2025 Open Enrollment Announcement
Open Enrollment: Sept. 15 – Oct. 10, 2025
Working for the State of California gives you access to competitive, quality and affordable benefits for a life well lived. By using your employee benefits, you can improve your overall wellbeing, positively impacting long-term physical and financial health for yourself and your loved ones.
Open Enrollment is your annual chance to review and update your benefits, including:
- Health, dental and vision plans
- FlexElect Reimbursement Accounts
- Legal insurance
- Cash options
- COBRA
- Long-term disability (LTD)
- Supplemental life insurance
During Open Enrollment, you can:
- Enroll, cancel or change your benefit elections for health, dental, vision, COBRA and legal insurance. You can also add or delete eligible dependents.
- Enroll in FlexElect Reimbursement Accounts. If you already have a reimbursement account and want to continue participating next year, you must re-enroll during Open Enrollment.
- Enroll in a cash option in lieu of health and/or dental benefits if you have qualifying coverage through another source such as your spouse or domestic partner. Permanent-intermittent employees who want to continue receiving the cash option must re-enroll annually during Open Enrollment.
For excluded employees:
- Enroll, cancel or change LTD coverage.
- Beginning in 2026, employees enrolled in LTD will have the option to add their spouse to enhanced accident and critical illness coverage.
- If you are enrolled in basic group term life insurance, purchase or change your supplemental life insurance for yourself and your dependents. Changes can be made at any time.
Review your current benefits. Do they still support you and your family’s needs? If you are currently enrolled in health, dental, vision, cash option, group legal, LTD or supplemental life insurance and do not wish to make changes, no action is required.
All changes take effect on Jan. 1, 2026.
For eligibility information, please contact your departmental personnel office.
Open Enrollment Benefits Fairs
Learn about your benefits options and get answers virtually or in person.
- Virtual Benefits Fair: Sept. 10-11, 2025. Join from anywhere and connect with carriers online. View on-demand video presentations, participate in live Q&As and access resources to help make informed choices about your benefits.
- In-Person Benefits Fairs: Find a fair near you and talk face-to-face with benefits experts.
New this year: CalPERS will host a health plan webinar during the Virtual Benefits Fair. It will be streamed on YouTube and cover health plans offered by CalPERS, key updates for 2026 (benefit changes, coverage areas and participating health plans), resources and how to make changes.
For dates and locations, visit the Benefits Fairs webpage.
2026 Plan Information
For information on individual benefit plans, visit the following program webpages:
- Dental Plans
- Vision Plans
- Group Legal Services Insurance
- FlexElect Reimbursement Accounts
- Consolidated Benefits (CoBen)
- COBRA
- Long-Term Disability Insurance
- Supplemental Life Insurance Option
For health benefits information, visit the CalPERS website.
Open Enrollment Deadlines
- The last day to enroll or make changes to health, dental, vision, reimbursement accounts, cash options, group legal and LTD is Oct. 10, 2025.
- Enrollments and changes submitted by mail must be postmarked by Oct 10, 2025.
- For FlexElect Reimbursement Accounts, the last day to change or cancel your enrollment is Dec. 31, 2025.
- For cash options, your last day to change or cancel your enrollment (including automatic re-enrollment) is Dec. 31, 2025.
