United States 

Office of 

Personnel Management

The Federal Government’s Human Resources Agency

Benefits Administration Letter 

Number: 18-401 Date: September 5, 2018 

Subject: 2018 Federal Benefits Open Season: Announcement

Welcome to the first in our series of 2018 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 12, 2018 through Monday, 

December 10, 2018. 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. 

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. 

The Open Season BALs have been re-numbered. This initial BAL remains BAL 18-401. The 

former BAL 402 (Ordering and Distributing Materials) and 403 (Conducting the Open Season) 

will be combined into BAL 18-402. The former “Significant Events” BAL will now be BAL 18-

403. 

OPEN SEASON OPPORTUNITIES

During the annual Open Season, employees can enroll, change plans or plan options, change 

enrollment type, or cancel their enrollment for the Federal Employees Dental and Vision 

Insurance Program (FEDVIP) and the Federal Employees Health Benefits (FEHB) Program. 

Employees can also re-enroll or newly enroll in the Federal Flexible Spending Account Program 

(FSAFEDS).

For the first time, certain members of the uniformed services and their families will be eligible to 

enroll in FEDVIP during the 2018 Open Season for coverage effective January 1, 2019. 

Enrollment will be processed through www.BENEFEDS.com. Retired uniformed service 

members and their families who are eligible for the TRICARE Retiree Dental Program (TRDP, 

which will end on December 31, 2018) will be eligible for FEDVIP dental coverage and, if 

enrolled in a TRICARE health plan, will be eligible for FEDVIP vision coverage. Family 

members of active duty uniformed services members who are enrolled in a TRICARE health plan 

will also be eligible for FEDVIP vision coverage. More information will be available on our 

website here. 
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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 these educational materials to your employees. Please distribute these 

materials to employees and post them on your agency’s intranet in mid-September.

1. Sample Email to Employees (Attachment 1) – a sample email to inform employees about 

the upcoming Federal Benefits Open Season

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 

Based on feedback that we have received from Agency Benefit Officers, we are no longer 

attaching the Open Season Checklist, Helpful Resources, or Frequently Questioned Services to 

this BAL. Information concerning all these resources can be found at

www.opm.gov/openseason. 

UPCOMING BENEFITS ADMINISTRATION LETTERS

Through the BENEFITSINFO Listserv, you will receive BALs on the following topics in the 

upcoming months: 

BAL 18-402 - 2018 Federal Benefits Open Season: Conducting the Open Season - 

We will inform you how to order and distribute Open Season materials including 

Program-specific materials. We will provide you with information on employee 

counseling, annuitant inquiries, carrier contacts, Open Season actions, effective dates, and 

agency actions. Anticipated issue date: mid-to-late September.

BAL 18-403 - 2018 Federal Benefits Open Season: Significant Events - We will 

provide information on significant events affecting FSAFEDS and certain plans in 

FEDVIP and the FEHB Program (such as plan terminations) which you must 

communicate to your employees. This BAL also clarifies the actions that employing 

agencies must take in certain situations, such as when an FEHB enrollee in a terminating 

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

following the announcement of the 2019 premium rates. Anticipated issue date: early-to 

mid-October (if there are any subsequent changes, we will issue a follow-up BAL) 

As in the past, we will dedicate the 400 series to the Open Season. You can find BALs on our 

website here. 

WHERE TO GO FOR MORE INFORMATION

Visit our website at www.opm.gov/insure to learn more about these Programs. We will post 

FEHB and FEDVIP premium rates for 2019 in early October. You will find specific Federal 

Benefits Open Season information on this website by the first week in November. 
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If you have specific questions, please contact your agency’s benefits officer. If you do not know 

who this person is, please go to http://apps.opm.gov/abo where you will find a list of agencies 

and their Headquarters Benefits Officers. 

 Sincerely,

 Alan P. Spielman

Director

 Healthcare and Insurance