(This article appeared in the January/February 2026 issue of The American Postal Worker magazine)
I would like to welcome our new APWU Health Plan members who enrolled this Open Season. And if you were already a member, we look forward to continuing to provide you with the quality benefits and personal customer service you are accustomed to!
By choosing an APWU Health Plan for your health insurance needs, you are getting a union plan that offers:
• Competitive Premiums: APWU Consumer Driven Option Special Rates are the lowest available in the Postal Service Health Benefits (PSHB) Program for those who qualify!
• Comprehensive & Robust Benefits: Our plans offer a rich array of benefits designed for you, including unique features and services available only through a union-supported plan.
• Peace of Mind: APWU Health Plan coverage ensures that you and your family have access to affordable, quality healthcare.
During Open Season, we identified an inaccuracy in the initially published Special Rate premiums for the Consumer Driven Option (CDO). These rates are specifically for career APWU bargaining unit members who have been enrolled in the PSHB Program for more than one year. All other published APWU Health Plan premium rates were correct.
Ensuring accuracy and transparency for you is our top priority, and we worked immediately to notify current and new members. We communicated information about the corrected CDO rates through our website, social media, APWU news bulletin, and updated rate sheets and letters that were mailed directly to current and newly-enrolled members.
The 2026 biweekly APWU Consumer Driven Option premiums for career APWU bargaining unit employees enrolled in the PSHB Program for more than one year are:
- Self Only: $30.16
- Self Plus One: $70.60
- Self and Family: $82.48
The APWU national agreement (Article 21.1 Memorandum of Understanding) requires the Postal Service to pay a higher share of the premium for the APWU CDO than it does for other PSHB plans. This is a unique, contractually-negotiated benefit that provides substantial cost savings for APWU members. For those eligible for the CDO Special Rates, the national agreement requires the Postal Service to pay 95% of the total CDO premium, but that amount is capped at 79% of the over-all PSHB Program weighted average of the premiums for all PSHB Program plans.
The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) determines the weighted average by using a formula that is based on the total cost of all premiums program-wide, taking into account how many people are enrolled in each plan. This year the 79% of the weighted average cap applied to the CDO rates. Even with this correction, the APWU Consumer Driven Option Special Rate continues to be one of the very lowest PSHB Program premiums available.
If you have APWU Health Plan benefit questions, please visit our website at apwuhp.com or give our Maryland-based customer service department a call at
1-800-222-APWU (that’s 1-800-222-2798).
