The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) recently announced the 2024 Federal Employees Health Benefits (FEHB) Program rates. The open season for health benefits, dental and vision insurance, and flexible spending accounts will be November 13 through December 11, 2023.

The average enrollee share increase for 2024 will be 7.7 percent. The overall average FEHB premium increase will be 5.8 percent. The new health premiums go into effect January 1, 2024.

The average premium increase for dental plans for 2024 is 1.4 percent, and the average premium increase for vision plans is 1.1 percent.

OPM stated, "The largest contributor to the 2024 premium increase reported by FEHB carriers is increases in medical trend, which measures the change in costs and utilization of services. Carriers specifically noted increases in cost and utilization to specialty and brand drugs, emergency room care, and outpatient care as primary drivers of increased trend." To read more from OPM about the federal benefits open season for 2024, click here. For tables indicating the average bi-weekly FEHBP premiums in 2024 for annuitants and all employees, click here.

 FEHB Plan Comparison Tool

OPM has a useful FEHB plan comparison tool, where you can compare different plans according to their costs, coverage, and other considerations. To access the tool, click here or paste this URL into your browser: https://www.opm.gov/healthcare-insurance/healthcare/plan-information/compare-plans/. Please note the link to OPM's plan comparison tool currently compares 2023 plans. The link will reflect 2024 plans once it is updated by OPM. We will also post the link on FMA's webpage, www.fedmanagers.org.

FMA encourages you to closely review your benefits and premiums when determining what plan to enroll in during open season. If I may be of assistance, contact me at (703) 683-8700, ext. 104.