Health Premiums to Spike for Federal Employees in 2026

Health insurance premiums will rise for federal employees and their beneficiaries next year– the second straight year of double-digit increases.

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) says that participants in the Federal Employees Health Benefits (FEHB) program will pay an average of 12.3 percent more for their insurance premiums, starting in January 2026. That amounts to about $26.40 per paycheck. 

That is slightly lower than the 13.5 percent spike in 2025, which was the largest increase in over a decade. 

Breaking down the numbers further: 

On average, feds in “self only” plans will pay an additional $15.43 per paycheck, feds in “self plus one” plans will pay an additional $34.21, and feds in family plans will pay $38.81 more per paycheck. 

Those enrolled in the Postal Service Health Benefits (PSHB) program will pay an average of 11.3 percent more, or about $21.51 per pay period. That’s up slightly from the 11.1 percent hike in 2025. 

Dental coverage in the Federal Employees Dental and Vision Insurance Program will rise by an average of 3.3 percent, while vision premiums will see an increase of less than one percent. 

Meanwhile, the federal government’s share of FEHB premiums will rise by an average of 9.2 percent, bringing the overall premium increase to 10.2 percent. The federal government covers about 75 percent of a participant’s premium. 

In a blog post, OPM Associate Director for Healthcare and Insurance Shane Stevens wrote that while the hikes were slightly lower than last year, OPM recognizes that "increasing health care expenses at this clip is not a sustainable path.”

In that same post, Stevens discussed ways OPM is trying to reduce cost in the future. Those include building a robust enrollee verification process to cut down on waste. Stevens also noted that President Trump is working with pharmaceutical companies to lower costs and that the Trump Administration is aiming to switch from a “Sick Care” model to a “Well Care” model.

Open Season

This year’s open season will run from November 10 to December 8. If the shutdown is still going on, open season will run as normal. 

Even so, OPM’s healthcare and insurance office has lost about 80 employees this year, due to retirements, deferred resignation, and other issues. 

Any changes made during Open Season will take effect when plan year 2026 officially starts on January 1.