{"id":40568,"date":"2026-11-06T11:38:00","date_gmt":"2026-11-06T16:38:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/?p=40568"},"modified":"2026-11-06T11:38:00","modified_gmt":"2026-11-06T16:38:00","slug":"open-season-starts-monday","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/2026\/11\/06\/open-season-starts-monday\/","title":{"rendered":"Open season starts Monday"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2 class=\"sub-head\">This is the time USPS employees can make changes to their benefits or choose a new plan<\/h2>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">USPS News Link 11.6.26 &#8211; Open season, the once-a-year opportunity for Postal Service employees to make changes to their healthcare coverage or choose a new plan, begins Monday, Nov. 9, and ends Monday, Dec. 14.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Because health plan networks, premium rates and options continue to evolve, it is critical for employees to review their coverage.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Here\u2019s what employees will need to do:<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u2022 <strong>Review their Postal Service Health Benefits (PSHB) plan:<\/strong> Do not assume your current coverage remains identical. Review your existing plan to ensure it still meets your healthcare and financial needs for the upcoming year.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>\u2022 Adjust their coverage:<\/strong> If you want to switch carriers or adjust your coverage tier (self only, self plus one, or self and family), you can make these changes directly during open season.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u2022 <strong>Verify dependents:<\/strong> Beginning this year, the PSHB Program requires mandatory documentation for adding dependents. Failure to provide proof results in denial or disenrollment, according to U.S. Office of Personnel Management rules. Employees must submit the required official documentation for family member verification during open season to ensure coverage takes effect.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u2022 <strong>Compare options side-by-side:<\/strong> Employees can compare multiple plans using <a href=\"https:\/\/www.checkbook.org\/pshb\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Consumers\u2019 Checkbook Guide to PSHB Plans<\/a>. This free online tool is accessible through the <a href=\"https:\/\/myhr.usps.gov\/pay_benefits\/benefits\/open_season_enrollment\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Open Season Enrollment page<\/a> on MyHR.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A variety of health, vision and dental options are available. These include the main PSHB Program, the USPS Health Benefits Plan for eligible precareer and casual employees, and the Federal Employees Dental and Vision Insurance Program. Flexible spending accounts are also available and managed by Inspira Financial.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The <a href=\"https:\/\/myhr.usps.gov\/pay_benefits\/benefits\/postal_service_health_benefits\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Postal Service Health Benefits page<\/a> on MyHR has more information about plans and other resources.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Postal Service will provide additional updates and reminders throughout open season.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Additional coverage can be found on Link\u2019s<\/em> <a href=\"https:\/\/news.usps.com\/open-season-2026\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><em>Open Season 2026 page<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/USPS-1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-thumbnail wp-image-39197\" src=\"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/USPS-1-150x150.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" srcset=\"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/USPS-1-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/USPS-1-30x30.jpg 30w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This is the time USPS employees can make changes to their benefits or choose a new plan USPS News Link 11.6.26 &#8211; Open season, the once-a-year opportunity for Postal Service employees to make changes to their healthcare coverage or choose a new plan, begins Monday, Nov. 9, and ends Monday, Dec. 14. Because health plan [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":39197,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-40568","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-breaking","category-usps-news","last_archivepost"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40568","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40568"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40568\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":40569,"href":"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40568\/revisions\/40569"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/39197"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40568"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=40568"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=40568"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}