United States Office of Personnel Management

The Federal Government’s Human Resources Agency

Benefits Administration Letter

Number: 22-403 Date: October 17, 2022 

Subject: 2022 Federal Benefits Open Season: 

Significant Plan Changes

This Benefits Administration Letter (BAL) is the third and final in our series of 

2022 Federal Benefits Open Season BALs for the Federal Flexible Spending 

Account Program (FSAFEDS), the Federal Employees Dental and Vision 

Insurance Program (FEDVIP) and the Federal Employees Health Benefits 

(FEHB) Program. This BAL provides information on significant FEHB plan 

changes for 2023. 

Significant changes in 2023 for FSAFEDS or FEDVIP will be offered on their 

respective websites www.fsafeds.com and www.benefeds.com. 

FEHB PROGRAM

The remainder of this letter provides important information on the significant 

changes affecting certain plans in the FEHB Program for the upcoming Open 

Season.

FEHB Significant Plan Changes

Identifies those FEHB plans and their corresponding significant changes. 

Some of these events will require action on the part of agencies and 

enrollees.

Please note there are plans leaving the FEHB Program at the end of 2022. 

Employees in these terminating plans must enroll in a new plan during Open 

Season or their employing agency will enroll them in GEHA Indemnity 

Benefit Plan Elevate Option (the lowest-cost nationwide plan option for 2023 

as determined by OPM). See Benefit Administration Letter 16-202 

Enrollment Options Following the Termination of a Plan or Plan Option for 

additional information on how to automatically enroll individuals who do not 

make an enrollment election during the allotted time period.
Benefits Administration Letter 22-403

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Please distribute the attached list of significant FEHB plan changes to all 

employees so they may learn whether they’ll be affected by 2023 FEHB plan 

or service area terminations.

Table 1: Plans Leaving the FEHB Program

What Must Employees Do?

• Employees in terminating plans (Table 1) must enroll in a new health 

plan during Open Season. If they do not enroll in a new plan, their 

employing agency will enroll them in GEHA Indemnity Benefit Plan 

Elevate Option (the lowest-cost nationwide plan option for 2023 as 

determined by OPM).

• New Coverage: Coverage under an enrollee’s new health plan will be 

effective the first day of the pay period beginning on or after January 

1, 2023; for most employees this will be Sunday, January 1, 

2023. Enrollees will remain covered and receive the 2022 benefits of 

the old plan until the new plan becomes effective.

What Must You Do?

• You must notify employees enrolled in the plans listed in Table 1 to 

select new plans. Advise your employees if they do not choose new 

plans, they will be enrolled in GEHA Indemnity Benefit Plan Elevate

Option (the lowest-cost nationwide plan option for 2023 as determined 

by OPM).

• Distribute copies of this list to employees with your agency’s notice 

about Open Season along with copies of Attachment 2: FastFacts - 

What to do When Your Health Plan is Terminating Coverage in 

Your Area or Leaving the Federal Employees Health Benefits 

(FEHB) Program.

• Follow up with employees in these plans and remind them to select 

new plans.

Belated changes: Some employees might not receive instructions to 

change plans during Open Season. We encourage you to accept belated 

Open Season changes from employees enrolled in terminating plans up 

until the beginning of 2023 plan year. After the plan year begins, closely 

review requests for belated Open Season changes to ensure the 

circumstances which prevented a timely enrollment change were truly 

beyond the employee’s control.

What Will Health Plans Do?

Plan Notification: The plans in Table 1 “PLANS LEAVING THE FEHB 

PROGRAM,” have been instructed to notify enrollees of the need to 

select new plans for 2023; however, as some plans’ enrollment and 

address lists may not be up to date, we encourage you to accept belated 
Benefits Administration Letter 22-403

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changes.

Table 2: Plans Adding New Options and Enrollment Codes

Table 3: Service Area Expansions Without New Enrollment Codes

Table 4: Service Area Expansions Adding New Enrollment Codes

Table 5: New Plans Entering the FEHB Program

Table 6: Plans Changing Names 

Table 7: Plans Changing Names of Existing Plan Options

Table 8: Service Area Name Change

Table 9: Enrollment Code Merger with Terminating Enrollment Code

What Must You Do?

You must include the plans with new options, the plans with expanded 

service areas, and the new plans entering the FEHB Program (Tables 2-5) 

when you count the number of eligible employees and place your order 

for brochures. Plan contact information is available on our website.

CONCLUSION 

We encourage you and your employees to visit our Open Season website for 

the most up-to-date information. Please note that 2023 plan information will 

be posted on our website in November. We look forward to working with you 

to ensure Federal employees have a successful Open Season.

Sincerely,

Laurie Bodenheimer

Associate Director

Healthcare and Insurance

Encl.:

Attachment 1: FEHB Significant Plan Changes

Attachment 2: FastFact: What to do When Your Health Plan is Terminating 

Coverage in Your Area or Leaving the Federal Employees Health Benefits 

(FEHB) Program