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Attachment 6: 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 coverage into retirement. 

2. Benefit questions. 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. 

Refer employees to the actual FEDVIP or FEHB plan brochures for specific information on 

FEDVIP or FEHB 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. 

Enrollment 

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

to the correct enrollment procedures for each program: 

 FSAFEDS – visit 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 2013, they must make a new election. 

 FEDVIP – visit 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 are already enrolled, that enrollment automatically 

continues and they do not 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. 
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Note: Employees cannot enroll, change, or cancel their enrollment in a FEDVIP plan 

using the Standard Form (SF) 2809 (the Health Benefits Election Form) or through an 

agency self-service 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. 

 FEHB – visit your agency’s specific enrollment portal (e.g., Employee Express, MyPay, 

and EBIS) or use the Health Benefits Election Form, SF 2809. 

2. Provide assistance with the completion of the SF 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 version. 

3. Advise of specific timeframes during Open Season. 

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

enrollments on November 12th. The FSAFEDS.com website will stop accepting 

Open Season enrollments on Monday, December 10th 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. 

Call Center hours on the day after Thanksgiving (Friday, November 23) will be 

9:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. Eastern Time. The Call Center is closed during weekends and on 

Thanksgiving. On Monday, December 10 (the last day of Open Season), the Call Center 

will be open 9:00 a.m. - midnight Eastern Time.

 

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

enrollments on November 12th. The BENEFEDS.com website will stop accepting 

Open Season enrollments on Monday, December 10th at midnight Eastern Time. 

Employees can also enroll by phone at 1-877-888-3337 (TTY 1-800-889-5680). The 

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

including the day after Thanksgiving (Friday, November 23). The Call Center is closed 

during weekends and on Thanksgiving. On Monday, December 10 (the last day of Open 

Season), the Call Center will be open 8:00 a.m. - midnight Eastern Time. 

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

December 10, 2012. If you have employees enrolling or changing plans or plan 

options through Employee Express, they must do so no later than December 10th at 

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

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. 

Annuitants are not eligible to participate in FSAFEDS. 

 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, an

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 that is 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 1-855-887-4957. 

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

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

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

the proper enrollment form. 

 OWCP 

o Former employees receiving benefits from the Office of Workers’ Compensation 

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

records.

o Compensationers may download the 2013 Guide to Federal Benefits for 

Individuals Receiving Compensation from the Office of Workers' Compensation 

Programs from our website at 

www.opm.gov/insure/health/planinfo/guides/index.asp.

o Compensationers may send a written request for Open Season information or for 

an Open Season enrollment change to the Office of Workers' Compensation 

Programs at the following address: DFEC Central Mailroom, P.O. Box 8300, 

London, KY 40742. 

o Compensationers may also download the SF 2809 from our website at 

www.opm.gov/forms/pdf_fill/sf2809.pdf for any FEHB Open Season changes and 

mail it to the above address. 
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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 12

through December 10, 2012. 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.