By comparison, the average premium increase across all FEHB plans for 2026 is 12.3%, when taking into account the 47 carriers offering a total of 132 total plan options for next year. Not all plan options are available to all FEHB enrollees, as some are specific to certain agencies or geographic regions.

Premium costs, however, are far from the only factor that enrollees should be considering when making a plan selection, according to federal health plan experts.

“FEHB enrollees losing their NALC health plan should carefully consider which health plan will be the best fit for them,” said Kevin Moss, director of marketing and fundraising at Consumers’ Checkbook. “Besides reviewing the plan premium and out-of-pocket costs for benefits, make sure to check the website of the new plan you’re considering to see if your current providers will be in-network, and how any prescription drugs you may take will be covered.”

Notably, the lowest-cost nationwide plan, GEHA Elevate, has lower premiums, but also much lower coverage than GEHA High. NALC High — which the vast majority of those impacted by OPM’s decision are coming from — is more similar to GEHA High than it is to GEHA Elevate, but still with some differences in benefits.

For instance, an enrollee in NALC High who had a $300 deductible for a “self only” plan in 2025 would move to a $500 deductible in 2026 under GEHA High. By comparison, the enrollee’s deductible would increase to $750 under GEHA Elevate.

As another example, an enrollee in NALC High with a catastrophic out-of-pocket maximum of $3,500 for a “self only” plan would see that limit increase to $7,500 under GEHA High. The out-of-pocket maximum for GEHA Elevate, in contrast, is $10,600.

John Hatton, senior vice president of policy and programs at the National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association (NARFE), said a higher-premium plan with more coverage may be the best plan for some enrollees, but not necessarily others.

“Maybe the high premium plan with more coverage is the right choice for you, but you may want to look at some other alternative plans that might be cheaper. Because there are options, even with really low deductible plans, that have lower premiums than the main big dogs in the program,” Hatton said in a recent interview on The Federal Drive. “So it’s really critical that you look and choose what’s best for you.”

The post Over 30,000 feds facing possible FEHB premium spike next year first appeared on Federal News Network.

The Senate’s initial agreement toward ending the longest-ever government shutdown includes provisions that would secure back pay for all federal employees, as well as reverse the Trump administration’s recent reductions in force.

Though much is still up in the air and subject to possible changes, the early steps in the process indicate that, if the Senate bill’s current language is maintained, both excepted and furloughed federal employees would receive back pay dating to Oct. 1, the day the shutdown began.

Federal employees, regardless of whether they are furloughed or excepted, have always received back pay following every past shutdown, due to one-time actions from Congress. It wasn’t until 2019 that Congress passed — and President Donald Trump signed — a law meant to ensure federal employees are compensated retroactively for all shutdowns going forward.

Questions over back pay arose once again, however, after the Office of Management and Budget released a draft legal opinion in October, suggesting that furloughed employees are not automatically ensured back pay after all.

Many lawmakers, attorneys and unions harshly criticized the White House’s opinion, calling it a clear misinterpretation of the 2019 Government Employees Fair Treatment Act.

Throughout the funding lapse, the Trump administration has shuffled funding to compensate select groups of the federal workforce, as well as military members, while hundreds of thousands of others have missed two paychecks since the shutdown began.

The Senate took the first step toward ending the shutdown on Sunday, clearing a procedural hurdle that required 60 votes to move the spending legislation forward in the appropriations process. All but eight Democrats voted against the spending measure. But an actual end to the shutdown may still be at least several days away.

The current agreement includes bipartisan bills worked out by the Senate Appropriations Committee to fund parts of government, including food aid, veterans’ programs and the legislative branch. A continuing resolution would fund most other agency appropriations until the end of January, giving lawmakers more than two months to finish the additional spending bills.

The Senate’s legislation over the weekend would also compel agencies to reverse all reduction-in-force actions that have taken place since the shutdown began. About 4,200 federal employees across government received RIF notices in mid-October, following guidance from the White House that encouraged agencies to move forward with layoffs in the event of a funding lapse.

Most, but not all, of those RIF actions are currently on hold due to a preliminary injunction granted by a district court judge last month. Federal unions are suing the Trump administration over the layoffs, alleging that they violate the Administrative Procedure Act.

The Senate’s tentative agreement would also temporarily bar the Trump administration from conducting further RIFs until late January.

Federal employee organizations and unions expressed strong support for the provisions to secure back pay for federal employees and protect against RIFs.

“These protections provide for fundamental fairness,” Marcus Hill, president of the Senior Executives Association, said Monday. “They also safeguard continuity of government operations, preserve critical talent, and stabilize and extend funding for missions and services that millions of Americans rely on daily.”

“Millions of federal employees have missed paychecks, forcing them to assume significant financial cost, risk and uncertainty,” William Shackelford, national president of the National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association (NARFE), said. “Government shutdowns — partial as they are — harm dedicated public servants and the missions and people they serve.”

The American Federation of Government Employees threw in additional support for the passage of the Shutdown Fairness Act, a Republican-led bill to pay federal employees immediately during the current government shutdown, as well as any future ones.

“While we are glad that the shutdown is coming to an end for now, we remain concerned about the growing use of government shutdowns as leverage for political gain,” AFGE National President Everett Kelley said. “That’s why AFGE strongly supports the bipartisan Shutdown Fairness Act, which would pay federal workers during government shutdowns, ensuring that federal employees will never be used as political pawns again.”

The Shutdown Fairness Act failed to advance in the Senate on Friday. Democrats largely voted down the legislation on the grounds that it did not include guardrails to prevent the Trump administration from paying some federal employees and not others.

After the bill initially failed to move forward two weeks ago, Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) expanded his legislation to include furloughed employees and federal contractors. The bill initially only provided immediate pay for excepted employees who continue to work during a shutdown.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

The post Tentative Senate deal reaffirms back pay, reverses RIFs for federal employees first appeared on Federal News Network.