FEDVIP dental and vision plan comparison 2027: premiums and benefits, side by side
Loading OPM's 2027 FEDVIP files…
Swipe sideways to see every plan; the row names stay put.
Educational information only. This table is not an enrollment tool and StandWatch is not acting for OPM or BENEFEDS: the plan's brochure is the final authority. Rows shaded cream are where the plans differ. "Lowest" and "highest" are facts about the numbers in this table, not a recommendation. Benefit rows are OPM's summary of each brochure; "you pay" percentages are coinsurance on the plan's allowance, and out-of-network care can add the amount over that allowance.
Source: OPM 2027 FEDVIP premium charts and dental rating areas and the OPM 2027 FEDVIP benefits summary. Nothing you type leaves this device; the first three digits of a ZIP are used only to read OPM's rating chart.
How to read the table
Premiums are OPM's published 2027 figures: biweekly for employees, monthly for annuitants and uniformed services retirees, who pay from the annuity or retired pay. The year figure is the premium times 26 or 12. Dental premiums vary by rating region. OPM publishes a chart that assigns a region, 1 through 5, to each state or group of three-digit ZIP prefixes, and each carrier draws the regions differently, so the same ZIP can be region 1 for one plan and region 3 for another. The page reads that chart for every carrier and shows the region it used. Where the chart says a carrier does not serve the place, the plan is left off the list. OPM's premium file also carries a region 0 that the rating chart never assigns; it is not used here. Vision premiums are the same nationwide.
| Row | What it means in OPM's summary |
|---|---|
| Deductible | What you pay each year before the plan pays, per person. 0 means none. |
| Annual maximum | The most the plan pays for one person in a year. UNLIMITED means no cap. |
| Class A, preventive | Exams, cleanings, X-rays. The percentage is the share of the allowed charge you pay. |
| Class B, intermediate | Fillings, simple extractions, root planing. |
| Class C, major | Crowns, bridges, dentures, implants, root canals, oral surgery. |
| Class D, orthodontic | Braces and aligners, with the lifetime maximum and any age limit or waiting period in the next row. |
| In-Network 1 and 2 | Some plans have two network tiers (a PPO tier and a wider tier, or a premier network); the second tier appears only where the plan has one. |
| Out of network | What you pay with a dentist outside the network, usually the percentage plus any amount over the plan's allowance. |
| Vision rows | How often an exam, lenses, and frames are covered, the copays, and the extras OPM lists (laser correction discounts, retinal imaging, lens options). |
What this page does not do. It does not estimate a year of dental or vision spending, because what a year costs depends on which class of care you need and the dollar allowance behind each percentage, which lives in the brochure and the plan's fee schedule. It does not check whether your dentist or eye doctor is in a plan's network (each plan's provider directory is linked in the table), whether a procedure has a waiting period or a frequency limit, or how a plan coordinates with the dental and vision benefits already inside an FEHB plan. Narrow the field here, then read the brochure, which is the only contractual statement of what a plan covers.
Rules that change the math
FEDVIP is enrollee-pay-all: there is no government contribution. Employees pay through payroll before federal income tax and FICA; annuitants and uniformed services retirees pay from the annuity or retired pay after tax, or by direct bill. OPM, Dental and Vision.
FEDVIP coverage continues into retirement if you retire on an immediate annuity or for disability, however long you had it as an employee. The FEHB five-year rule does not apply. It ends if you take an MRA+10 retirement and postpone the annuity, and you can enroll again when the annuity starts. OPM, FEDVIP eligibility.
Since 2019, when the TRICARE Retiree Dental Program ended, retired members of the uniformed services, Retired Reserve and National Guard members including gray-area retirees under 60, and their families can enroll in FEDVIP dental; the same people can enroll in FEDVIP vision if they are enrolled in a TRICARE health plan. Active duty members are not eligible; their families enrolled in TRICARE can buy vision only, and so can Guard and Reserve members on TRICARE Reserve Select. Section 715 of the FY2017 NDAA, Public Law 114-328. BENEFEDS, uniformed services eligibility.
A civilian enrollee's children are covered to age 22 (not 26 as in FEHB); TRICARE-eligible children to 21, or 23 as full-time students. A child incapable of self-support can stay on longer with a determination filed within 60 days. OPM, FEDVIP eligibility.
You enroll, change, or cancel at BENEFEDS, not through your agency's system, during Open Season (November 9 to December 14, 2026, closing at 11:59 pm Eastern) or within 60 days of becoming eligible or a qualifying life event. An Open Season enrollment takes effect January 1, 2027, and an existing enrollment continues on its own unless you change it. BENEFEDS, 1-877-888-3337.
Many FEHB plans include some dental and vision coverage, and some carriers also sell non-FEHB dental plans to their members. Neither is FEDVIP. A FEDVIP plan is a separate contract with its own premium, and when you have both, the FEHB plan generally pays first and the FEDVIP plan second. OPM's FEDVIP questions and answers.
OPM's and BENEFEDS' own tools
OPM runs a FEDVIP comparison tool that takes a five-digit ZIP and shows the plans one at a time, and BENEFEDS runs a plan compare tool that shows up to three side by side, plus a signed-in dental cost comparison for common procedures. OPM hosts every dental brochure and vision brochure, the official statement of benefits. Use this page to see the whole field for your place at once and the differences at a glance, then read the brochure of the plan you are leaning toward before Open Season closes.
Before you enroll
Not the official statement of benefits. Each plan's brochure is the only contractual statement of what it covers, excludes, and limits, including waiting periods, frequency limits, and the dollar allowances behind the percentages. Where this page and a brochure disagree, the brochure governs. Read it before you enroll.
OPM's figures, our arrangement. Premiums, rating regions, and the benefit rows are OPM's published 2027 files, shown without estimates. The rating region is read from OPM's chart by the first three digits of a ZIP; if your address sits on a boundary, confirm the region at BENEFEDS before you rely on a premium.
What it leaves out. Whether your own dentist or eye doctor takes a plan; waiting periods and frequency limits; orthodontic age limits; how a plan pays alongside an FEHB plan's own dental and vision benefits; and the tax saving of paying before tax or through an FSA. Any of these can change which plan fits you.
No affiliation. StandWatch is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or acting for the Office of Personnel Management, BENEFEDS, or any federal agency or carrier. The plan data is OPM's; the arrangement is ours and is not OPM's presentation. StandWatch is not a dental or vision plan, a broker, or an insurer, and nothing here is a recommendation to select, keep, or drop any plan, or medical, dental, insurance, financial, tax, or legal advice. Figures are for plan year 2027; the next year's files post in late September. The full educational-purpose statement.
