The average increase in the enrollee share of Federal Employees Health Benefits (FEHB) Program premiums for 2027 is 10.9%, according to the Office of Personnel Management (OPM). It is the third double-digit increase in a row, and it is the number most readers will see in headlines. It is also a poor guide to whether any one plan’s increase is normal. Counted plan by plan, the typical 2027 increase is smaller, about one plan in six costs less, and one nationwide plan’s Self Plus One rate roughly doubled.
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That makes the keep-or-change question easier to answer than it looks. Before comparing alternatives, find out where the current plan’s increase falls. The three-step test below takes about ten minutes and works for employees and retirees.
2027 FEHB Premium Rates
| Measure | 2027 figure |
|---|---|
| Average increase in the enrollee share, as reported by OPM (weighted by enrollment) | 10.9% |
| Average increase in total premium (enrollee and government shares) | 9.3% |
| Average increase across 117 plan options, each counted equally | 6.5% Self Only, 7.6% Self Plus One, 6.9% Self and Family |
| Median increase across the same 117 plan options | 5.9% Self Only, 6.3% Self Plus One, 5.5% Self and Family |
| Plan options with a lower enrollee share than in 2026 | 20 Self Only, 22 Self Plus One, 21 Self and Family (of 117) |
| Plan options unchanged | 5 at each enrollment type |
| Largest percentage increase | Mail Handlers Benefit Plan (MHBP) Standard Option: 63.1% Self Only, 104.9% Self Plus One, 83.7% Self and Family |
The gap between 10.9% and the plan-by-plan averages comes from weighting. OPM’s figure reflects how many enrollees are in each plan, and the public rate files do not include enrollment. The equal-weight numbers, drawn from an analysis of OPM’s 2027 rate files, describe the average plan-option increase rather than the increase experienced by the average enrollee. OPM lists 118 FEHB plan options for 2027; the figures here are based on the 117 options included in the rate comparison. Plan type also matters: with each plan counted equally, nationwide fee-for-service plans averaged increases of about 16%, while regional health maintenance organization (HMO) plans averaged about 5.5%.
The 2027 increase follows increases of 13.5% for 2025 and 12.3% for 2026, which the premiums and pay raise analysis lays out year by year. The full plan-by-plan rates are on the FEHB premium rates page.
Step 1: Find Your Plan’s 2027 Change
Start with two numbers for the current enrollment type (Self Only, Self Plus One or Self and Family): the 2026 premium and the 2027 premium.
- Employees can find the 2026 biweekly premium on a recent earnings and leave statement. Retirees can find the monthly premium on an annuity statement.
- The 2027 rate is on the FEHB premium rates page or on OPM’s premiums page.
Subtract the old premium from the new one, then divide by the old premium. For example, the Blue Cross and Blue Shield (BCBS) Service Benefit Plan Standard Option for Self Only goes from $188.32 to $204.65 biweekly. The change is $16.33, and $16.33 divided by $188.32 is 8.7%. Multiply the biweekly change by 26 pay periods for the yearly figure, which is about $425 in this case. Retirees seeing monthly rates multiply the monthly change by 12.
Employees usually pay premiums with pre-tax dollars through premium conversion, so the effect on take-home pay is somewhat smaller than the gross figure suggests.
Step 2: Place Your Plan in a Zone
| Zone | 2027 change in your share | What it usually means | Plan options in zone (Self Only / Self Plus One / Self and Family) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Down or flat | Lower than 2026, or unchanged | A good reason to consider keeping it, provided benefits and total costs still fit. | 25 / 27 / 26 |
| Typical | Above 0% to about 7% | In line with the average plan-option increase. Still worth checking the total cost. | 41 / 37 / 41 |
| Look closer | Above 7% to 10.9% | Above the average plan-option increase, but below the enrollment-weighted average. Compare at least two alternatives. | 12 / 12 / 11 |
| Compare in full | Above 10.9% | Higher than OPM’s average. A full comparison is warranted. | 39 / 41 / 39 |
The counts in the last column come from the same 117 plan options in OPM’s 2027 rate files. Increases are not bunched around the average. At Self Only, 66 plan options (25 down or flat and 41 up 7% or less) fall in the first two zones, 39 fall in the last zone and only 12 land in between. Roughly one plan in three rose by more than 10.9%, and a little over half rose by 7% or less.
These cutoffs are practical screening guidelines built from the 2027 averages and medians above, not official OPM standards or automatic recommendations to keep or leave a plan. A relatively small percentage increase does not necessarily make an already expensive plan a good value, just as a large increase does not automatically make a plan the wrong choice. A plan in the first two zones can still be the wrong fit if doctors, prescriptions or family needs have changed. A plan in the last zone can still be worth keeping if no alternative covers the same doctors or provides comparable benefits. The zones only answer the first question: whether the increase is unusually large.
Step 3: Turn the Percentage Into Dollars
A percentage is easy to shrug off, but dollars per year are not. Looking at individual plan options rather than weighting them by enrollment, the median annual premium increase was approximately $169 for Self Only coverage and $382 for Self and Family coverage, according to the premiums and pay raise analysis. These figures represent the midpoint of the analyzed plan-option increases, not the premium change experienced by a typical enrollee. The table below shows three real plans for comparison.
| Plan | Enrollment type | 2026 biweekly | 2027 biweekly | Change per paycheck | Change | Change per year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BCBS Standard Option | Self Only | $188.32 | $204.65 | +$16.33 | +8.7% | +$425 |
| BCBS Standard Option | Self and Family | $457.66 | $496.90 | +$39.24 | +8.6% | +$1,020 |
| Government Employees Health Association (GEHA) High Option | Self Only | $195.29 | $168.01 | -$27.28 | -14.0% | -$709 |
| GEHA High Option | Self and Family | $525.18 | $459.39 | -$65.79 | -12.5% | -$1,711 |
| GEHA Indemnity Benefit Plan, Elevate Plus Option | Self Only | $205.13 | $262.63 | +$57.50 | +28.0% | +$1,495 |
| GEHA Indemnity Benefit Plan, Elevate Plus Option | Self and Family | $496.12 | $634.19 | +$138.07 | +27.8% | +$3,590 |
BCBS Standard Option, one of the program’s most widely used plans, lands in the “look closer” zone. Two plans from the same carrier landed on opposite sides of the average: GEHA High Option fell, while the Elevate Plus option rose more than 27%. A familiar carrier name says little about which direction a plan’s premium moved. These are examples drawn from OPM’s 2027 rate files, not recommendations, and a lower premium does not make a plan the better choice.
Households covering two people should also check whether Self Plus One costs more than Self and Family in their plan. In 39 entries in OPM’s 2027 FEHB rate files it does, and the analysis of plans that got cheaper shows how to compare the two.
Premium Is Not the Whole Cost
A plan can look like a bargain on premium and still cost more over a year of heavy medical use. Before deciding, compare:
- Deductibles, copayments, coinsurance and the annual out-of-pocket maximum
- Prescription drug tiers and whether current medications are covered
- Provider networks, including whether current doctors and hospitals participate
- Health savings account or reimbursement account features on high-deductible and consumer-driven options
- For retirees and family members with Medicare, how the plan coordinates with it
Plan brochures and OPM’s plan comparison tool, expected in early November, are the places to check coverage. The FEHB plan comparison page has an email alert for when OPM releases them.
The Cost of Auto-Renewing Your FEHB Plan
Coverage generally continues into 2027 if no changes are made, and many federal employees and retirees remain in the same FEHB plan year after year. That can be the right decision, but the cost of staying deserves a fresh look. Compounding OPM’s annual program-wide average increases in the enrollee share produces a cumulative increase of approximately 65.5% from 2023 through 2027. At that compounded rate, an enrollee paying $5,000 a year in premium share in 2022 would pay about $8,275 in 2027. That is an illustration based on annual program averages, not the actual premium history of any individual FEHB plan. Some plans have increased much more, while others have experienced smaller increases or reductions in certain years. A plan that quietly renews for years deserves a check against what the rest of the program did.
If Your 2027 FEHB Plan Is Leaving or Changing
Nine FEHB plan options will not be available in 2027, according to OPM: Independent Health Standard, Independent Health high-deductible health plan (HDHP), Blue Care Network of Michigan – Southeast High, UnitedHealthcare (Choice Primary West) High, UnitedHealthcare (Choice Plus Primary West) High, Health Net of California (Northern) High, and Health Net of California (Southern) Standard, Basic and High. MHBP’s Value and Consumer options are also ending, with those enrollees scheduled to move to MHBP Standard Option by default unless they select another available plan.
Enrollees whose FEHB plans are leaving the program should select a replacement during Open Season rather than relying on automatic enrollment. Under OPM’s 2027 transition arrangements, enrollees in terminating plans who do not make a new election are automatically enrolled in the designated default plan, Compass Rose Standard. The MHBP situation works differently, because those options end while the carrier continues participating. It matters because MHBP Standard Option had the steepest increase in the program, 63.1% to 104.9% depending on enrollment type, so enrollees who make no election could face a large jump. An automatically assigned replacement may also have a different provider network, prescription drug list and cost-sharing requirements. The full list of leaving plans and defaults has the details. Anyone affected should confirm the applicable transition instructions before Open Season ends.
What Near-Retirees and Retirees Should Add
Retirees generally pay FEHB premiums monthly out of their annuity, and retirement income adjustments come from cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs) rather than federal employee pay raises. The COLA Watch page tracks the 2027 COLA, which makes a retiree’s keep-or-change test partly a comparison of the premium increase with the COLA. Retirees with Medicare should also check whether a plan helps pay the Part B premium, because that can change the math.
Employees five to ten years from retirement have a different concern. To continue FEHB coverage into retirement, employees generally must retire on an immediate annuity and have been continuously covered under FEHB for the five years of service immediately before retirement, or for their entire period of eligibility if shorter. Changing from one FEHB plan to another during Open Season does not restart that five-year period. The requirement concerns continuous qualifying coverage, not remaining with the same insurance carrier or plan. Confirm the details with OPM or the agency benefits office.
2027 FEHB Open Season Dates (and a Short Checklist)
Open Season runs from November 9 through December 14, 2026. Changes take effect January 1, 2027 for annuitants, and on the first day of the first pay period that begins in January for active employees, which OPM lists as January 10, 2027 for most non-Postal employees. The FEHB Open Season page has the dates and deadlines.
- Find the 2026 and 2027 premium for the current plan and enrollment type.
- Calculate the percentage and dollar change.
- Place the plan in a zone: down or flat, typical, look closer or compare in full.
- Check that the plan is not leaving the program or discontinuing the current option.
- Review deductibles, prescriptions and networks in the plan brochure.
- Compare at least two alternatives if the plan is in the last two zones, or if doctors, medications or family needs have changed.
- Decide, and make any change before December 14.
Keeping a plan can be the right answer. The test just makes sure the answer comes from the numbers instead of from inertia.