United States 

Office of 

Personnel Management 

The Federal Government’s Human Resources Agency

Benefits Administration Letter 

Number: 19-401 Date: August 20, 2019 

Subject: 2019 Federal Benefits Open Season: Announcement

Welcome to the first in our series of 2019 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 11, 2019 through Monday, 

December 9, 2019. 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. 

OPEN SEASON OPPORTUNITIES

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

enrollment type, or cancel their enrollment for FEDVIP and the FEHB Program. Employees can 

also re-enroll or newly enroll in FSAFEDS.

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 

 Additional resources can be found at www.opm.gov/openseason. 
2

UPCOMING BENEFITS ADMINISTRATION LETTERS

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

upcoming months: 

BAL 19-402 - 2019 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 19-403 - 2019 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 2020 premium rates. Anticipated issue date: early-to 

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

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 2020 in early October. You will find specific Federal 

Benefits Open Season information on www.opm.gov/openseason.by the first week in November. 

 

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,

 Laurie E. Bodenheimer 

Acting Director

 Healthcare and Insurance