Attachment 1: Inform Employees and Provide Information about 

Federal Benefits Open Season 

COMMUNICATION

1. Build awareness of the upcoming Open Season. Employees need to know: 

 

 the dates of Open Season (November 8 – December 13, 2010); 

 which Programs participate in the Open Season (FEHB, FEDVIP and FSAFEDS); 

 a brief description of FEHB, FEDVIP and FSAFEDS; 

 what decisions they can/must make; 

 where they can find additional information about the Programs; and 

 the effective date of employees’ Open Season changes; 

Start your awareness campaign early (such as in early-October) and follow through with 

consistent messages. 

2. Inform employees. You can do this in various ways. Here are some examples: 

 Send an email to all employees. Please include the following attachments in your Open 

Season announcement: 

o Attachment 1A: Open Season FastFacts “The 2010 Federal Benefits Open 

Season is Coming;” 

o Attachment 1B: Open Season FastFacts “What to Consider During the Federal 

Benefits Open Season;” and 

o Attachment 1C: FSAFEDS flyer 

 Distribute flyers to employees (this is a great way to reach employees who don’t have 

easy access to the Internet). The flyers can include: 

o Attachment 1A: Open Season FastFacts “The 2010 Federal Benefits Open 

Season is Coming;” 

o Attachment 1B: Open Season FastFacts “What to Consider During the Federal 

Benefits Open Season;” and 

o Attachment 1C: FSAFEDS Program flyer 

 Post Open Season notices in hallways, cafeterias, and break rooms. 

 Put the dates of Open Season (November 8 – December 13) on a footer on each email 

you and your human resources office staff send to employees starting now through 

December 13, 2010, (whether the email specifically concerns Open Season or not). 

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 Add reminders to earnings and leave statements. 

 Publicize Open Season information on your agency’s intranet site. 

 If your agency uses an online service system for FEHB enrollment changes (e.g., 

Employee Express or MyPay), remind employees they need their password to access the 

system. 

 Remind employees they will need their password for the BENEFEDS (FEDVIP 

enrollment website) and FSAFEDS websites. 

 Broadcast to your employees who they can contact internally for help! 

TIP: If you are in a field office and you do not know who your headquarters benefits officer is, 

please go to http://apps.opm.gov/abo/. 

TIP: Don’t assume employees know the dates of Open Season, how to make changes, or where to go 

if they have questions. Each year, OPM receives numerous calls and emails asking for this 

information. You must make sure Open Season information reaches employees. 

MATERIAL

It is the Agency Benefits Officer’s responsibility to provide Open Season information to the 

employees in the agency and guidance/information to the Benefits Officers in field offices.

Ensure you have enough Open Season material. You can find detailed information about ordering 

and distributing materials in BAL 10-403 at www.opm.gov/retire/pubs/bals/index.asp. Almost all 

materials are available online at www.opm.gov/insure. 

1. Open Season FastFacts. A summary of important Open Season information is contained in 

two FastFacts created specifically for Open Season: 

www.opm.gov/insure/fastfacts/index.asp. 

2. The Guide to Federal Benefits. A complete listing of all the plans that participate in the 

health (FEHB) and dental/vision (FEDVIP) programs, an explanation of the Federal flexible 

spending account program (FSAFEDS), and important enrollment information. Instructions 

for ordering the Guide were provided in BAL 10-402 Rider Information at 

www.opm.gov/retire/pubs/bals/bal10.asp. Please check with your headquarters benefits 

officer to obtain copies. The online version is available at 

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

3. FEHB, FEDVIP, and FSAFEDS brochures and flyers.

 You obtain FEHB Fee-for-Service (FFS) plan brochures through your agency 

headquarters’ ordering system. You may request FEHB health maintenance 

organization (HMO) or high deductible/consumer driven health plan (HDHP/CDHP) 

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brochures by contacting those plans directly. You can find FEHB plan contact 

information in BAL 10-403 at www.opm.gov/retire/pubs/bals/bal10.asp. Health plan 

brochures are also available at www.opm.gov/retire/pubs/bals/bal10.asp. 

 You obtain FEDVIP brochures from the plans directly. You can find FEDVIP plan 

contact information in BAL 10-403 at www.opm.gov/retire/pubs/bals/bal10.asp. 

Dental plan brochures are also available at 

www.opm.gov/insure/dental/planinfo/index.asp. Vision plan brochures are also 

available at www.opm.gov/insure/vision/planinfo/index.asp. 

 You obtain FSAFEDS brochures at www.FSAFEDS.com. 

** A note about distributing FFS health plan brochures: health plans and field offices alike 

report that boxes of health plan brochures go to waste because they are inadequately distributed 

once they reach your designated distribution points. This action denies employees health plan 

material to make an informed decision as the cost associated with this waste impacts rates 

charged to employees. Agency headquarters must ensure proper distribution of all health plan 

brochures including FFS and HMO plan brochures.

4. Open Season Facebook page, and Twitter. If employees cannot access these resources 

from work, please distribute the links to them anyway so they can view this information from 

home if they wish. 

 Facebook: www.facebook.com/fedbenefits

 Twitter: http://twitter.com/FedEmployeeBen 

5. Significant Events Benefits Administration Letter. Employees must be notified promptly 

when their health plan either terminates from the FEHB Program or reduces its service area. 

It is your responsibility to monitor employees who are covered by these terminating plans or 

service area reductions with terminating enrollment codes and follow up with those who have 

not submitted a change of enrollment before the end of Open Season. If they do not make a 

health plan change they will be left without coverage! 

You received BAL 10-405 2010 Federal Benefits Open Season: FEHB Program Significant 

Changes on October 6, 2010. Please share this information immediately with your 

employees. 

TIP: Distribute the listserv notices of significant events and BAL 10-405 to all employees so 

they can check to see whether their plan or service area will continue to participate in the FEHB

Program in 2011. 

HEALTH FAIRS

1. Strength in numbers. Employees find health fairs a valuable resource for getting 

Open Season information. If your agency has a small number of employees, consider 

partnering with other agencies in your area or with a Federal Executive Board to host 

a health fair. Health plans usually receive more requests to attend health fairs than 

they can accommodate, so be creative. Employees value talking with plan 

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representatives face-to-face, but you must advertise the event early and often to 

attract as many employees as possible. 

2. Assure equal access for all health plans. Health fairs in some locations – with or 

without agency HR on site – are organized and hosted by participating FEHB plans. 

While this may be necessary, no one plan can be allowed to dominate a health fair to 

the detriment of other participating plans. OPM works to ensure a level playing field 

for all FEHB plans and this spirit should prevail at health fairs, too.

3. FEHB and FEDVIP. Find plan contact information in Attachments 2-5 of BAL 10-

403. Carrier representatives are expected to confine their presentations to benefit 

provisions and claims procedures of the specific plan they represent. 

TIP: A number of Carriers participate both in the FEHB and the FEDVIP programs. While a single 

representative may distribute information for both programs, this information cannot be bundled or 

presented in such a way that the member is led to believe he/she is purchasing a “package deal.” 

4. FSAFEDS. Please contact Bart Turney at SHPS, the administrator of FSAFEDS, at 

fsafeds-hr@shps.com to request FSAFEDS marketing materials and/or participation at 

your benefit fairs. 

5. Companies not approved by OPM. You may be contacted by insurance companies 

that do not participate in any of the Federal benefits programs we administer but wish to 

sell other types of “supplemental” policies to Federal employees. These companies 

sometimes send marketing material and ask that you distribute it. They may ask to be 

invited to the agency’s benefit fairs or even show up uninvited. 

OPM has no authority to allow or disallow participation in agency benefit fairs. 

However, we are not in favor of allowing these companies to attend because it may dilute 

the messages of the Federal Benefits Open Season. Employees may interpret their 

participation as evidence your agency supports their product or that it has the backing of 

the Federal Government. For these reasons, you may wish to limit access to your 

premises to plans that actually participate in FEHB or FEDVIP (i.e., those plans listed in 

the Guide to Federal Benefits) and representatives of FSAFEDS and FLTCIP. 

TIP: Although FLTCIP does not participate in this annual Open Season, you may wish to include 

information on the Program at your benefit fairs. Please contact Maureen McNally at Long Term 

Care Partners, the administrator of FLTCIP, at mmcnally@ltcpartners.com to request materials 

and/or participation at your benefits fair. 

6. Be supportive. Ensure your agency’s managers allow their employees time away from 

their duties to attend health fairs. The fairs are an excellent source for employees to 

obtain the information necessary to make informed benefit choices. 

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EMPLOYEE ENROLLMENT OPPORTUNITIES

1. Enroll in FSAFEDS, FEHB, and FEDVIP. 

 

 An eligible employee who is not enrolled may enroll. 

 An eligible employee who wants an FSAFEDS account in 2011 must enroll in 

FSAFEDS during Open Season. Current participants MUST re-enroll each year if 

they want to continue participation. Enrollments DO NOT carry forward from year 

to year. 

 Enrollment in FEHB and FEDVIP automatically continues year to year. 

 An eligible employee who enrolls in FEHB may waive participation in premium 

conversion; otherwise participation in premium conversion is automatic. 

 An eligible employee who enrolls in FEDVIP cannot waive premium conversion. 

When employees enroll in FEDVIP, they agree to pre-tax deductions. 

Note: The Federal Employees' Group Life Insurance Program (FEGLI) and the Federal Long 

Term Care Insurance Program (FLTCIP) do not participate in the annual Federal Benefits 

Open Season. Eligible employees can enroll in FEGLI at any time if they provide satisfactory 

medical information on an SF 2822, and it has been at least one year since they last waived FEGLI 

participation. If already enrolled, they can increase FEGLI coverage if they make an election within 

60 days of experiencing a FEGLI-specific qualifying life event (QLE). Most enrollees can reduce 

FEGLI coverage at any time. Eligible employees and qualified relatives can apply for coverage 

under FLTCIP at anytime with Full Underwriting. Additional information on FEGLI and FLTCIP 

is available at www.opm.gov/insure. 

2. Change enrollment or cancel enrollment in FEHB, FEDVIP, and FSAFEDS. 

 For FEHB and FEDVIP, an enrollee may change from one plan or option to 

another or change enrollment type. 

 For FEHB and FEDVIP, an enrollee may cancel his or her enrollment. 

 For FSAFEDS, current participants must re-enroll if they want to participate for 2011 

or they can choose to do nothing and their FSAFEDS coverage will end with the 

2010 Benefit Period. 

 An enrollee who currently participates in FEHB premium conversion may waive 

participation, or if he/she had previously waived premium conversion, may begin 

participation. 

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Note: Please inform employees who are canceling their FEHB enrollment the cancellation may affect 

their ability to meet the 5-year requirement for continuing FEHB into retirement. There is no 5-year 

requirement to continue FEDVIP into retirement. 

OPEN SEASON EFFECTIVE DATES

1. FEDVIP 

 From not enrolled to enrolled, an enrollment change, or cancellation – 

Saturday, January 1, 2011. The Plan year under FEDVIP is January 1 through 

December 31. 

2. FEHB 

 From not enrolled to enrolled – The first day of the first pay period that begins 

on or after Saturday, January 1, 2011, and which follows a pay period during any 

part of which the employee was in pay status. 

 Enrollment change – The first day of the first pay period which begins on or 

after Saturday, January 1, 2011, regardless of whether the employee was in pay 

status during the preceding pay period. 

 Premium Conversion Change in Election – The first day of the first pay period 

that begins on or after Saturday, January 1, 2011. 

 Cancellation – At the end of the day before the first day of the first pay period 

that begins in 2011.

3. FSAFEDS

 Enrolled during Open Season – Saturday, January 1, 2011. Employees who enroll 

during Open Season will have from January 1, 2011, through March 15, 2012, to 

incur eligible expenses.