaction is the subject of FEHB in retirement.
What Happens If You Do Nothing
For FEHB and FEDVIP, nothing dramatic. OPM’s Open Season FastFacts states that existing enrollments “will continue automatically, although benefits and premiums may change.” You keep the plan and inherit next year’s price.
Two things break that default:
Your plan leaves the program. For 2026, six FEHB plans covering eight options were dropped, and OPM designated GEHA Benefit Plan High Option as the automatic fallback for anyone who did not choose. Enrollees in a discontinued plan who do nothing get moved, not dropped, but they get moved somewhere they did not pick.
FSAFEDS never renews. OPM says this in both its Highlights document and its FastFacts: FSAFEDS requires re-enrollment each year. Skip Open Season and your health care FSA, limited expense FSA or dependent care FSA simply ends on December 31. This is the most common and most expensive Open Season mistake.
When Changes Take Effect
For employees, 5 CFR 890.301(f)(4) sets it out. A change of enrollment takes effect on the first day of the first pay period that begins in January of the following year. A brand new enrollment takes effect on the first day of the first pay period beginning in the new year that follows a pay period in which you were in pay status. That is why the new premium usually shows up in the second January paycheck rather than the first.
Not everyone runs on that clock. For workers receiving benefits from the Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs, OPM published a separate effective date for the 2026 plan year of January 25, 2026, with the old carrier responsible through January 24 and the new premium reflected in the February compensation payment. Compensationers should look for the equivalent 2027 date rather than assuming January 1.
Qualifying Life Events: The Off-Season Path
Miss the window and the only route back in is a qualifying life event. OPM’s list of QLEs that allow enrollment or change includes:
- Family status: marriage, birth or adoption, acquiring a foster child, legal separation, divorce, death of a spouse or dependent
- Employment status: reemployment after a break of more than three days, returning to pay status, a pay increase that makes withholding possible, restoration after uniformed service, moving from a temporary appointment to one with a government contribution, or changing to or from part-time career employment
- Loss of coverage: losing FEHB under someone else’s enrollment, moving out of an HMO’s service area, or losing coverage under Medicaid, TRICARE, CHAMPVA, another federal program, or a non-federal plan
OPM’s blanket rule is that you generally have 60 days from the event to act. Note the asymmetry: increasing coverage is broadly allowed, while decreasing to Self Only or cancelling outright is permitted only in narrow circumstances, essentially when the event leaves you with no other eligible family members or when everyone gains other coverage. The general principles are covered in qualifying life events.
Newly eligible employees are a separate case. They have 60 days from becoming eligible to enroll and do not have to wait for Open Season.
FEDVIP and FSAFEDS Run at the Same Time
OPM runs one season for three programs. Its Highlights document for the 2026 plan year lists FEHB, PSHB, FEDVIP and FSAFEDS as all open during the same window, but they use different front doors:
| Program | Where you elect | Auto-renews? | Open to retirees? |
|---|---|---|---|
| FEHB | Agency self-service system or Standard Form 2809; annuitants use Open Season Online | Yes | Yes |
| FEDVIP | BENEFEDS | Yes | Yes |
| FSAFEDS | FSAFEDS website | No, re-enroll every year | No |
Two FEDVIP quirks worth knowing: OPM says FEDVIP coverage continues into retirement automatically, and that you can only cancel FEDVIP during Open Season or on deployment to active military duty. FEDVIP also pays secondary to your FEHB plan, so overlapping benefits are worth checking before you buy both.
If you also carry a pre-tax account, remember an FSA and an HSA are not interchangeable and cannot always be held together. See HSA vs FSA and limited purpose FSA before electing alongside an FEHB high deductible plan.
What to Actually Do in the Window
Start with your own last twelve months rather than the brochure. Add up what you actually paid, then price the two or three plans you would realistically use against those numbers, comparing deductible, out-of-pocket maximum and drug tiers, not premium alone. OPM notes that FEHB plan information is posted on its site by the first week in November, ahead of the season opening.
If you are approaching 65, run the Medicare coordination question first, because it changes which FEHB plan makes sense. That analysis is in FEHB vs Medicare, and the enrollment penalties that can attach are in Medicare late enrollment penalty.
Bottom Line
OPM has not announced 2026 Open Season dates as of September 6, 2026, and its site says only that it will see enrollees in November. The regulation points to November 9 through December 14, 2026, for plan year 2027, and last year’s announcement came on October 9. FEHB and FEDVIP continue automatically if you ignore the season; FSAFEDS does not, and a plan leaving the program will move you into a default you did not choose. Check the actual OPM announcement before relying on any date, including this one.