Skip to main content

OPM releases 2016 FEHBP premiums – enrollees will pay an average of 7.4 percent more in 2016.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Jessica Klement
September 29, 2015 jklement@narfe.org
  703-838-7760

FEHBP Premium Increase Will Reduce Take-Home Pay,
Highlights Need for New COLA Formula


WASHINGTON, DC
– The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) today announced the average Federal Employees Health Benefits Program (FEHBP) premium increase for America’s retired and active federal workers will be 6.4 percent in 2016, with the average enrollee’s share increasing 7.4 percent. In response, Richard G. Thissen, president of the National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association (NARFE), released the following statement:

“For the sixth year in a row, the FEHBP premium increase will take a bite out of the already reduced paychecks of federal employees across the country. In the past five years, pay raises for federal employees have totaled a mere 2 percent. The 6.4 percent increase in health insurance premiums is slightly higher than various estimates of private-sector increases, and it could even mean reduced take-home pay for some federal employees, who are slated to receive a 1.3 percent pay raise next year.

“Unfortunately, federal retirees are facing an even worse situation. Not only are their health insurance premiums increasing by 7.4 percent, it is unlikely they will receive a cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) to their annuities next year. Additionally, many federal retirees are facing a more than 50 percent increase in their Medicare premiums, further diminishing their ability to make ends meet. In a year in which health insurance costs are increasing substantially, we can clearly see a need for a new formula to calculate COLAs, one that accurately reflects the health care costs of our nation’s seniors.

“One positive note this year is the creation of the Self Plus One option within the FEHBP, which will allow two-member households to pay premiums more in line with their health care needs. NARFE members have long advocated for this change, and we are pleased it will finally be an option. NARFE is working to educate its members, and all federal retirees, that eligible enrollees must actively change from a Self and Family plan to a Self Plus One option; their agency or OPM will not automatically change their enrollment.

“On average, switching from Self and Family to Self Plus One will save enrollees about $278 for the year in 2016. However, as compared to their 2015 Self and Family premiums, they will see an average premium increase of about $232 for the year due to the overall increases in premiums. That, of course, is preferable to the $510 average premium increase for Self and Family premiums for the year.”
 
FEHBP premiums increased 7.3 percent in 2011, 3.8 percent in 2012, 3.4 percent in 2013, 3.7 percent in 2014 and 3.2 percent in 2015. To view FEHBP premiums by plan for 2016, click here.

# # #

The National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association (NARFE), one of America’s oldest and largest associations, was founded in 1921 with the mission of protecting the earned rights and benefits of America’s active and retired federal workers. The largest federal employee/retiree organization, NARFE represents the interests of nearly five million current and future federal annuitants, spouses and survivors.