The extension through Friday for PSHB will not cause delays in eligibility or PSHB coverage, which kicks in January 1 2025. Image: Memory Stockphoto/Shutterstock.com
OPM has extended the health insurance open season by four days, through Friday, December 13th at 11:59pm EST, for Postal Service employees and retirees, following complaints about problems with the enrollment system for the new Postal Service Health Benefits program that will replace the FEHB for them starting in January.
“The system is working very well. We have successfully auto-enrolled prior FEHB Postal members and have had zero unplanned outages since it was launched on November 11th,” said an OPM spokesman. “We feel it is important to extend Open Season for customers of the PSHB Program to give them ample time to shop for plans and change their elections if they want to.”
The APWU union said the action came as a “direct response” to its request for an extension that pointed to problems including incorrect premium rates, incomplete carrier and plan option names in the Plan Comparison tool, problems with the provider search tool and problems with the enrollment process.
“The question of choosing the health plan and coverage of your choice are important life decisions and it is absolutely unacceptable that the OPM website experienced numerous technical issues,” said APWU.
While the PSHB will mirror the FEHB in many ways, it has fewer carriers. There are parallel plans to those covering about 90 percent of Postal Service employees and retirees, with enrollment automatically switching over if enrollees do not elect to change plans. Those currently in FEHB plans that will have no parallel in the PSHB will be enrolled by default in the Blue Cross/Blue Shield FEP Blue Focus plan if they make no election during the open season.
The announcement does not affect the open season for non-postal employees and retirees who will remain in the FEHB; for them, the last day of open season remains December 9.
OPM acknowledged that postal enrollees may need additional time to make plan choices and elections, given differences with prescription drug coverage for those eligible for Medicare, and premium differences from their corresponding FEHB plans. It urged customers to make elections as early as possible to allow time to work through new login procedures leveraging login.gov.
“I’ve received several phone calls from USPS clients telling me they’ve been unable to enroll in plans, either because the online enrollment system won’t complete the process, or because they are unable to connect with a representative at HRSSC or OPM,” said Lacie Harmon, an advisor with the Federal Benefits Group. “A few of these folks have made several good faith attempts by phone, staying on hold for hours, only to be hung up on by the system with a recording telling them to try back at a later time,” she added.
The extension through Friday for PSHB will not cause delays in eligibility or PSHB coverage, which kicks in January 1 2025.
OPM provided the following customer support information with its announcement:
• Information about the PSHB Program can be found at opm.gov/postal where enrollees will be able to find which PSHB plan their current FEHB plan mapped to, information on PSHB plan integration with Medicare for prescription drug benefits, and more.
• Enrollees are encouraged to visit OPM.gov/postal for more information or call the PSHB Helpline at 844-451-1261 with regular operating hours Monday-Friday 7am–845pm ET and limited operating hours on Saturday 12/7 from 9am-6pm ET.
• For current Postal Service employees, you may also call the USPS Human Resources Shared Service Center directly at 877-477-3273 or email retirementbenefits@usps.gov.
• If you have technical issues with your Login.gov account, Login.gov operates a 24/7 contact center which you can access through the Login.gov website
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