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Attachment 3: Process FEHB Enrollment Actions 

Tribal Benefits Officers’ Responsibilities for Processing 

FEHB Enrollment Actions 

1. Prompt Processing – It is important that you process FEHB Open 

Season enrollments and enrollment changes promptly into the Tribal 

Insurance Processing System (TIPS). 

2. Verification of Tribal Employee Coverage – Tribal employees may 

become concerned when they do not receive their identification cards 

from a new plan within a short time after the end of Open Season. Many 

health plans offer temporary cards that employees may obtain from their 

plan’s website or employees may contact their plan directly for more 

information. If a tribal employee asks you about this, you must contact 

the health plan to verify that they were notified of the change, to 

determine the reason for the delay, and relay the tribal employee’s 

request for identification cards. Visit www.opm.gov/plancontacts for plan 

contact information. 

A tribal employee may need to verify their coverage under their plan 

before a carrier has processed the FEHB enrollment or enrollment change. 

You should confirm that the tribal employee is covered under the plan 

and inform the requesting party (e.g., carrier, doctor, or hospital) of the 

effective date of coverage. You should also remind tribal employees that 

their copy of the Health Benefits Election Form, the Standard Form (SF) 

2809, is acceptable as proof of FEHB enrollment until they receive their 

identification cards from the plan. Employees may obtain temporary 

identification cards from their health plans directly. 

Belated Enrollment Actions 

You do not have the authority to extend the FEHB Open Season 

for your tribal employees or a group of your tribal employees. 

However, you have the authority to accept individual late elections if you 

determine a tribal employee was unable to submit the election on time 

due to circumstances beyond the tribal employee’s control. This authority 

is to be used only when an employee has demonstrated that it was 

beyond their control, and not to circumvent the Open Season timeframe. 

If you decide to accept a tribal employee’s late election, write “Belated 

Open Season enrollment/change” in the “Remarks” section of the SF 

2809. You must attach the tribal employee’s statement explaining why 
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they could not enroll or change on time (or add your own note if the 

reason was a tribal employer problem) to Copy 1 (the Tribal Employee 

Personnel Folder copy) of the SF 2809. Please enter the FEHB enrollment 

information into TIPS as soon as possible so the tribal employee will 

receive an ID card from the plan. 

If you decide the delay in filing is not due to a cause beyond the tribal 

employee’s control, do not accept the tribal employee’s late request. You 

must notify the tribal employee in writing that you are not approving the 

late FEHB enrollment. You should give the reason for your denial and 

include a statement of the tribal employee’s right to request 

reconsideration within 30 days after the date of your notice. 

Effective Date of FEHB Open Season Enrollments and 

Enrollment Changes 

• From not enrolled to enrolled, the effective date is January 1, 

2022 following a pay period during any part of which the tribal 

employee is in pay status. 

• For enrollment changes, the effective date is January 1, 2022 

regardless of whether the tribal employee is in pay status during 

the preceding pay period. 

Cancellations 

Effective Date of FEHB Open Season Cancellations – An Open Season 

cancellation is effective at the end of the day on December 31, 2021. If a 

tribal employee is canceling their FEHB enrollment in order to be covered as 

a family member by a spouse’s FEHB Open Season enrollment, be sure to 

coordinate the effective date of the cancellation with the effective date of the 

spouse’s enrollment to prevent a break in FEHB coverage.