United States Office of Personnel Management

The Federal Government’s Human Resources Agency

Benefits Administration Letter

Number: 22-401 Date: September 6, 2022

Subject: 2022 Federal Benefits Open Season:

Announcement

Welcome to the first in our series of 2022 Federal Benefits Open Season 

Benefits Administration Letters (BALs) for the Federal Flexible Spending

Account Program (FSAFEDS), Federal Employees Dental and Vision

Insurance Program (FEDVIP), and Federal Employees Health Benefits (FEHB)

Program. This BAL provides general information about this year’s Federal

Benefits Open Season, which runs from Monday, November 14, 2022,

through Monday, December 12, 2022. 

As a reminder, the Federal Employees’ Group Life Insurance (FEGLI)

Program and the Federal Long-Term Care Insurance Program (FLTCIP) do

not participate in the annual Federal Benefits Open Season. 

Open Season Opportunities

During the annual Open Season, eligible employees can enroll, change plans

or plan options, change enrollment type, or cancel their enrollment for

FEDVIP and the FEHB Program. Employees can also re-enroll or newly enroll

in FSAFEDS.

You are responsible for ensuring that your employees are aware of the dates 

of Open Season, how to make changes, and which changes they can make.

We appreciate your efforts to ensure you are prepared to administer Open

Season, including timely processing of enrollments and enrollment changes.

We strongly encourage you to be creative regarding how you share

information with employees. This may include information on your email

signature line, lunch and learn sessions, and social media.
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Benefits Administration Letter 22-401

Employees find Open Season fairs a valuable resource for getting Open

Season information. We strongly encourage you to consider ways to provide

information to employees such as virtual events, webcasts, or webinars that 

provide equitable access to hybrid, remote, and shift workers. Many health

plan contacts host virtual events to provide information about Open Season

to their enrollees and others. You may contact health plan contacts for ideas 

and suggestions on providing information. Plan contact information is 

available on our website. 

Pre-Open Season Materials (Attachments)

The items below are pre-Open Season materials to help employees consider

and assess the various choices available to them as they make their Open

Season benefits decisions. You are responsible for providing timely

educational materials to your employees, which may include the below, by

using the most suitable distribution method to meet their needs.

1. Sample Email to Employees (Attachment 1) – an email template to

announce the upcoming Federal Benefits Open Season to your

employees

2. Circle ‘Round Your Benefits (Attachment 2) – a diagram to help

enrollees understand how the three programs that participate in Open

Season (FSAFEDS, FEDVIP, and FEHB) work together

Additional resources can be found on our Open Season website. 

Upcoming Benefits Administrations Letters

You will receive BALs on the following topics in the upcoming months: 

BAL 22-402 - 2022 Federal Benefits Open Season: Ordering

and Distributing Materials and Conducting the Open Season - 

Provides information on how to order and distribute Open Season 

materials including Program-specific materials. Materials on employee

counseling, plan contacts, Open Season actions, effective dates and 

employing office actions will be posted on our website.

BAL 22-403 – 2021 Federal Benefits Open Season: Significant

Plan Changes - Provides information on significant events affecting

FSAFEDS and certain plans in FEDVIP and the FEHB Program which

must be communicated to employees. This BAL also provides

instructions on the actions that employing agencies must take in 

certain situations, such as when an FEHB enrollee in a terminating plan 
Benefits Administration Letter 22-401 

3 

or plan option fails to change plans during Open Season. We will 

release this BAL following the announcement of the 2023 premium 

rates. (Subsequent changes will be issued in follow-on BALs, as 

appropriate.) 

You can find posted BALs on our website.

Timeline of Open Season Events

What Anticipated Issue Date

BAL 22-402 Early to Mid-September 

2023 premium rates announced and 

posted on OPM website

Late September 

BAL 22-403 Early to Mid-October

Open Season information posted on 

OPM website

Early November 

Open Season November 14 - December 12, 2022 

Where to Go for More Information

Visit our website at www.opm.gov/insure to learn more about these

Programs. You will find specific Federal Benefits Open Season information 

on www.opm.gov/openseason by the first week in November. 

If you have specific questions, please contact your agency’s benefits officer. 

Sincerely,

Laurie E. Bodenheimer 

Associate Director

 Healthcare and Insurance