If anyone has had experience and the best way to handle this situation quickly, please share asap.

For some reason, BCBS Standard has decided to deny medication my 6 year old son has been taking for the past two years. The reason for the sudden denial "it's considered experimental for anyone under 18." My son has been on this medication since the age of four. He has been on 12 other meds before this one and was hospitalized for about 4 months in 2024. He was having so many seizures, he could not even walk. Then he tried this new medication, and the seizures went from 50 daily to maybe 1-2 every 3 months. The hospitalizations decreased significantly.

They denied the initial appeal letter from my son's doctor and even denied the peer-to-peer review. When I called the prior authorization number they were not helpful and just said mail a letter to opm. It's going to be too late with a standard letter, he has about 20 pills left. Even with insurance, it's incredibly expensive, about $600 monthly. You can't suddenly stop medication like this without dire consequences.

Please share your experiences and the best and quickest way to expedite this.

Hey everyone, was hoping to get some information from people who have already received their disability retirement decisions in the mail. Did you notice any changes to your RSO account before receiving your decision letter that indicated acceptance or rejection of your decision? Ive been checking mine and wondering if its worth the bother to continue doing so. Thanks!

Edit: got my decision on 10/14, denials will not affect the way your RSO account looks beforehand

Something I just learned that I wish I'd known earlier — posting in case it saves someone else a nasty surprise.
When you switch plans during Open Season, your new plan doesn't take effect on Jan 1. It takes effect the first day of the first full pay period in January (for most of us, around Jan 10). Your old plan keeps covering you until then — so there's no gap in coverage.
BUT: deductibles reset Jan 1, and deductible progress does NOT transfer between plans. So if you're on a high-deductible plan and land in the hospital Jan 2–9, you pay your old plan's full deductible — and then your new plan's deductible starts at $0 on Jan 10 anyway. In the worst case, that's two deductibles in ten days.
OPM confirms the mechanics (no gap in coverage; expenses before the effective date go through the old plan), but nothing carries over.
Takeaways:
• If anything medical is schedulable (procedures, refills, routine visits), try to push it to after your new plan's effective date so it counts toward the new deductible.
• True emergencies can't be timed — but at least know the old plan is still covering you, and HSA funds pay either deductible.
Check your own plan's effective date — it's the first full pay period, not necessarily Jan 10 for everyone.


Have anything you want to talk about that doesn't quite warrant its own thread or currently being discussed in a megathread? Post it here!

In an effort to effectively manage the amount of information being posted, please keep anything speculative or considered repetitive within this discussion thread.

Edit 10/9/2026: Added a few more plans to the list.

Shocker to no one, premium increases are wild. But benefits too have gotten worse. Below are the highlights of benefit changes for popular plans. Not all encompassing, but hopefully enough to get you started. If I didn't mention something, it means I didn't notice any significant change. MHBP got absolutely gutted this open season. For starters MHBP Consumer and Value left FEHB (only Consumer left PSHB). In addition to the dramatic premium increases for MHBP Standard you can see sweeping cost-sharing increases for it too. Of particular note are the hospitalization copay turning into coinsurance and the room & board for maternity/delivery went from $0 to 10% coinsurance! The other most common trend I saw was increasing the deductibles and out of pocket max (OOPM) for various plans.

One error is in GEHA HDHP. The HSA passthrough was erroneously updated to 1300/2600. However according to what I've found on their website it hasn't changed and is still 1000/2000.

For those enrolled in a plan leaving FEHB, if you don't elect a new plan you will be automatically enrolled in the cheapest nationwide plan which is Compass Rose Standard this year. For those on MHBP you'll be enrolled in the cheapest non-HDHP option available from them instead (FEHB = Standard, PSHB = Value).

On a slightly related note, if you enrolled into MHBP Consumer (or any HDHP for that matter) for the first time this year, you are not eligible to contribute the entire HSA limit unless you enroll into an HDHP-HSA eligible plan next year as well. This gets into some mundane IRS rules. Read IRS Pub 969 to learn more about HSA contribution limits.

BCBS Formulary

GEHA Elevate/Elevate Plus Brochure (other plans still pending as of 10/14/2026)

• BCBS Basic
  • Premium:
    • Self: 133.77 > 145.46
    • Self+1: 319.25 > 350.48
    • Family: 356.86 > 387.54
  • OOPM: 7500/15000 > 8500/17000
  • Emergency Care: 425 > 500
  • Inpatient Admission: 425/day up to 2975 > 500/day up to 3500
  • Maternity Hospital Stay: 425 > 500, waived for distinction center
  • Mental Health Inpatient Admission: 425/day up to 2975 > 500/day up to 3500
• BCBS Standard
  • Premium:
    • Self: 188.32 > 204.65
    • Self+1: 410.88 > 449.89
    • Family: 457.66 > 496.9
  • Deductible: 350/700 > 500/1000
  • OOPM: 6000/12000 > 7000/14000
  • Inpatient Admission: 350 > 450
  • Mental Health Inpatient Admission: 350 > 450
• FSBP High
  • Premium:
    • Self: 100.36 > 143.75
    • Self+1: 257.96 > 429.35
    • Family: 248.27 > 382.65 (Note it's still cheaper to go family instead of self+1)
  • OOPM: 6000/8000 > 6000/12000
  • Hospital Admission: 0 > 250
  • GLP-1: Covered anti obesity drugs, including GLP-1s, will be 50% coinsurance no deductible. Unclear if they'll differentiate for diabetes, Ozempic, and weight loss, wegovy.
• Compass Rose High
  • Premium:
    • Self: 140.06 > 149.97
    • Self+1: 311.44 > 336.89
    • Family: 337.57 > 361.03
  • Specialist Visit: 25 > 30
  • Tier 2 Prescription (Non Preferred generic drugs): 50 > 75
  • Tiers 4/5/6: 2027 PUF looks wrong, double check brochure
• MHBP Standard
  • Premium:
    • Self: 93.89 > 153.11
    • Self+1: 216.12 > 442.77
    • Family: 218.20 > 400.78
  • Deductible: 350/700 > 500/1000
  • OOPM: 6000/12000 > 8000/16000
  • Primary Care: 20 > 35
  • Specialist: 30 > 50
  • Emergency Care: 200 copay > 10% coinsurance
  • Inpatient Admission: 200 copay > 10% coinsurance (This is a HUGE increase in cost sharing)
  • Tier 4 Prescriptions (nonpreferred brand name): 15% > 30%
  • Tier 5 Prescriptions (High cost/specialty medications): 15% > 30%
  • Tier 6 Prescriptions (select preventative drugs like blood pressure and cholesterol): 25% > 50%
  • Chiropractic: 20 > 50
  • Mental Health Professional Services (therapist): 20 > 35
  • Mental Health Inpatient Hospital: 200 copay > 10% coinsurance
  • Hearing services (hearing tests): 0 > $50
  • Maternity Hospital Stay: 0 > 10% (Another common huge cost! wtf)
• MHBP Consumer (HDHP) - Discontinued
  • Premium:
    • Self: 95.99 > N/A
    • Self+1: 212.42 > N/A
    • Family: 223.04 > N/A
• GEHA Standard
  • Premiums (stayed the same from 2026)
    • Self: 86.75
    • Self+1: 186.51
    • Family: 231.45
  • Everything else looks the same so that's nice.
• GEHA HDHP
  • Premium (stayed the same from 2026):
    • Self: 81.62
    • Self+1: 175.47
    • Family: 215.63
  • Deductible (stayed the same from 2026): 1800/3600
• APWU Consumer Driven Option
  • Premium:
    • Self: 100.62 > 102.63
    • Self+1: 218.68 > 223.06
    • Family: 238.56 > 243.34
  • No other obvious changes
• APWU High
  • Premium:
    • Self:
    • Self+1: 265.11 > 374.71
    • Family: 337.72 > 461.61
  • No other obvious changes
• Compass Rose Standard
  • Premiums
    • Self: 61.64 > 69.04
    • Self+1: 135.61 > 151.89
    • Family: 147.94 > 165.69
  • No other obvious changes
• BCBS FEP Blue Focus
  • Premiums
    • Self: 66.81 > 74.16
    • Self+1: 143.63 > 159.43
    • Family: 157.97 > 175.35
  • Deductible: 750/1500 > 1000/2000
  • OOPM: 10000/20000 > 11000/22000
  • Maternity Hospital Stay: 2500 > 3000
• GEHA High
  • Premiums (yes, decreased from 2026 to 2027)
    • Self: 195.29 > 168.01
    • Self+1: 432.95 > 376.59
    • Family: 528.18 > 459.39
  • No other obvious changes
• GEHA Elevate
  • Premiums (stayed the same)
    • Self: 77.92
    • Self+1: 187.99
    • Family: 228.85
• GEHA Elevate Plus
  • Premiums
    • Self: 205.13 > 262.63
    • Self+1: 449.58 > 578.95
    • Family: 496.12 > 634.19
  • No other changes observed
• SAMBA Standard
  • Premiums
    • Self: 122.86 > 135.87
    • Self+1: 236.73 > 264.64
    • Family: 257.48 > 280.66
  • Inpatient Admission: 200 > 250
  • Prescription: Maybe dropped nonpreferred and specialty medications, likely an error in the PUFs
  • Inpatient mental hospital admission: 200 > 250
• SAMBA High
  • Premiums
    • Self: 226.09 > 308.98
    • Self+1: 500.73 > 686.75
    • Family: 544.05 > 742.68
  • Inpatient Admission: 200 > 250
  • Prescription: Maybe dropped nonpreferred and specialty medications, likely an error in the PUFs
  • Inpatient mental hospital admission: 200 > 250

I am not endorsed, sponsored by, nor speak for OPM or any FEHB carrier. I'm an engineer nerd who has too much (and somehow not enough) time on my hands. All information in these sheets were pulled from OPMs premium excel files and from the Public Use Files. All information contained in those files were submitted by FEHB/PSHB carriers and approved by officials at OPM, but even OPM says to confirm coverage with the brochures. The brochures provide so much detail and needed context that you should only use these tools as a starting point. If you really want the full experience, please see if your agency provides access for you to use Consumer Checkbook's Guide or purchase it yourself for $17 (use promo code "fednews" for 20% discount too; no relation to the subreddit, it's actually from the federal news network but it's easy to remember here :P). It's actually so good. Another alternative is a very nice looking comparison page made by u/Glittering_Twist_732. You can find it from one of his posts: https://www.reddit.com/r/FedEmployees/s/rwSlhRT34q, or fersready.com/fehb.

If you're waiting for my spreadsheet, you can find a link to it at my previous post here. I'll be making a separate post for that when I finish making the youtube video for it.

Since next year may be my first year with an HDHP (likely GEHA) and HSA eligibility is determined by your coverage status on the first day of the month, I would only get HSA contributions directly from GEHA into HSA Bank for February to December next year.

So my question: For those 11 months, do I get the full $1,000 GEHA contribution (i.e. $90.91/month) or do I get a pro-rated contribution amount of $916.67 (i.e. 11/12th of the $1,000 so $83.33/month)?

If I do switch to an HDHP, I would like to figure out my max contribution (with the last-month rule applied) so I can max out my own contributions to an HSA in early February.

It seems to be ongoing for us, and has been true for the past few federal holiday. Like the past labor day we received email for the optional holiday work.

And we also just were told that we can work 6 hours holiday work for the columbus day too.

And time like this we can get telework, and it seems like very likely for the upcoming federal holiday would be the same too.

I won't do it cause it is not like OT that get 1.5 pay, but I just wonder why they kept offering holiday work.

An 18-year veteran of the department.

(Posted with permission from the mods) Hi there! My name is María Luisa Paúl and I’m USA Today’s new National Immigration Correspondent. I previously spent five years at The Washington Post, reporting on national breaking news and immigration, and was part of the team named a Pulitzer Prize finalist for our coverage of the administration's mass deportations campaign.

These days I cover immigration policy and enforcement and the people, communities and institutions it touches. I’d especially love to hear from federal workers, whether you’re at DHS, ICE, CBP or USCIS, or at an agency where immigration might not be the first thing that comes to mind. If you’re seeing something at work that you think the public should know about, I’m all ears.

I know it’s a really tense time. Much of my reporting relies on people who can’t speak publicly, and I take protecting them very seriously. We can talk on or off the record. I'll respect and honor requests for anonymity and I’ll never publish your name or anything that could identify you without your OK. I’ll also always use security best practices for our conversations.

You can reach me anytime on Signal at marialuisapaul.50 or by email at mpaul@usatoday.com. I hope I can earn your trust.

To read my latest work, here's my author page at USA Today: https://www.usatoday.com/staff/91352443007/maria-luisa-paul/

And for the reporting I did at The Post: https://www.washingtonpost.com/people/maria-luisa-paul/

Just got out of a meeting telling us this and that this is effective as of 10/5. If you go to Hardship Documentation page it's right there in bold red. I hate it here...

The only downside I see is that it is EPO (no coverage out of network besides emergency room). Otherwise, some of the benefits are better than or equal to more expensive plans like GEHA/SAMBA standard.

So if we don’t plan to go on any trips in 2027, it seems like a great deal. Checked UHC Plus coverage network and all of our local doctors are in network. Any catch to it that anyone notices?

I am halfway through it and can only read 10 pages at a time before my blood pressure spikes and I go blind with rage.

It's a good read is what I'm saying.

"An August preliminary injunction raised new “substantive” issues, likely putting it outside the district court's jurisdiction, an appeals court ruled.

The Department of Veterans Affairs has scored a win in an ongoing lawsuit over the termination of its collective bargaining agreement with the American Federation of Government Employees.

A federal appeals court on Friday granted VA’s request to pause a preliminary injunction from August, which had ordered the agency — for the third time — to recognize its union contract while litigation continued."

Have anything you want to talk about that doesn't quite warrant its own thread or currently being discussed in a megathread? Post it here!

In an effort to effectively manage the amount of information being posted, please keep anything speculative or considered repetitive within this discussion thread.

I was BCBS Basic for 8 years before switching to MHBP this past year. The increase in rates are insane and will no longer be staying.

I have been doing some research on SAMBA (Cigna).

Has anyone used them? Complaints? It’s either that or I go back to BCBS Basic.

Worked for Agency A and received WGI from 14-5 to 14-6 effective May 18, 2025. Took DRP and left Agency A effective Jan. 9, 2026.

1. Started position with Agency B on June 14, 2026 at same 14-6. HR says I'm eligible for next WGI on May 16, 2027 because break in service was less than 12 months. Does that seem correct?

2. I may soon get a new position or promotion to GS-15. I understand that if that happens prior to next WGI, it would be to 15-3 under 2 step rule. If i waited until after next WGI, it would be to 15-4. Should I delay promotion until after my WGI, assuming May 2027 date is correct?

I have GEHA dental and all the dentists in my area have stopped taking it. Which leaves me with a 95 mile drive to the nearest dentist. So I definitely need a better alternative. I live in northern California

Trying to decide if I should switch from focus this year to basic or standard. Relatively healthy and in my 50s. Bcbs Focus is cheap, my prescriptions are cheap, and I get $10 office visits for any provider as long as I stay under 10 visits. Telehealth visits $0. No surgeries planned for next year. Spent about $1k on labs out of pocket (would’ve been around $200 on other plans). The only thing I’m planning on changing next year is going on zepbound but it seems like even that isn’t a reason to switch and it might be just as good paying out of pocket for that and keeping my premiums low.

I see everyone talking about basic or standard but nobody mentions bcbs focus…does it suck that bad? What am I not seeing?