Employee and Retiree Service Center → Retirees → Benefits → Open Enrollment

Retiree Benefits Open Enrollment:
October 6–31, 2025 

Retiree Benefits Open Enrollment for the 2026 plan year will begin Monday, October 6, 2025, and will end Friday, October 31, 2025. Open Enrollment is your chance to make changes to your benefits or, in certain cases, to enroll in benefits you have previously dropped. All changes must be submitted by the October 31 deadline. In addition to the information and links on this web page, the 2026 Retiree Benefit Summary and the 2026 Retiree Benefit Rate Schedules have been mailed to retirees' home addresses.

New for 2026

• Preferred Care Management will be added to Cigna medical plans. If you are currently enrolled in a Cigna medical plan, your enrollment for 2026 will default to a Cigna medical plan with Preferred Care Management. Under this program, your doctor or medical provider must obtain prior authorization from Cigna before ordering certain procedures. It is important to note that this is not the same as a referral to see a specialist. Preferred Care Management does not require referrals. See a regularly updated list of procedures that require prior authorization. Preferred Care Management also offers patients the support of a nurse advocate to make navigating care simpler and to provide an added layer of support. Learn more here and at in-person Town Hall meetings where you can have your Preferred Care Management questions answered. Keep reading for details.
• Current Cigna medical plans—those without Preferred Care Management—will remain available with a 7 percent increase in retiree cost share. Retirees will have the option to enroll in a plan without Preferred Care Management during Open Enrollment.
• Applied Behavior Analysis Therapy will be covered under the Cigna medical plans.
• Hearing aids—2 devices per 36 months, up to $3,000.
• Glucagon-like Peptide 1 Agonists (GLP-1) and weight management programs will be offered to prevent coverage of off-label use of GLP-1 diabetes drugs for weight management while minimizing member disruption.
• Cigna’s Open Access Plus plan annual deductibles will change from $300 (individual)/$600 (family) to $500 (individual)/$1,000 (family) for out-of-network providers.
• Vision plan benefits frequency changes from every 18 months to every 12 months for exams, frames, lenses, and contact lenses.
• Retiree contributions toward premiums will increase by 1 percent.

Learn More About Your 2026 Retiree Benefits

Quick Overviews

Detailed Information

Preferred Care Management Town Hall Meetings

ERSC will hold in-person and virtual Town Hall meetings during Open Enrollment to answer questions about Cigna’s Preferred Care Management process. The Town Halls will be held as follows:

Open Enrollment Virtual Assistance

From October 6–31, ERSC will offer individual assistance virtually. You will be able to register for a 15-minute Microsoft Teams session with an ERSC representative. To sign up, do the following:

1. Open the sign-up screen.
2. Read the information.
3. Scroll down to select your preferred date and time.
4. Click the blue Sign Up button. A checkmark will appear.
5. Click the blue Save and Continue button at the bottom of the screen.
6. Provide your name and email address in the spaces provided.
7. To finish, click the brown Sign Up Now button.
8. You will receive an email that confirms your appointment and a reminder email the morning of your appointment with the Microsoft Teams meeting information.

Open Enrollment Benefit Fairs

You will have the opportunity to learn more about your Open Enrollment options at in-person Open Enrollment Benefit Fairs (see chart below for details). Representatives from ERSC and benefit plan vendors will be available to answer your questions. Dates, times, and locations are as follows: 

Take Action During Open Enrollment

Make changes to your benefits

To make a change to your benefits, you must submit MCPS Form 455-22, Retiree Benefit Plan Enrollment, by Friday, October 31, 2025. Your form must have an original signature or must be signed using an electronic signature provider. After your change is processed, you will receive a confirmation from ERSC. Confirmations are sent twice weekly during Open Enrollment. Watch for your confirmation and verify that your change was made correctly.

How to Submit Your Enrollment Form
You may submit your form in any one of the following ways:

*Base benefit rates are the rates a retiree will pay for MCPS-provided health benefits if non-Medicare-eligible retirees/dependents did not participate in the Wellness Initiatives program; i.e., did not complete a health risk assessment or a biometric health screening by the posted deadlines.