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Attachment 3: 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 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 at www.FSAFEDS.com or call 1-877-FSAFEDS (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. 

3. Plan Comparison Tool. For Open Season 2018, the Plan Comparison Tool is available at 

www.opm.gov/FEHBcompare for eligible FEHB members to use when shopping for a health 

plan. 

OPM has improved the FEHB Plan Comparison Tool by enhancing the presentation of Health 

Savings Account and Health Reimbursement Arrangement information for High Deductible 

Health Plans and Consumer Driven Health Plans, and by allowing users to print comparison tool 

results through browsers without web page headers and footers. We have also added a new, easyto-find column displaying the three-character enrollment code, making it easier for employees to 

complete requests to change enrollment.

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 1-877- FSAFEDS (372-3337). 

Enrollment in FSAFEDS does not carry over from year to year. If employees want to 

participate in FSAFEDS for 2019, 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. 
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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 BENEFEDS at BENEFEDSPortal@opm.gov and they can 

make arrangements for enrollments.

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

using the SF 2809 or through an agency electronic enrollment system. 

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 – direct employees to use your agency’s electronic enrollment system (e.g., 

Employee Express, MyPay, EBIS, etc.) or use the Health Benefits Election Form, SF 

2809. Provide assistance with the completion of the SF 2809 for enrolling or 

changing enrollment under the FEHB Program as necessary. 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. 

 

2. Advise employees of specific enrollment 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-FSAFEDS (372-3337) or TTY 1-866-353-

8058. The FSAFEDS Call Center is open 9:00 a.m. – 9:00 p.m. Eastern Time, Monday – 

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

be 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time. The Call Center is closed during weekends and 

on Thanksgiving. On Monday, December 10th (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 at midnight Eastern Time on Monday, December 10th. 

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

during weekends and on Thanksgiving. On Monday, December 10th (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 for your 

agency on December 10, 2018. If you allow employees to enroll or make enrollment 

changes through an electronic enrollment system, they must do so no later than December 

10th at midnight Eastern Time. 

3. 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

 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. 

 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. 

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

Season information by calling Open Season Express at 1-800-332-9798 or the Retirement 

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

a TTY machine may call the toll-free Retirement Information Office TTY number at 1-

855-887-4957. 

 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 system annuitants

 These annuitants should contact their retirement system for the proper enrollment form. 
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Compensationers 

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

Programs (OWCP) should contact the OWCP office that maintains their FEHB records.

 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. 

 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. 

4. 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 enrollment changes due to QLEs can be made as usual between the 

dates of November 12 through December 10, 2018. However, these new enrollments and 

enrollment 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/healthcare-insurance/healthcare/plan-information/changes-you-can-makeoutside-of-open-season for QLE information.