For the 2026 plan year, the enrollee share of the average Federal Employees Health Benefits (FEHB) premium is going up 12.3%, or about $26.40 more per pay period. That’s the second year running with a double-digit hike, following a 13.5% jump in 2025.1Federal News Network. Federal Health Insurance Premiums To See Another Large Spike in 2026 What you actually pay depends on which plan you pick, whether you cover family, and whether you’re active or retired — the federal employee health benefits cost picture varies that much from person to person.
How the Government and Enrollee Split the Bill
FEHB premiums are shared between the government and you under the “Fair Share” formula from the Balanced Budget Act of 1997. The government pays the lesser of 72% of the program-wide weighted average premium or 75% of your specific plan’s premium. You pay the rest.2OPM. Cost of Insurance
In practice, if you enroll in a lower-cost plan, the government may cover the full 75%. Pick an expensive plan and the government share can drop well below half of the total, leaving you to absorb the difference.3Government Executive. What FEHB Changes Mean for Your 2026 Health Coverage
For 2026, the program-wide weighted average biweekly premiums (government plus enrollee combined) are $451.05 for Self Only, $987.73 for Self Plus One, and $1,080.60 for Self and Family. The maximum biweekly government contribution is $324.76, $711.17, and $778.03 respectively.4OPM. FEHB Premiums Total premiums (both shares combined) rose 10.2% on average, but because the government’s contribution formula doesn’t rise as fast as individual plan premiums, enrollees absorb a disproportionate share — which is why the enrollee-side average is 12.3%.1Federal News Network. Federal Health Insurance Premiums To See Another Large Spike in 2026
What Popular Plans Cost in 2026
Blue Cross and Blue Shield’s Federal Employee Program remains one of the most widely enrolled options. Biweekly enrollee premiums (your share only) for 2026:5FedWeek. Average 10% Premium Hike in FEHB Plans for Coming Year
- FEP Blue Focus: $66.81 Self Only, $143.63 Self Plus One, $157.97 Self and Family
- FEP Blue Basic: $133.77 Self Only, $356.86 Self and Family
- FEP Blue Standard: $188.32 Self Only, $410.88 Self Plus One, $457.66 Self and Family
GEHA’s 2026 biweekly options include Elevate at $77.92 (Self Only) and HDHP at $81.62, with its High plan at $195.29.6GEHA. 2026 Medical Plan Overview
Premium is only half the cost equation. FEP Blue Basic has no annual deductible, FEP Blue Focus carries a $750 individual deductible and a $10,000 out-of-pocket maximum, and FEP Blue Standard sits between with a $350 deductible and a $6,000 out-of-pocket cap for Self Only.7FEP Blue. Compare Plans Among the 129 plans available in both 2025 and 2026, 23 actually saw self-only premiums decrease, 57 rose below the average, and 49 rose above it.8Federal News Network. 2026 FEHB and PSHB Available Plans and Premium Update Shopping matters. A lot.
How Recent Increases Compare
The last four years of enrollee-share increases:9NAFV. Federal Employees Face 12% Jump in 2026 FEHB Premiums
- 2023: 8.7%
- 2024: 7.7%
- 2025: 13.5%
- 2026: 12.3%
Since 2009, total premium increases have averaged 5.5% a year. The mid-2010s saw modest growth — 1.3% in 2019, 2.4% in 2022. The jump into double digits in 2025 and 2026 is a sharp break from that pattern.
What’s Pushing Costs Up
OPM has pointed to demographics and drug spending. FEHB skews old: active enrollees average 47, and adding retirees pulls the overall average to about 60. An older population uses more prescriptions and carries more chronic disease.9NAFV. Federal Employees Face 12% Jump in 2026 FEHB Premiums
Pharmacy costs are a major piece. OPM has acknowledged that “a huge percentage of our overall budget” goes to drugs.10OPM. Open Season Beginning in 2026, all FEHB plans must cover at least one GLP-1 medication (Ozempic, Wegovy, and similar drugs) prescribed for weight loss. Carriers are responding by adjusting cost-sharing; Kaiser plans, for example, are raising the member cost share to 50% for GLP-1s prescribed for weight loss.11Government Executive. FEHB Costs Are Climbing in 2026
The Postal Service split is also part of the backdrop. Under the Postal Service Reform Act of 2022, roughly one million postal employees and retirees moved out of FEHB into the separate Postal Service Health Benefits program on January 1, 2025, with its own risk pool.12NARFE. PSHB Questions and Answers No official analysis has directly tied a specific portion of the FEHB increase to the separation, but the remaining pool is older on average. The PSHB enrollee increase for 2026 is 11.3%, slightly below FEHB’s 12.3%.13NARFE. FEHB/PSHB Health Insurance Premiums Increase for 2026
Can a High-Deductible Plan Lower Your Cost?
If you’re generally healthy and want a smaller biweekly bite, an FEHB high-deductible health plan paired with a Health Savings Account is worth a look. HDHP premiums are lower, but you pay full cost for non-preventive care until you hit the deductible. In exchange, the plan credits part of the premium into your HSA.14OPM. Health Savings Accounts
HSAs carry a triple tax advantage: contributions go in pre-tax or are deductible, balances grow tax-free, and qualified medical withdrawals come out tax-free. Balances roll over and the account is yours if you leave federal service.14OPM. Health Savings Accounts After age 65, you can spend HSA money on non-medical expenses without penalty, though ordinary income tax applies.15Government Executive. Why Every Federal Employee Should Consider a Health Savings Account
For 2026, the GEHA HDHP runs $81.62 biweekly for Self Only, with GEHA contributing up to $2,000 into your HSA, plus $100 for new account holders.6GEHA. 2026 Medical Plan Overview The trade-off is real: if you expect significant medical or prescription costs, fixed copays in a traditional plan can be more predictable.
Costs for Retirees
Retirees receive the same government contribution as active employees under the same Fair Share formula. What changes is tax treatment. Active employees get premium conversion under Section 125 of the Internal Revenue Code, meaning your FEHB premium comes out of pay pre-tax. Enrollment is automatic unless you opt out.16OPM. Federal Employees Receiving Premium Conversion Tax Benefits
Retirees don’t get premium conversion. Premiums come out of the annuity after tax, which makes the same plan cost more in take-home terms for a retiree than for an active employee.2OPM. Cost of Insurance One nuance in the other direction: while part-time employees have their government contribution prorated to scheduled hours, that proration doesn’t follow you into retirement. Retirees receive the full government contribution regardless of prior schedule.17OPM. Insurance FAQs
Dental and Vision Are a Separate Bill
FEHB doesn’t include dental or vision coverage. Those run through the Federal Employees Dental and Vision Insurance Program (FEDVIP), which is entirely enrollee-pay-all with no government contribution. Active-employee premiums come out pre-tax through BENEFEDS.18OPM. Dental and Vision If your FEHB plan advertises some supplementary dental or vision benefits, those aren’t FEDVIP and follow different rules.19OPM. Insurance FAQs – Dental and Vision
When You Can Change Plans
The Federal Benefits Open Season for the 2026 plan year ran November 10 through December 8, 2025, with changes taking effect January 25, 2026.20USDA FSIS. FSIS Notice 35-25 Active employees enroll through their agency system (Employee Express, MyPay, or the National Finance Center Employee Personal Page). Retirees use OPM’s Open Season Online or call Open Season Express at 1-800-332-9798.21OPM. Enroll
Outside Open Season, you can change coverage after a qualifying life event: marriage, divorce, birth or adoption, a child aging out, or a spouse losing other coverage.20USDA FSIS. FSIS Notice 35-25
What Congress Might Change
The pace of increases has drawn congressional attention. In February 2025, the House passed a budget resolution directing the Oversight and Government Reform Committee to identify $50 billion in mandatory spending cuts, with federal health and retirement benefits widely expected as targets.22NARFE. House Passes Budget Resolution Targeting Federal Benefits One proposal would have converted the government’s FEHB contribution to a flat-rate voucher that wouldn’t keep pace with premium growth; committee Republicans dropped that from the reconciliation package. What advanced was a narrower requirement for an eligibility audit of all FEHB enrollees to remove ineligible participants.23Federal News Network. GOP Lawmakers Advance Proposals To Reduce Federal Benefits
OPM has said current cost growth isn’t sustainable, pointing to waste, fraud, and pharmaceutical spending as its main levers, and describing the $79 billion program as a “ship” that needs “slow and steady progress” to turn.10OPM. Open Season Until that turns, the practical move each year is the same: compare plans carefully during Open Season, because with 132 options offered by 47 carriers,24WAEPA. 2026 FEHB Open Season the gap between the cheapest and most expensive coverage for your household is the number that actually matters.