FEHB plan comparison 2027: premiums, deductibles, and the year's cost, side by side
Each line is priced the same way for every plan from OPM's summary, with the assumed charges listed under "How the year figures are built" (a hospital admission at $18,000, an inpatient surgeon at $4,000), and capped at the plan's out-of-pocket maximum. A surgery with a stay counts once on each of the first two lines. The list and the side-by-side sort by this year while it is selected.
Loading OPM's 2027 plan 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: the plan's brochure and your agency's benefits office are 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. Each year figure carries its label: exact, copays only, has coinsurance, or not priced. The brochure is the official statement of benefits; this table is OPM's summary of it.
Source: OPM FEHB Public Use Files (2027 rates, plan key, plan benefits, service area) and the OPM 2027 premium charts for the change from 2026. Nothing you pick leaves this device.
How the year figures are built
Not every number on this page is the same kind of number, so each one carries a label. Premium, deductible, and out-of-pocket maximum are OPM's published figures, not estimates. Worst year is arithmetic: premiums for the year plus the plan's in-network out-of-pocket maximum, minus the plan's HSA deposit if it makes one; it is the most a year of in-network care can cost you, and it is labeled exact. The other three profiles are estimates built the same way for every plan, so the comparison is like for like.
| Profile | What the year contains |
|---|---|
| Healthy year | 1 preventive visit, 2 primary care visits, 1 round of labs, 4 generic (tier 1) fills |
| Typical year | 1 preventive visit, 4 primary care visits, 3 specialist visits, 1 urgent care visit, 3 rounds of labs, 1 CT or MRI, 12 generic fills, 2 preferred brand (tier 2) fills |
| Managing a condition | 1 preventive visit, 6 primary care visits, 10 specialist visits, 1 urgent care visit, 6 rounds of labs, 2 CT or MRI, 1 outpatient surgery, 12 generic fills, 12 tier 2 fills, 6 non-preferred brand (tier 3) fills |
| Worst year | Not simulated: premiums plus the in-network out-of-pocket maximum, minus an HSA deposit |
| Your own year | The counts you enter: hospital admissions, inpatient and outpatient surgeries, emergency room, specialist, primary care, and urgent care visits, scans, labs, and fills by tier, plus one preventive visit. Priced line by line the same way as the three profiles, with the same assumed charges and the same cap. |
The labels. Copays only: every service in the profile is a flat dollar copay on that plan, so no assumed charge was needed and the figure is close to exact. Has coinsurance: the plan prices at least one of the services as a percentage, and a percentage needs a charge to work from, so the assumed charges below were used; that is where the uncertainty lives. Not priced: OPM's summary gives no usable figure for a service the profile uses, so no total is shown and the plan sorts to the end rather than being guessed at.
| Service | Assumed charge, used only where a plan quotes a percentage |
|---|---|
| Primary care visit | $150 |
| Specialist visit | $250 |
| Urgent care | $200 |
| Emergency room | $1,500 |
| Labs, X-ray, ultrasound | $100 |
| CT, MRI, PET | $1,200 |
| Hospital admission | $18,000 |
| Surgeon, inpatient | $4,000 |
| Outpatient surgery | $2,000 |
| Generic drug (tier 1) | $20 a fill |
| Preferred brand (tier 2) | $120 a fill |
| Non-preferred brand (tier 3) | $300 a fill |
The rules applied. Annual premium is your share times the pay periods you chose (26 biweekly, 24 semi-monthly, 13 every four weeks, 12 monthly), or the monthly annuitant rate times 12. Copays are charged per use and do not wait for the deductible, except on an HDHP, which by law pays nothing but preventive care until the deductible is met, so there you pay the assumed charge until then. Coinsurance services charge the full assumed amount until the deductible is met, then the percentage. Care is capped at the out-of-pocket maximum. An HSA deposit is subtracted in full, because it is your money whether or not you use care; an HRA is subtracted only up to what the year would spend, because it pays for care and cannot be withdrawn. OPM publishes the deposit amounts; nothing here is derived.
What this does not model. Out-of-network care and balance billing; whether your own doctors and hospitals take a plan; whether your medications are on a plan's formulary and at which tier; referral and prior-authorization rules and visit limits; mail-order and specialty pharmacy pricing; dental and vision (FEDVIP is separate) and the tax savings of an FSA or HSA; Medicare coordination at 65 beyond the Part B reimbursement row; and the Postal Service plans, which are a separate program. Any of these can change which plan fits you. Narrow the field here, then read the brochure, which is the only contractual statement of what a plan covers.
Gaps in OPM's file. Three plan options carry no usable figure for tier 3 prescriptions in OPM's 2027 summary. In the profile that uses tier 3 they show as not priced instead of being guessed.
Rules that change the math
To keep FEHB into retirement you must retire on an immediate annuity and have been covered by FEHB (or as a family member under it) for the five years before the annuity starts, or since your first chance to enroll. TRICARE coverage can count toward the five years, but you must be enrolled in an FEHB plan on the day you retire. OPM, FEHB for annuitants.
A federal retiree who has TRICARE or TRICARE For Life can suspend FEHB (form RI 79-9) instead of cancelling it, and re-enroll in any Open Season or right away if TRICARE coverage ends involuntarily. Cancelling as an annuitant is permanent. OPM FAQ on suspending FEHB for TRICARE.
Employees pay FEHB premiums through premium conversion, before federal income tax and FICA, unless they waive it. Annuitants pay from the annuity after tax. So the same premium costs a working employee less in take-home than the sticker shows. OPM, cost of insurance.
FEHB does not require Medicare Part B. While you are still working, FEHB pays first; once you are an annuitant, Medicare pays first and FEHB second, and with TRICARE the order is Medicare, FEHB, then TRICARE. Some plans reimburse part of the Part B premium; that row is in the table. OPM, Medicare Part B and FEHB.
Postal Service employees and annuitants moved to the Postal Service Health Benefits program in 2025 and are no longer in FEHB; their plans are not in this table. OPM, PSHB.
OPM's own tools
OPM runs a plan comparison tool that takes a ZIP code and shows the plans one at a time, and it hosts every plan's brochure, which is the official statement of benefits. Use this page to narrow the field and see 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. Where this page and a brochure disagree, the brochure governs. Read it before you enroll.
Estimates, under published assumptions. Premiums, deductibles, and out-of-pocket maximums are OPM's figures. The year-cost figures are estimates under the usage profiles and assumed charges above, labeled exact, copays only, has coinsurance, or not priced. They are not predictions of what you will spend.
What the model leaves out. Out-of-network care and balance billing; whether your own doctors and hospitals take a plan; whether your medications are on a plan's formulary and at which tier; referral and prior-authorization rules and visit limits; mail-order and specialty pharmacy pricing; dental and vision under FEDVIP; and Medicare coordination at 65 beyond the Part B row. Any of these can change which plan fits you.
Postal employees are in the Postal Service Health Benefits program, a separate program with its own plans, rates, and Medicare rules, and are not shown here.
No affiliation. StandWatch is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or acting for the Office of Personnel Management or any federal agency. The plan data is OPM's; the arrangement is ours and is not OPM's presentation. StandWatch is not a health plan, a broker, or an insurer, and nothing here is a recommendation to select, keep, or drop any plan, or medical, insurance, financial, tax, or legal advice. Figures are for plan year 2027; the 2028 files post in late September 2027. The full educational-purpose statement.
