Federal employees will see a few more dental and vision insurance options next year.

The Office of Personnel Management announced a new slate of insurance carriers available to participants under the Federal Employees Dental and Vision Insurance Program (FEDVIP).

For 2021, OPM will expand the number of dental insurance companies from 10 to 12. The United Healthcare Dental PPO is a new national option next year. Dominion Dental EPO, and Health Partners are two new regional options for federal employees in 2021.

• Nationwide/International
  • Aetna Dental PPO
  • Delta Dental PPO
  • BCBS FEP Blue Dental
  • GEHA Dental PPO
  • MetLife Dental PPO
  • United Concordia PPO
  • UnitedHealthcare Dental PPO
• Regional
  • Dominion Dental EPO
  • Emblem Health
  • HealthPartners
  • Humana EPO/PPO
  • Triple S Salud

For vision insurance, federal employees will have five national options instead of the previous four. The MetLife Vision plan is new for 2021.

• Aetna Vision
• BCBS FEP Vision
• MetLife Vision
• UnitedHealthcare Vision
• VSP

Under the Federal Employees Dental and Vision Benefits Enhancement Act, OPM must open the program up to new carriers every seven years, although premium rates are negotiated annually.

The agency last expanded the number of dental and vision carriers back in 2013.

OPM typically announces the next year’s premium rates under FEDVIP and the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program in late September or early October.

This year’s open season will run from Nov. 9 through Dec. 14. Federal employees will have the opportunity to enroll, change their health, dental and vision plans and cancel their enrollment during this time.

A recent OPM survey found federal employees are widely satisfied with their health, dental and vision benefits, which are often a recruitment and retention incentive. In 2019, 87% and 85% of federal employees said FEDVIP’s vision and dental benefits respectively met their needs to a great or moderate extent.

FEDVIP has 3.3 million unique participants with 1.7 million enrolled in both dental and vision programs.

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