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United States Office of Personnel Management

The Federal Government’s Human Resources Agency

Benefits Administration Letter

Number: 23-304 Date: January 2023

Subject: Fiscal Year 2023 Federal Employees 

Benefits Cost Factors for Calculating Imputed Costs 

This letter provides the fiscal year (FY) 2023 cost factors for the Federal 

civilian benefit programs. Agencies will use these factors to calculate their 

imputed costs relating to the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS), the 

Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS), the Federal Employees 

Health Benefits Program (FEHB) and the Federal Employees’ Group Life 

Insurance Program (FEGLI). The imputed costs are used to determine the 

actuarial liabilities which are included in Governmental financial statements. 

Benefits Administration Letter (BAL) 03-309, dated September 15, 2003, 

provides detailed instructions for the computation and accounting for 

imputed costs related to the Federal civilian benefit programs. 

Cost Factors

Pensions. The economic assumptions used to calculate the FY 2023 cost 

factors under Statement of Federal Financial Accounting Standard (SFFAS) 

33: Pensions, Other Retirement Benefits, and Other Postemployment 

Benefits: Reporting the Gains and Losses from Changes in Assumptions and 

Selecting Discount Rates and Valuation Dates are based on a 10-year 

historical average. These economic assumptions differ from those 

established by OPM under guidance from the CSRS Board of Actuaries for 

the determination of certain statutory funding payments for CSRS and FERS. 
Benefits Administration Letter 23-304

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The FY 2023 cost factors for all categories of CSRS coverage are enclosed. 

While agency payments under CSRS are not affected by the CSRS normal 

cost percentages for most agencies, the CSRS normal cost percentages 

determined under SFFAS 33 are used to determine the actuarial liabilities 

which are included in Governmental financial statements. 

The FY 2023 cost factors reported in this BAL differ from the normal cost 

percentages used to determine the employer contributions agencies pay for 

FERS employees. The cost factors for all categories of FERS coverage are 

enclosed. Since the cost factors reported under SFFAS 33 are determined 

on a different basis than the actual FERS normal cost contributions, agencies 

should expect to continue to report future imputed retirement costs for their 

FERS employees. 

FEHB Program. OPM is providing the FEHB cost factors for the United 

States Postal Service as well as the cost factors for the remainder of the 

Government in this letter. For FY 2023, the Non-Postal cost factor is $9,640

and the Postal cost factor is $4,360 per enrolled employee. Please note that 

the cost factors shown below are based on the actuarial assumptions 

required by SFFAS 33, as calculated by the FEHB actuary. 

Table 1: Non-Postal Cost Factor

Quarter Factor

1st $2,370 

2nd $2,397 

3rd $2,423 

4th $2,450 

FY 2023 $9,640
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Table 2: Postal Cost Factor

Quarter Factor

1st $1,072 

2nd $1,084 

3rd $1,096 

4th $1,108 

FY 2023 $4,360

FEGLI Program. The FY 2023 cost factor for the FEGLI is 0.02 percent of 

basic pay, the same as in previous years. 

Statement for Auditors

The FY 2023 cost factors provided in this letter are being issued before an 

opinion by OPM’s independent public accounting firm can be received for FY 

2023. Nonetheless, the FY 2023 cost factors for “regular” CSRS and FERS 

coverage, as well as those for the FEHB and FEGLI Programs are consistent 

with the disclosures in the footnotes accompanying OPM’s consolidated FY 

2022 financial statements. These statements received an unqualified audit 

opinion. The policies, procedures and controls pertaining to the calculations

of the FY 2023 cost factors did not change from FY 2022. Consequently, 

auditors of FY 2023 financial statements can rely upon the disclosures in 

Office of Personnel Management’s FY 2022 financial statements and the 

related audit opinion. 

If you have questions about this letter, please send an email to 

FinancialBALs@opm.gov or call 202-606-0606. We look forward to assisting 

you.
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Enclosed

Table 3A: Costs Factors for CSRS 

CSRS Factor Cost 

Percentage

Regular Non-Postal 50.4%

Regular Postal Service 42.3%

Law Enforcement 83.8%

Air Traffic Controller 69.7%

Members of Congress 54.5%

Congressional Staff 65.5%

Table 3B: Costs Factors for CSRS-Offset 

CSRS-Offset Factor Cost 

Percentage

Offset Non-Postal 36.9%

Offset Postal Service 29.3%

Offset Law Enforcement 70.9%

Offset Air Traffic Controller 58.4%

Offset Members of Congress 49.9%

Offset Congressional Staff 52.3%

Offset Non-Postal 36.9%

Offset Postal Service 29.3%
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Table 4A: Costs Factors for FERS 

FERS Cost Factor Cost 

Percentage

Regular Non-Postal 22.4%

Regular Postal Service 19.7%

Law Enforcement 47.4%

Air Traffic Controller 48.8%

Members of Congress 30.6%

Congressional Staff 31.6%

Military Reserve Tech 25.9%

Table 4B: Costs Factors for FERS-RAE

FERS-RAE Cost Factor Cost 

Percentage

Regular Non-Postal – RAE 22.9%

Regular Postal Service – RAE 20.2%

Law Enforcement – RAE 48.1%

Air Traffic Controller – RAE 49.4%

Military Reserve Tech – RAE 26.3%

Table 4C: Costs Factors for FERS-FRAE

FERS-FRAE Cost Factor Cost 

Percentage

Regular Non-Postal – FRAE 23.2%

Regular Postal Service – FRAE 20.5%

Law Enforcement – FRAE 48.4%

Air Traffic Controller – FRAE 49.8%

Military Reserve Tech – FRAE 26.6%