Enrollees in the new Postal Service Health Benefits program will have a few extra days of Open Season to review their plan options and make changes to their benefits for plan year 2025.

The Office of Personnel Management officially extended Open Season for PSHB participants until Dec. 13, Federal News Network has learned. Participants in the Federal Employees Health Benefits program and other federal benefits programs will still see Open Season end on the original Dec. 9 deadline.

OPM said the transition to the new PSHB program is “a big change” for enrollees, and it’s extending Open Season by four days to give Postal employees, annuitants and their family members additional time to look at plans and make changes as they see fit.

“We feel it is important to extend Open Season for customers of the PSHB program to give them ample time to shop for plans and change their elections if they want to,” OPM said.

The extension comes after some Postal enrollees said they were struggling to review and make changes to their health care options in the new PSHB central enrollment platform. It’s unclear how widespread the issues are, but some members have experienced difficulties logging in to PSHB’s platform, and saw some incorrect or incomplete information in plan options and when using the plan comparison tool. Some enrollees have also experienced long wait times when trying to call OPM’s customer service line.

On Nov. 20, the American Postal Workers Union wrote a letter to OPM and pushed for an extension of Open Season in light of the challenges that some enrollees were experiencing. After OPM’s announcement Thursday, APWU President Mark Dimondstein called the extension a “win” for Postal employees and annuitants.

“The question of choosing the health plan and coverage of your choice are important life decisions and it is absolutely unacceptable that the OPM website experienced numerous technical issues,” Dimondstein said in a statement to Federal News Network. “I appreciate that OPM took our concerns seriously, fixed many of the website issues and issued at least a modest extension. I encourage members to take advantage of this extension to review your health plan options thoroughly.”

Despite the difficulties for some enrollees, OPM said the PSHB platform is generally “working very well.” The agency has not had any unplanned system outages during Open Season.

Still, in response to the high call volume on the PSHB phone line, OPM made several updates to try to ease wait times and improve customer experience. For instance, OPM onboarded more customer service staff, created a call-back option, and changed the phone line’s routing system to try to better connect participants with representatives who know the answers to their specific questions.

“From the start of Open Season, we saw a lot of customer interest in this program, both through system engagement and customer service outreach,” OPM said.

OPM also added an alternative method for identity verification for those experiencing difficulties with accessing the PSHB platform through Login.gov.

Some of the concerns for the Postal program’s Open Season also stem from changes to Medicare Part D enrollments. To combat what OPM said is a “high risk of confusion” from USPS annuitants on the rules around Medicare Part D, OPM is also allowing annuitants who opt out of Part D “due to an error” to potentially change their enrollments after Open Season. If it’s determined that there was an enrollment error, the participant would get 90 days, or in some cases longer, to make a different selection.

Plan year 2025 is the first time nearly 2 million Postal employees and retirees will be enrolled in the new PSHB program. The program was a requirement under the 2022 Postal Service Reform Act, which gave OPM a deadline of 2025 to set up a separate health insurance program for USPS employees and annuitants.

Before Open Season began on Nov. 11, all Postal participants currently enrolled in the FEHB program were automatically enrolled in a PSHB plan that was comparable to their FEHB plan. Postal participants who are interested in reviewing or changing their enrollments are able to do so until Open Season ends on Dec. 13.

Even with the extension of Open Season, OPM urged PSHB participants not to wait until the last minute to change their enrollments for 2025.

“Making elections earlier will allow more time to shop and engage with our customer service teams should you have questions,” OPM said.

PSHB participants can find more information about the extension and their 2025 enrollment options on OPM’s website. Enrollees can also find information on which PSHB plan their current FEHB plan mapped to, as well as more details on how PSHB plans are integrated with Medicare for prescription drug benefits.

Enrollees can call the PSHB helpline at 844-451-1261 if they are running into technical issues. Current Postal employees can also reach the USPS HR shared service center by calling 877-477-3273 or emailing retirementbenefits@usps.gov.

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