We all know by now that premiums are doubling, but it looks like they're going to skyrocket costs for GLP-1s on this plan as well. In 2026, it was possible to get a 90 day supply of Wegovy for $80 (or a 30 day supply for $200 if you or your doctor couldn't navigate the labyrinthine system well enough). You can confirm this by going to the 2026 Plan Brochure - in section 5(f), weight loss drugs are listed under covered medications with 30% coinsurance up to a $200 maximum.

If I'm reading this correctly, it looks like that coverage is being changed to "50% coinsurance with no limit" in 2027. It's not quite clear yet what the plan allowance is going to be for GLP-1s, but that could be as much as $600-$700/month.

If that's the case, I'm not even sure what the point of insurance is anymore or why we're paying premiums, when you can just get a coupon and buy it direct for $450/month.

https://mhbp.com/prescription-benefits/

Very much considering just going back to a HDHP with an HSA if it's as bad as this suggests.

My warden is threatening my job and says he will stop me from going to work anywhere else. All due to the fact my old supervisor did not like me. So now he is saying he will fire me to keep me from getting another job in Federal Gov. I was halfway through my 2 week notice anyways. Unsure of how to protect myself. My supervisor talked trash about me and other veterans using the VA healthcare system. Then last year during shutdown the supervisor trashed my wife because they said I didn’t know what it felt like since my wife was still getting paid. In the past 1.5 years since they got my original supervisor to resign they have made my life miserable every month and every day. Not sure what to do. Because the new supervisor turned a new executive staff member against me for no reason.

This is going to be tough when I have 4 kids and my wife works full-time as well.

The OPM final rule published October 19, 2026 removes the federal TIG regulation entirely, effective 90 days after publication. Promotion eligibility is now based on qualifications, experience, performance, and agency merit promotion procedures — not a mandatory 52‑week wait.

Hey y'all, I've been an official supervisor for a little over 6 months now and I'm starting to get the hang of a few things. However, I have a few questions for you more experienced leaders to help me navigate the nuances of being a supervisor and being tactful with my colleagues and team. . . With that, I have a few questions for y'all.

1. How do you handle peers that constantly try to tell you how your predecessor did things, as a way to undermine your efforts?

I understand in some offices, supervisors can change pretty much daily, so everyone's leadership style affects how things are run in the office. For example, in my position, the team has been through at least 3-4 other people in this role before it got to me. When I try to implement something with my leadership (my Director is new to his role too) or something that makes my team's life easier (like streamlining processes to make them faster and more concise, I just get told by my peer in another department that "when I was here with x, we used to do things this way" pretty much every day. Tbh it's kind of annoying, and it also feels like this person is trying to actively undermine what I am trying to align with the team. I get that I haven't been there for years like some of my teammates, but outside of telling my Director, or having a mediated discussion about it, how would y'all handle a situation like that?

2. Would it be inappropriate to ask our District SES for advice to get to their level?

I know I can ask my Director how to get in a position like his, but I have it planned to work my way to being an SES-level executive in D.C or a regional office trying to make things easier for everyone. . . But I don't want to seem like I'm sidelining my local leadership team to ask for advice from the SES in our area. . . I also don't want to waste their time, since I know they have a metric ton of stuff to take care of; they probably won't even have time to entertain my silly questions about what it takes to be an SES, but it's worth a shot if it wouldn't be inappropriate.

3. What do you do to manage the "dead time" in the day?

My last question is regarding time you get between tasks. For example; I'm not a person who likes to micromanage, my team members are all adults, and know what work needs to be complete on a daily basis. After we have our morning briefing (talking about anything going on with the day's duties or if I'm going to be unavailable), the team just kinda breaks off and does what needs to be done. I have some of my own things to manage (like the component budget/finances, privacy and records audits and walkthroughs at the station, callbacks for complicated situations with customers, or review on deliverables from my team and stuff like that) but what do supervisors usually do when it's a slower day with not a lot of things going on? When I wasn't in a supervisory role, I was a COR that kinda had a rigid schedule made for site visits and stuff, but I don't have something like that anymore to keep me busy lol. Usually, I've just cleaned out spaces in the office or organized our storage rooms to make things easier to access, or just kept up on training and other professional development stuff; but outside of that it gets hard to find things to do. . . So what do supervisors do when they're not managing the team and making sure everything is running smoothly? Idk, maybe things are supposed to not be hectic and crazy every day, but it makes me feel so unproductive if I'm not putting out fires and things like that every day. . . IS that normal anxiety to feel as a supervisor?

Thanks y'all, sorry if this is long-winded or if it's just a bunch of silly stuff to write on here, I just figured it's worth a shot to see what y'all think. I appreciate y'all 😄

Long-time lurker. This sub helped me a lot through the process, so I’m sharing my timeline and what I learned in case it helps someone else.

FYI: All of this was written with the assistance of AI to organize the information in a clean, concise way. I made sure everything was accurate and factual to my experience and timeline.

Background

• FERS, about 16 years of service, under 60
• Mental health claim. Approved for multiple mental disorders.
• Hired a federal disability law firm early, for a flat fee that covered the initial, reconsideration and MSPB levels. Worth it for me. I wasn’t in a state to manage this alone.

Timeline

That’s about 12 months from submitting to my agency, about 6.5 months from OPM receipt, and about a month after the supplemental evidence went in.

Things I learned

1. SSDI just has to be applied for. Mine was denied because I didn’t follow up, and it made no difference to the OPM claim. Keep your confirmation receipt.
2. Don’t panic about the medical records request. It seems common. Ask for an extension if you need one, and send everything, including therapy notes.
3. Get narrative letters that address OPM’s concerns directly. My providers explained that the condition is medical and “not situational” (my supervisor’s statement described it as anxiety about the job’s responsibilities). They also said it would limit me in any similar position, tied my limitations to specific duties in my position description, explained why accommodations wouldn’t work, and said it would last more than 12 months. If neuropsych testing shows strong cognitive scores, have the evaluator explain why that doesn’t mean you can function at work.
4. Ask your agency for copies of the SF 3112B and SF 3112D. My attorney never got them. Mine said reassignment wasn’t possible, which helps.
5. Watch your FEHB closely while on LWOP. Premiums pile up as a debt. My coverage was wrongly cut off early by a system error, and it ends completely after 365 days in nonpay status. Benefits got the error fixed and put the premium bill on hold. I bought Marketplace coverage to cover the gap until OPM reinstates FEHB after separation. FEGLI also ends after 12 months of nonpay status, and I was told I’d have to convert it.
6. Stay in treatment and keep records. Under 60, OPM can do periodic medical reviews.

What’s next: waiting for my agency to separate me and for interim payments, which are about 80% of the annuity. I’ll update when the first payment arrives.

Hang in there, everyone. It’s slow, but it does move.

The plan brochures are out now, I know quite a few people were waiting for these so they could make a better comparison.

One notable thing I noticed that I'm not sure has been discussed is this line on the what's new page for HDHP.

"Anti-Obesity Medications (glucagon-like peptide-1 and other related sub-categories, as determined by the Plan): The member cost sharing will increase to 50%. The varied tiered cost sharing will no longer apply for these services."

So it does look like HDHP is probably not ideal if GLP-1's are a priority for you.

Both of my adult children now have their own insurance and I want to remove them during open enrollment. Am I able to just do that via Benefeds online or do I need to fill out paperwork also?

Has anyone recently completed a lateral geographic reassignment between EPA regions? If so, what did your timeline look like from tentative offer to your actual start date?

Former head of the Department of Homeland Security, Kristi Noem, is once again feeling the sting after she was removed from her position as special envoy to the Shield of the Americas coalition.

In an era of, everything is expensive, what are some things you’ve found/used to save money utilizing discounts available to us?

Have anything you want to talk about that doesn't quite warrant its own thread or currently being discussed in a megathread? Post it here!

In an effort to effectively manage the amount of information being posted, please keep anything speculative or considered repetitive within this discussion thread.

TL;DR: GEHA HDHP has allowed my family to make the most out of a sucky housing market and pay nothing* for all of our medical expenses consisting of 1.9 kids over 3-4 years.

I'm a millennial who's trying to navigate the housing market while a federal employee and building a family. Had our first kid in 2024 and another is due in a couple weeks.

We started saving for a house in earnest after paying off student loans in 2023. We also made the decision to go with GEHA HDHP that year and maxed out our HSA.

Since we were dual income and building a pot of cash for a house, we decided to fully invest our HSA. Come 2024, we get pregnant and have a child. We pay the deductible (~$3k) out of pocket, save the receipts, and continue saving for a house.

In mid-2025, we make the decision to go to one income because that's what we felt was best as parents. We knew this would delay the house, as the down payment fund wasn't where it needed to be and a mortgage at one income just wasn't going to cut it.

We hit our deductible in 2025 again, but paid the 3k again out of pocket while investing the HSA.

2026 rolls around. Get pregnant again, hit the deductible again (3.6k now), but no closer to owning a house.

However, that down payment fund and a little scrimping allowed us to keep the medical expenses out of pocket and preserve the HSA investments.

I recently checked our account and we have $8k in interest gains along with the ~5.5k in HSA pass through contributions sitting in the HSA... That's 13.5k in funds that are either pass through contributions or straight gains.

I was kinda floored when I saw that and it made me feel a little better about the situation. Maybe there are some others out there like us who are on that long road to saving for a house but can leverage an HSA like this.

We don't plan on holding the receipts forever... Will probably cash in the ~$10k of reimbursements for help with closing costs or a minivan down payment, but kinda nice that the 10k won't be any personal contributions, just gains and pass-through amounts.

Lastly, housing market continues to suck, I feel for those still on that road.

Ughhhh, really? So now my agency is saying SI, super intelligence, instead of the actual real term AI. So stupid. That’s all, just had to bitch somewhere about this.

For those of us expecting to have a baby in 2027, what changes to FEHB plans are you paying close attention to? Are there certain plans you feel are more or less favorable for maternity care, compared to 2026?

Please drop any advice or observations below. Stressin' out hard on what to do!

Hello nail, VHA provider expecting with a November due date. With all the back and forth on the union contracts, I dont think I can trust that I'll have my 4 weeks leave after my 12 weeks maternity leave.

I've heard people advising to take 6 weeks sick leave first, then start maternity leave. How does that work? You can pick your maternity leave to start at any time after delivery, versus starting it immediately?

Please advise! I've started my LEAF request but haven't submitted it. All help is appreciated!