If you want to save yourself potential headaches later, make sure to get a confirmation code when making changes to your plans. Image: Panchenko Vladimir/Shutterstock.com
By: Lacie Harmon, Federal Employee Benefits GroupOpen Season is set for November 11th to December 9th, 2025. But, while managing your insurance choices can be far from easy, you can avoid pitfalls and increase your chances of having a successful Open Season if you avoid a handful of common mistakes:
1. MISUNDERSTANDING WHEN CHANGES GO INTO EFFECT
While the changes you make to your FEHB (or PSHB for USPS employees/annuitants) are added to a processing queue during Open Season, they don’t go into effect until the first day of your first full pay period of the following year. For most current employees, this will be Sunday, January 4, 2026. Enrollees will remain covered and receive the benefits of their old plans until the new plan goes into effect.
2. SWITCHING TO A PLAN THAT ISN’T ACCEPTED BY YOUR DOCTOR
When you’re changing plans, there are several factors to consider, but few are more important than making sure your trusted doctor will accept your new plan in the coming year. Your FEHB plan carriers can provide lists of doctors who accept their plans, but they don’t guarantee those lists are kept up-to-the-minute. So if you want to be 100% sure, it’s worth giving your doctor’s office a call.
3. RISKING SLIPPING THROUGH THE CRACKS
If you want to save yourself potential headaches later, make sure to get a confirmation code when making changes to your plans. Most federal HR, HRSSC and Shared Service departments provide online sites where you can make changes, but it’s not unheard of for these sites to have technical issues. If you’re not sure your change request went through, do yourself a favor and call your HR or similar department to get verification.
4. HEADING TO THE DOCTOR BEFORE RECEIVING INSURANCE CARDS
While most federal employees’ and annuitants’ new health plans will technically begin January 4th, 2026, it’s not uncommon for your new health insurance identification cards to arrive during the second week of January or even later. So, if you’ve been meaning to set a doctor’s appointment but you’re not in need of immediate medical care, you may want to wait until you have your cards in hand. Otherwise, you’ll have to provide your doctor’s office with alternate documentation showing that you’re covered by a new plan.
5. IGNORING PREMIUM OR PLAN DESIGN CHANGES
Even if you plan to stay with your current carrier, it’s not a bad idea to review your plan brochure for changes in premiums, deductibles, copayments, and covered services. FEHB/PSHB carriers periodically make adjustments that can significantly affect your out-of-pocket costs. So, a plan that met your needs well in 2024 could become less cost-effective in 2025 if, for example, the premium rises sharply or covered prescriptions change. Reviewing your plan’s 2025 brochure can help you confirm whether it’s still a good fit for your needs.
6. CALLING AT PEAK TIMES
Because it’s common for phone and fax lines to become congested during Open Season, it can help to have a strategy for calling when others aren’t. While you may have to wait on hold for 1-2 hours or longer on a Monday, putting off that call until Wednesday through Friday can reduce the hold time to a few minutes. Calling later in the day can also help you reach a representative more quickly, as can calling when the phone lines are just opening. Of course, as the Open Season schedule nears its end, phone lines can become glutted, even at times becoming busy all day long, so your best bet is to get your changes in before crunch-time.
7. LEAVING MONEY ON THE TABLE
A majority of federal employees participate in the FEHB benefit, but fewer take advantage of other benefits, including an important tax-advantaged opportunity available with your Federal Flexible Spending Account Program (FSAFEDS). This benefit enables you to set aside an annual pre-tax amount that you project you’ll spend in out-of-pocket health, dental, vision, and/or dependent care costs. This money can then be used tax-free for qualified expenses. This can amount to thousands of dollars in annual savings depending on your health and tax circumstances, and funds not used toward qualified expenses can be rolled over into the next year. You can learn more at fsafeds.gov.
8. FAILING TO UPDATE DEPENDENTS
If you’ve had changes in your family circumstances (i.e., marriage, divorce, covered dependent child turning 26), and you haven’t done so during the 60-day window allowed for qualifying life events, make sure to update your dependents. This will save you headaches at the doctor and can also save you money in premiums. You can even include a letter requesting a refund of overpaid premiums if you’ve been paying for a plan to cover a family member who has at some point during the plan year become ineligible (i.e., a child who reaches age 26).
Lacie Harmon, Federal Employee Benefits Group, is a Federal Benefits and Retirement Specialist who helps federal employees understand and maximize their benefits, both during employment and retirement years. She teaches regularly at federal agencies and offers monthly federal retirement webinars. Past classes taught include for clients such as the FAA and GAO, as well as union locals of the APWU and NALC. She can be reached at: https://www.lacieharmon.com/
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