Attachment 2: Advise Employees on the Federal Benefits Programs 

Advise Employees

1. Specific Program questions. Please answer your employees’ questions concerning 

eligibility, premium conversion or the application of FEDVIP provisions or FEHB law and 

regulations to particular circumstances. Please inform employees who are canceling their FEHB 

enrollment that the cancellation may affect their ability to meet the 5-year requirement for 

continuing FEHB into retirement. 

2. Benefit questions. Refer employees to the actual FEHB or FEDVIP plan brochures for 

specific information on FEHB or FEDVIP benefits. If the answers cannot be found in the 

brochures, instruct the employee to contact the plan directly. Do not refer employees to the 

plans if their questions concern subjects other than benefits. For FSAFEDS questions, 

please refer the employees to the FSAFEDS website, or ask them to call SHPS, the administrator 

of FSAFEDS, at 1-877-372-3337. 

 

Enrollment

1. Provide information on how to enroll, change or cancel coverage and direct employees 

to the correct enrollment procedures for each program: 

 FEHB – Your agency’s specific enrollment portal (i.e., Employee Express, MyPay, 

EBIS, etc.) or the Health Benefits Election Form, Standard Form (SF) 2809. 

 FEDVIP – www.BENEFEDS.com –Enrolling online involves two steps: 

1. Create a BENEFEDS.com account by providing demographic and 

employment information. This is a one time action to create the employee’s 

account. If the employee is already enrolled in FEDVIP, he/she already has a 

BENEFEDS.com account. 

2. Enroll. Employees may enroll in one dental plan and/or one vision plan. 

Employees must complete the enrollment section for each plan in which they 

want to enroll. If they’re already enrolled, that enrollment automatically 

continues and they don’t need to enroll again unless they want to make a 

change. 

Employees without computer access may contact BENEFEDS by phone at 1-877-888-

3337. 

If you have employees with absolutely no phone and no internet access during all of 

Open Season, please contact us at BENEFEDSPortal@opm.gov and we can make 

arrangements for enrollments. 

Note: Employees cannot enroll, change, or cancel their enrollment in a FEDVIP plan 

using the SF 2809 (Health Benefits Election Form) or through an agency self-service 

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system such as Employee Express, PostalEase, EBIS, MyPay or Employee Personal 

Page.

FEDVIP enrollments automatically continue from year to year. FEDVIP enrollments 

also automatically continue when enrolled employees retire. Unlike FEHB, there is no 

5-year requirement to continue coverage into retirement. 

 FSAFEDS - www.FSAFEDS.com - or call SHPS, the administrator of FSAFEDS, at 1-

877-372-3337. Enrollment in FSAFEDS does not carry over from year to year. If 

employees want to participate in FSAFEDS for 2011, they must make a new election. 

2. Provide assistance with the completion of Standard Form 2809 for enrolling or changing 

enrollment under the FEHB Program. This form is available as a screen-fillable Adobe 

Acrobat portable document format (PDF) file on the FEHB website at 

www.opm.gov/forms/pdf_fill/sf2809.pdf. Using the free downloadable Adobe Acrobat reader

employees may complete the form on the screen and then print it out already completed. 

 Note: Employees must have Acrobat Adobe Reader 8 or later. 

3. Advise of specific timeframes during Open Season. 

 FEHB. Employees must submit the SF 2809 no later than close of business on 

December 13, 2010. If you have employees enrolling or changing plans or plan 

options through Employee Express, they must do so no later than December 13th at 

12 midnight Eastern Time.

 FEDVIP. The BENEFEDS website will begin accepting Open Season changes and 

enrollments on November 8th. The BENEFEDS.com website will stop accepting 

Open Season enrollments on Monday, December 13 at 12 midnight Eastern Time. 

The BENEFEDS Call Center is open 8:00 am – 9:00 p.m. Eastern Time, Monday – 

Friday, including Veteran’s Day (Thursday, November 11) and the day after 

Thanksgiving (Friday, November 26). The Call Center is closed during weekends and on 

Thanksgiving. On Monday, December 13 (last day of Open Season) the Call Center will 

be 8:00 am - 12 midnight Eastern Time. 

 FSAFEDS. The FSAFEDS.com website will begin accepting Open Season 

enrollments on November 8th. The FSAFEDS.com website will stop accepting Open 

Season enrollments on Monday, December 13th at midnight Eastern Time. 

Employees can also enroll by phone at 1-877-372-3337 (TTY 1-800-952-0450). The 

FSAFEDS Call Center is open 9:00 a.m. – 9:00 p.m. Eastern Time, Monday – Friday, 

including Veteran’s Day (Thursday, November 11). The Call Center is CLOSED during 

weekends and on Thanksgiving. Call Center hours on the day after Thanksgiving will be 

9:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. Eastern Time. 

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4. Advise annuitants who retire from your agency and may contact you for an SF 2809. 

Beginning this year, OPM will no longer mail annuitants an Open Season package. Annuitants 

will receive an Open Season postcard mailer that includes information on how to make FEHB 

and FEDVIP changes and how to request an Open Season package, if necessary. 

 CSRS and FERS Annuitants. 

o OPM does not use the SF 2809 for annuitant Open Season changes for Civil 

Service Retirement System (CSRS) or Federal Employees Retirement System 

(FERS) annuitants. 

 

o Enrolled annuitants or their survivors should access Open Season Online, our 

interactive website, at https://retireefehb.opm.gov or be directed to call Open 

Season Express at 1-800-332-9798. Instructions for using Open Season Express 

are included in the Open Season mailer sent to each enrolled CSRS and FERS 

annuitant before Open Season. 

o If an annuitant loses or does not receive the Open Season mailer, they can get one 

by calling Open Season Express at 1-800-332-9798 or our Retirement Information 

Office at 1-88-US-OPM-RET (1-888-767-6738). Those who have access to a 

TTY machine may call our toll-free Retirement Information Office TTY number 

at 1-800-878-5707. TTY customers within the local Washington, DC calling area 

must call us at 202-606-0551.

o Annuitants should always provide their CSA/CSF retirement claim number and/or 

their Social Security number when communicating with OPM for any reason.

o FSAFEDS – annuitants are not eligible to participate.

 Other retirement systems – These annuitants should contact their retirement system for 

the proper enrollment form. 

 OWCP – Former employees receiving benefits from the Office of Workers’ 

Compensation Program (OWCP) should contact the OWCP office that maintains their 

FEHB records. 

5. Process new FEHB enrollments and enrollment changes made in conjunction with a 

Qualifying Life Event (QLE) that occurs during the Open Season period. 

 New enrollments and changes can be made as usual between the dates of November 8 

through December 13, 2010. However, these changes may have different effective dates 

than Open Season actions and should not be mistakenly identified as such.

 Whether an employee is enrolling or changing enrollment based on Open Season or a 

QLE, it is important that the correct event code be noted on the SF 2809 so that the 

correct effective date will be assigned. Please visit our website at 

www.opm.gov/insure/health/planinfo/qle.asp for QLE information.