Just What Is Open Season, and Why Should You Care?

You may have heard about open season, or open enrollment, for your Tricare or Federal Employees Dental and Vision Insurance Program (FEDVIP) coverage. But what exactly is it?

Open season (also known as open enrollment) is the time each year when you can make changes to your Tricare and FEDVIP dental and vision coverage for the upcoming year. Federal employees can also make changes to their health insurance during this time period.

The open seasons for Tricare and FEDVIP run every year from mid-November to mid-December. For 2025 coverage, open season will be Nov. 11-Dec. 10, 2024, for Tricare and Nov. 11-Dec. 9, 2024, for FEDVIP.

What Can You Do During Open Season?

Tricare

Open enrollment is only time of year when you can make changes to your Tricare plan. Outside of this window, the only instances in which you can make changes to your Tricare coverage are qualifying life events. During open season, you can enroll in a new Tricare plan or change your coverage. Any changes you make to your Tricare coverage during the 2024 open season will be effective for 2025.

Open season does not apply to Tricare Reserve Select, Tricare Retired Reserve, Tricare Young Adult or Tricare for Life.

FEDVIP

Military dependents can purchase vision insurance, and military retirees can purchase vision and dental insurance, through the Federal Employees Dental and Vision Insurance Program (FEDVIP). During open season, if you have coverage through FEDVIP, you can:

• Enroll in a new vision or dental plan
• Cancel your FEDVIP coverage
• Switch to a new insurance company
• Switch to a different level of coverage (standard or high)
• Switch to a different family plan (self, self plus one, or family)

As with Tricare, outside of open season, the only other instance in which you can switch your coverage under FEDVIP is if you experience a qualifying life event.

For 2025, FEDVIP will offer 12 dental and five vision carriers to choose from.

During open season, you will be able to research the costs and coverage of all the different plans as well as compare the different levels of coverage available for your location.

Begin Researching Options Now

If you don't want to make any changes to your Tricare or FEDVIP coverage, you don't need to do anything. If you do nothing, your current coverage will stay in effect in the upcoming year.

However, it's still a good idea to check out all the available options in case the plan or your personal situation has changed over the past year or you are anticipating changes to your coverage in the upcoming year.

For more details, check out Tricare's open season page or FEDVIP's open season page.

Keep Up with Changes to Tricare and Your Other Benefits

Want to know about changes in military benefits as they happen? Subscribe to Military.com to get the latest benefits news delivered directly straight to your inbox.