September 29, 2015 Washington, DC – The U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) today announced premiums for the 2016 Federal Employees Health Benefits (FEHB) Program will rise by an average of 6.4 percent.
In addition, OPM is offering a new Self Plus One enrollment type in the Federal Employees Health Benefits (FEHB) Program that will provide coverage for an enrollee and one designated eligible family member. All FEHB plans will offer a Self Only, Self Plus One, and Self and Family enrollment type beginning in 2016.
The overall average Postal rate increases shown are based on the Postal contribution for Category 1.
“I am pleased that OPM has implemented the new Self Plus One choice for the 2016 plan year. This will give enrollees an opportunity to select coverage just for themselves and their spouse or child,” said OPM Acting Director Beth Cobert. “I urge FEHB participants to use the Open Season opportunity to carefully review their health care needs and to choose wisely among the plans and new enrollment options available to them.”
On average, enrollees with Self Only coverage will pay $5.50 more each pay period; enrollees with Self and Family coverage will pay $19.61 more per pay period. Those who opt for Self Plus One coverage will pay $8.92 more per pay period than they previously paid for Self and Family coverage. The Government contributes approximately 70 percent of the total cost of a plan’s premium.
Open Season, which begins November 9 and runs through December 14, will give Federal employees and retirees the opportunity to review the 2016 rates and benefits of their current plans and those of competing plans. During the Open Season, FEHB enrollees can change their health-care coverage; employees who are not enrolled, but eligible to participate, may elect coverage.
The upcoming Open Season will be the first opportunity for enrollees to select a Self Plus One enrollment in the FEHB Program. For over 95% of enrollees, the enrollee share for Self Plus One will be lower than the enrollee share for Self and Family in their current plan. However, it is possible that some plans will have higher enrollee shares for Self Plus One enrollments than for Self and Family enrollments. Therefore, enrollees are encouraged to carefully review their choices before making a change; switching to Self Plus One is voluntary.
The upcoming Open Season will also give employees and retirees the chance to select supplemental dental and/or vision coverage. In addition, Federal employees can elect to participate in a tax-deferred Flexible Spending Account (FSA) for health care and/or dependent care.
Established in 1960, the FEHB Program is the largest employer-sponsored health benefits program in the United States. The government provides a weighted average contribution of 72 percent of premiums with a cap of no more than 75 percent of total premium cost. Approximately 85 percent of all Federal employees participate in the Program.
The OPM website provides a detailed breakdown on the FEHB Program premium rates.
HMO (Regional Plans with Specific Service Areas)
- Non-Postal Rates (PDF file) [1.5 MB]
- U.S. Postal Rates (PDF file) [1.48 MB]
FFS (Fee-for-Service/Nationwide Plans)
- Non-Postal Rates (PDF file) [239.84 KB]
- U.S. Postal Rates (PDF file) [239.53 KB]
The overall average Postal rate increases shown are based on the Postal contribution for Category 1. The Postal employee groups in Category 1 can change from year to year. Postal employees are encouraged to review their Plan brochures for information about how their plan changes for 2016 as soon as the brochures are posted to OPM’s website
Are you kidding me!! Self plus one is a total ripoff. Why should 2 people pay a FEW dollars less that a family of 3 to 12 or more?????
You’re absolutely right. Just think of what retirees are contending with. I pay a little over $100 a month for Medicare A & B. They are now primary and cover 80%. My FEHB plan covers the rest so they are basically getting away really cheap. BUT, I’ve still had to pay for a regular family plan. When I heard plus one was coming I thought it would be great. So wrong! Only the government could come up with these rates and try to tell us they were good. I feel I’m still paying for someone with 12 kids.
Blue cross self plus one will save me $1.92 per pay period. This means I will only have a net premium increase of $17.85 per pay. Wahoo. And you thought that they didn’t like us.
The premium for self plus one on vision is double single and 2/3 of the family rate.
Why isn’t the health benefits similar?
self plus one is more expensive than family in nalc plan
Look at the premiums… Self plus one is only a handful of dollars cheaper then self and family it’s not even worth changing
The nerve!…the nerve! …self plus one should be at least 40 percent less!!…..the nerve!!!!!!!
I have a family of 8, should I pay 8x of a single person?
You certainly should be paying your fair share. I’m paying for me and my wife and use it as secondary to Medicare. Why should I be subsidized because you have 8 kids????
This is BullShit Single plus one should be around double the price of one. Not 356.00 I would like to know what they are smoking over at OPM??
I agree. The Self plus one rates are way too high. In some cases, they are more than Self plus family, which makes ZERO sense. I think these figures are incorrect or need to be adjusted.
Why in the world would self plus one be higher than self plus family in some plans.
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The self plus one is a crock of s–t
What a ripe off the new self plus one is..it should be double the price of a single person..you know you only have two people…..
Why is it a ripoff it will save me money. I have a family plan now, my son turned 26 this year so I’ll go with the self plus one.
What are you saving
.$3….
What will you save, $2 a pay period? Look at the prices, some Self plus One plans are higher than their corresponding Self plus Family plans. This is a joke.