United States 

Office of 

Personnel Management 

The Federal Government’s Human Resources Agency

Benefits Administration Letter 

Number: 20-401 Date: September 1, 2020 

Subject: 2020 Federal Benefits Open Season: Announcement

Welcome to the first in our series of 2020 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 9, 2020 through Monday, 

December 14, 2020.

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. 

COVID-19 IMPACT ON OPEN SEASON

The 2020 Federal Benefits Open Season will take place as scheduled. The effective dates of 

Open Season enrollment actions will not be delayed due to COVID-19. 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. We recognize that this may be a uniquely challenging Open 

Season, and appreciate your efforts to ensure you are prepared to administer Open Season,

including timely processing of enrollments and enrollment changes. 

We strongly encourage you to be creative regarding how you share information with employees. 

This may include information on your email signature line, lunch and learn sessions, and social 

media. 

Employees find Open Season fairs a valuable resource for getting Open Season information. Due 

to COVID-19, we strongly encourage you to assess how in-person benefit fairs will be impacted. 

Consider other ways to provide information to employees such as virtual events, webcasts, or 

webinars. We have also encouraged health plans to consider additional methods to provide 

information about Open Season to their enrollees and others. You may contact health plans for 

ideas and suggestions on providing information. Health plan contact information is available on 

our website at www.opm.gov/plancontacts. 
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FEDVIP

New for 2021 – 10 new plans options in FEDVIP. That makes for a total of 23 dental plan 

options and 10 vision plan options in 2021.

Additional information will be provided in BAL 20-403, Significant Plan Changes, to be issued 

later. 

OPEN SEASON OPPORTUNITIES 

During the annual Open Season, eligible 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. 

UPCOMING BENEFITS ADMINISTRATION LETTERS 

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

upcoming months: 

BAL 20-402 - 2020 Federal Benefits Open Season: Ordering and Distributing 

Materials and Conducting the Open Season - We will inform you how to order and 

distribute Open Season materials including Program-specific materials. Materials will be 

posted on our website at www.opm.gov/healthcare-insurance/healthcare/referencematerials/#url=Open-Season. 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 20-403 - 2020 Federal Benefits Open Season: Significant Plan Changes - We 

will provide information on significant events affecting FSAFEDS and certain plans in 

FEDVIP and the FEHB Program 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 
3 

during Open Season. We will release this BAL following the announcement of the 2021 

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. 

TIMELINE OF OPEN SEASON EVENTS

When What 

Early October 2020 2021 rates announced and posted on OPM website 

Early November 2020 Open Season information posted on OPM website 

November 9 - December 14, 2020 Open Season 

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 2021 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