Blue Cross FEHB premiums for 2027: Standard, Basic and Focus

What you pay in 2027

These are the enrollee shares for non-postal federal employees, from OPM's published 2027 rate tables. The monthly figures are what annuitants pay, and they are also the monthly equivalent of the biweekly cost.

Enrollment codes 104, 106 and 105. Biweekly increases of $16.33, $39.01 and $39.24, which are 8.7%, 9.5% and 8.6% — all below the 10.9% FEHB average.

Enrollment codes 111, 113 and 112. Biweekly increases of $11.69, $31.23 and $30.68, which are 8.7%, 9.8% and 8.6%.

Enrollment codes 131, 133 and 132. Biweekly increases of $7.35, $15.80 and $17.38, or 11.0% at every enrollment type — the steepest of the three, though from the smallest base.

What a full year costs

Biweekly numbers hide the size of the decision. Over 26 pay periods:

Standard costs $1,538.94 more than Basic over a year at Self Only, and $3,392.74 more than Focus. At Self & Family the Standard-to-Basic gap is $2,843.36.

That premium gap is the budget you have for deductibles and copays. If Standard costs $2,843 more than Basic for your family and the difference in what you would actually spend on care is smaller than that, Standard is the more expensive choice no matter how it looks on paper.

Why Focus absorbs increases better

This is the part that is not on any comparison chart, and it explains the numbers above.

The government pays the lesser of 75% of a plan's total premium or a fixed dollar amount set each year. For 2027 that dollar cap is $352.04 biweekly for Self Only, $767.53 for Self Plus One and $843.82 for Self & Family.

• Focus is cheap enough that the 75% rule binds. The government pays exactly 75% in both 2026 and 2027, so it absorbed $22.05 of Focus's $29.40 Self Only increase and you absorbed $7.35.
• Standard and Basic are expensive enough to hit the dollar cap. The government share is 63.2% for Standard and 70.8% for Basic. Standard's total premium rose $43.61 biweekly at Self Only; the cap rose $27.28, so you absorbed the remaining $16.33.

Put plainly: in Focus the government covers 75 cents of every additional dollar, permanently. In Standard it covers about 63 cents, and that share drifts down slightly each year as the plan's premium outruns the cap.

What changed in the benefits

These are the changes where both the 2026 and the 2027 figure are published, so the increase is confirmed rather than inferred.

"Family" here means a Self Plus One or Self & Family enrollment, which share the same figure.

The Standard deductible is the one to notice. Rising from $350 to $500 is a 43% increase, and it lands on top of a premium increase. For a Self & Family enrollment the deductible goes from $700 to $1,000, so the first $300 of the year costs you more before the plan pays anything.

The 2027 cost-sharing levels

These are the published 2027 figures. Where the 2026 equivalent is not stated in the same source, treat them as this year's levels rather than as changes.

FEP Blue Standard

• Out-of-pocket maximum: $7,000 Self Only, $14,000 family, in network. Out of network it is $9,000 and $18,000.
• Preferred inpatient facility: $450 per admission.
• Blue Distinction knee, hip, spine or bariatric surgery: $250 per admission inpatient, $150 per day per facility outpatient, with no deductible.
• Doula services: covered up to $1,000 per pregnancy. This is a new benefit.
• Prior approval is now required for MRI, PET and CT scans.

FEP Blue Basic

• Out-of-pocket maximum: $8,500 Self Only, $17,000 family.
• Outpatient observation: $500 per day, up to $3,500.
• Blue Distinction knee, hip, spine or bariatric surgery: $150 per day up to $750 per admission inpatient, $50 per day per facility outpatient.
• Prior approval is now required for MRI, PET and CT scans.

FEP Blue Focus

• Maternity: $3,000 per pregnancy for services billed by a Preferred facility.
• Tier 3 preferred specialty drugs: 40% of the plan allowance, up to $600 for 30 days or $1,700 for 31 to 90 days.

Standard and Basic

• Medicare Prescription Drug Program out-of-pocket maximum: $2,400 per member.
• Electing electronic explanations of benefits credits $10 to your health account.

All three options

• Blue Cross no longer covers eight over-the-counter COVID-19 tests per member.

Drug tiers moved in all three options for 2027, in more detail than is worth listing here. If you take a specialty or brand-name medicine regularly, the pharmacy section of the brochure is the part of this decision that will cost or save you the most.

Which option fits

• Focus suits a healthy year and a tolerance for risk. The premium is roughly a third of Standard's, but the deductible is $1,000 and the out-of-pocket maximum is $11,000 Self Only. The network is narrower than Standard's.
• Basic suits predictable, moderate use. There is no deductible on in-network care, costs are copay-based rather than percentage-based, but you must stay in network, because out-of-network care is generally not covered.
• Standard suits heavy or unpredictable use, out-of-network needs, and anyone who values the $7,000 out-of-pocket maximum. You pay roughly $1,539 a year more than Basic at Self Only for that.

The honest test is arithmetic, not temperament: price your actual year under each option, then add the premium. How to compare two plans in 20 minutes walks through the four numbers that decide it.

If you are weighing Focus against a high-deductible plan with a savings account, the comparison is different again, because an HDHP's employer contribution offsets part of the deductible. How HDHPs and HSAs actually work in FEHB covers that.

The dates

• Open Season: Monday, November 9 to Monday, December 14, 2026.
• If you do nothing: your current Blue Cross enrollment continues at the 2027 premium.
• When a new election starts: for employees, the first day of the first full pay period in January 2027. For annuitants, January 1, 2027.

The full set of deadlines, including what rolls over and what does not, is on the Open Season 2027 page.

Common questions