Tribal Employers Face a New Application to Join Federal Benefits
Published Date: 10/19/2026
Notice
Summary
The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is asking tribal employers to fill out a new application to join the Federal Employees Health Benefits (FEHB) Program. This helps tribal employers offer health benefits to their federal employees. Comments on this new form are open until December 18, 2026, and OPM wants to make sure the process is easy and useful without costing too much time or money.
Analyzed Economic Effects
2 provisions identified: 1 benefits, 1 costs, 0 mixed.
Tribal employees gain FEHB eligibility when employer joins
If your tribal employer elects to participate in the FEHB Program and you are a tribal employee considered a common law employee who meets FEHB employment requirements (for example, full-time or seasonal), you will become eligible to enroll in FEHB under 5 CFR 890.1405. This change affects eligibility for tribal employees once their employer completes the application and elects participation.
Tribal employers must file new FEHB application
If you are a tribal employer seeking to participate in the Federal Employees Health Benefits (FEHB) Program, OPM is requiring you to submit a new Tribal Employer Application form. OPM estimates 75 respondents, with each respondent spending about 135 minutes (2.25 hours) to complete the form for a total estimated burden of 168.75 hours; comments on this collection are accepted until December 18, 2026. The form asks for identifying information, representatives, key tribal personnel, billing unit and bank account information, and a tribal employer profile.
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