WASHINGTON, DC — The US Office of Personnel Management (OPM) today announced a final rule to strengthen verification requirements for family member coverage in the Federal Employees Health Benefits (FEHB) Program and Postal Service Health Benefits (PSHB) Program, a major step in the administration’s broader effort to eliminate fraud, waste, and abuse across government programs.

The final rule will implement the FEHB Protection Act of 2025 as part of President Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill by requiring verification of both qualifying life events and family member eligibility before individuals can be added to federal health plans.

The FEHB Program covers approximately 8.3 million individuals and represents one of the largest employer-sponsored health insurance programs in the nation. OPM estimates fraudulent or improper enrollments may be costing taxpayers up to one billion dollars annually through ineligible family member coverage and associated claims.

Under the final rule, enrollees seeking to add a family member to FEHB or PSHB coverage will be required to provide documentation verifying both the family relationship and the qualifying event before coverage can be approved.

The rule builds on prior OPM actions to improve enrollment integrity and follows findings from the Government Accountability Office identifying weaknesses in family member eligibility verification. Early agency audit data reviewed by OPM found nearly two percent of reviewed family members were confirmed ineligible for coverage, with additional cases lacking sufficient documentation.

The strengthened verification requirements will generate substantial long-term savings for taxpayers while improving program integrity and helping ensure federal health benefits are directed only to eligible individuals.

You can read the final rule in the Federal Register here.