Limitations on FEHB Enrollment

Many plans are open to all employees. However, HMOs require that you live or work in their service area, and a few plans require that you work for a particular agency or join a specific union. Most of the union plans allow any Federal employee to join. This generally means that you can enroll in the plan no matter what agency you work for, but you may have to pay a small amount for annual dues and become an associate member of the union. Some plans are restricted to particular agencies or categories of employees. For example, the Foreign Service and Compass Rose plans enroll employees who serve in foreign affairs, defense, or intelligence functions (both plans interpret these limitations broadly, but they differ in details as explained in their brochures).