OPM launches health benefits open season Web site

The time is near for federal employees to decide if they want to keep their current health benefits or switch to a new plan. To guide them, the Office of Personnel Management has launched its annual open season Web site.

The Federal Employee Health Benefits Program covers some 4 million federal employees, retirees and their families. Next year, 35 HMOs will drop out of the benefits program, leaving about 54,000 employees to choose new health plans. The number of HMOs offering health insurance to federal employees and retirees declined from 476 in 1996 to 277 in 2000.

During open season, which runs from Nov. 13 to Dec. 11, federal employees can enroll in a health insurance plan if eligible, change plans or options, or change their insurance from covering just themselves to covering other family members as well.

The OPM Open Season Web site includes information about the benefits program. Users can also review health plans by state, download benefits programs guides and brochures and use an interactive tool to help narrow plan choices. The site also includes information on what to consider when choosing a plan and how to report health insurance fraud.

In September, OPM announced that health insurance premiums under the plan will increase an average of 10.5 percent in 2001, more than anticipated. This follows two years of increases; premiums rose an average 9.3 percent for the year 2000 and 9.5 percent for 1999.