The PSHB Part B rule
Since January 1, 2025, Postal Service employees, annuitants and their families get health coverage through the Postal Service Health Benefits (PSHB) Program, a separate program within FEHB. The Postal Service Reform Act added a requirement FEHB doesn't have: if you're a postal annuitant entitled to Medicare Part A, you must enroll in Part B to stay in a PSHB plan, and so must Medicare-eligible family members covered by your plan. Plan to enroll when you're first eligible: usually your Initial Enrollment Period at 65, or a Special Enrollment Period when you retire if you worked past 65.
Who is exempt
OPM lists these exceptions (5 CFR 890.1604, adopted in OPM's May 6, 2024 final rule):
- Postal annuitants who retired on or before January 1, 2025 and weren't already in Part B, plus their family members.
- Postal employees who were age 64 or older on January 1, 2025, and their family members, after they retire.
- Annuitants and family members living outside the U.S. and its territories, with proof of residence. Moving back can end the exception.
- Annuitants and family members eligible for or enrolled in certain VA health care benefits.
- Annuitants and family members eligible for Indian Health Service care.
When an annuitant qualifies for the VA or IHS exception, a family member doesn't have to enroll in Part B either.
What Ohio postal workers nearing retirement should do
- Check which group you're in. If you were under 64 on January 1, 2025, plan on Part B when you retire.
- Enroll on time. If you're 65 and still working, ask your employing office for form CMS-L564 so you can use the Special Enrollment Period when you retire.
- Budget for the premium. Part B is $202.90 a month for most people in 2026, and IRMAA adds more at higher incomes.
- Keep your PSHB drug coverage. Your plan enrolls you in its Medicare Part D group plan automatically.
Before canceling PSHB, check with OPM. If you joined Part B during the 2024 special enrollment, the Postal Service pays your late penalty only while you keep or suspend PSHB.
More in our guide to FEHB, PSHB and Medicare in Ohio.
Related questions
Do federal retirees need Part B with FEHB?
No requirement under FEHB.
Does the Social Security Fairness Act change Medicare?
WEP and GPO repeal.
Do OPERS retirees have to enroll in Medicare?
Another system that requires Part B.
Sources
- OPM — Postal Service Health Benefits Program: Medicare Part B enrollment requirements
- Federal Register — Postal Service Reform Act; Establishment of the PSHB Program (final rule, May 6, 2024)
- OPM — Medicare and FEHB
- Medicare.gov — Avoid late enrollment penalties
More questions in this guide
- Can STRS Ohio retirees join a different Part D plan?
- Do federal retirees in Ohio need Medicare Part B with FEHB?
- Do Ohio teachers have to pay for Medicare Part A?
- Do OPERS retirees have to enroll in Medicare?
- Do STRS Ohio retirees need Medicare Part B?
- Does OPERS pay for Medicare Part B?
- Does SERS reimburse Medicare Part B?
- Does the Social Security Fairness Act change Medicare for Ohio public retirees?
- How does HPRS retiree health care work with Medicare?
- How does the OPERS Medicare Connector work?
- What happens to OP&F retiree health care when I turn 65?
Part of the guide: Ohio's public retirement systems and Medicare · All questions
Frequently asked questions
What if I retired in 2024 and don't have Part B?
You're exempt. OPM's final rule (Federal Register, May 6, 2024) clarified that the exception for annuitants "as of" January 1, 2025 covers anyone who was an annuitant on or before that date and wasn't both entitled to Part A and enrolled in Part B on January 1, 2025.
Who pays the Part B late penalty if I joined during the 2024 special enrollment?
OPM says the Postal Service pays the Part B late enrollment penalty for people who enrolled during the April 1 to September 30, 2024 PSRA special enrollment period, as long as they keep or suspend PSHB. If you cancel PSHB, the penalty becomes yours.
Do I also get Part D through PSHB?
Yes. OPM says Medicare-eligible postal annuitants are automatically enrolled in their PSHB plan's Medicare Part D employer group plan. You can opt out, but then you get no drug coverage through PSHB at all.
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