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Insurance Open Enrollment 2026
Your Benefits. Your Way.
Open Enrollment 2026
Between October 1 and October 31, 2026, benefits-eligible employees can make changes to their insurance coverage for the following year (effective January 1, 2027). During Open Enrollment, eligible employees should review their current insurance elections and make elections for the following year!
Resources
Navigating Open Enrollment
The South Carolina Public Employee Benefit Authority (PEBA) is the state agency responsible for the administration and management of the state’s insurance programs for South Carolina’s public employees. PEBA offers many resources to assist in Open Enrollment planning, which can be found in the menu to the left.
All enrollments and changes must be made by 11:59 p.m. on October 31.
Even if you don’t plan to make changes, all employees are highly encouraged to review their current insurance elections, life insurance beneficiaries and payroll deductions for accuracy. You can do this by logging into PEBA MyBenefits to review your current elections or accessing Workday to view your payroll deductions.
If you are satisfied with your current elections, you don’t need to take action unless you have a Medical Spending Account (MSA), Limited Medical Spending Account (LMSA) or a Dependent Care Spending Account (DCSA). If you would like to maintain enrollment in these accounts, you must re-enroll in order to continue your account in 2027. Please note: Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) do not need to be re-elected each year.
2026 Open Enrollment Highlights
Health Insurance Premiums
Active employee and funded retiree health insurance premiums will not increase in 2027.
MoneyPlus Administrative Fees
Administrative fees for MoneyPlus flexible spending accounts will remain $1.10 per account per month. There is no monthly administrative fee for Health Savings Account participants.
2026 is Not a Dental Year
Changes to existing dental coverage can only be made during open enrollment periods in odd-numbered years. Your next opportunity to make changes will be in October 2027 or within 31 days of a special eligibility situation. Basic Dental premiums will not increase this year.
State Vision Plan Premiums
State vision plan premiums will increase slightly, effective January 1, 2027.
Where do I start?
Review Open Enrollment Presentations
These recorded presentations will help you better understand the open enrollment options available to you through PEBA and supplemental insurance provider Aflac. They will also walk you through making changes in PEBA's MyBenefits platform.
Review Your Current Coverage
Even if you don’t plan to make changes during open enrollment, all employees are encouraged to review their current elections and beneficiaries for accuracy.
PEBA: Log in to MyBenefits to review current coverage. If you don’t have an account, use the Setting Up a New MyBenefits Account flyer (PDF) to learn how.
Aflac: Contact AFLAC’s customer service center at 800.433.3036 or visit www.aflacgroupinsurance.com.
Allstate: Log into your Allstate benefits portal to verify current coverage or call 800.789.2720.
Enroll or Make Changes!
Utilize the dropdowns below and the PEBA Open Enrollment Worksheet (PDF) to plan and select your insurance elections for 2027.
If you are satisfied with your current elections as indicated in MyBenefits, you do not need to do anything to continue your coverage in 2027.
Consider enrolling in the Pretax Group Insurance Premium Feature. This allows you to pay many premiums before taxes come out of your paycheck (state health (including the tobacco-use premium), dental, vision and up to $50,000 of Optional Life insurance coverage). Visit PEBA’s Pretax Feature Flyer (PDF) to see how much money it could save you this year!
IMPORTANT NOTE: MoneyPlus flexible spending account holders (medical spending accounts, limited-use medical spending accounts and dependent care spending accounts) must re-enroll each year.
Document Your Changes
When you finalize your enrollments and/or changes, you will be taken to a "Summary" screen which shows your 2026 Open Enrollment selections. We recommend printing, screenshotting, or saving this page as a PDF to document your Open Enrollment elections. Save this summary for your records to confirm your elections after January 1, 2027.
Open Enrollment Options for Eligible Employees
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Choose your health plan
- Enroll yourself or any eligible dependents in health coverage.
- Change from one health plan to another:
- Drop health coverage for yourself or any dependents.
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Choose your vision coverage
Enroll in or drop State Vision Plan coverage for yourself and/or your eligible dependents.
Be sure to consider how much you spend on vision coverage when determining how much you should contribute to your Medical Spending Account or Health Savings Account.
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Choose your additional life insurance coverage
- Enroll in Optional Life coverage with medical evidence. Submit your request via the Life Insurance Request Portal.
- The request portal will require you complete and upload a completed 2027 Notice of Election (NOE) form (PDF).
- Once you submit your request through the portal, you will receive a Statement of Health form within 7-10 business days through email from info@metlife-services.com. Completion of this form is required to process your request.
- Enroll or increase existing Optional Life coverage with medical evidence.
- Optional Life Insurance coverage reduces to 65% at age 70, 42% at age 75, and 31.7% at age 80.
- Enroll in or increase Dependent Life-Spouse coverage with medical evidence. Submit your request via the Life Insurance Request Portal.
- Employees wishing to enroll in or increase Dependent Life-Spouse coverage must also use the life insurance request portal to provide the required information and upload a completed Notice of Election (NOE) form.
- Employees may elect up to $100,000 Dependent Life-Spouse coverage, or 50% of the employee’s Optional Life Insurance amount, whichever is less.
- Drop or decrease Optional Life and Dependent Life-Spouse coverage through the MyBenefits portal.
- Enroll in or cancel Dependent Life-Child coverage.
Important Note - A separate NOE must be submitted for each person (employee and/or spouse) by October 31, 2026. Additionally, MetLife will email a separate online Statement of Health form for each person (employee and/or spouse) to complete.
If MetLife approves your Optional Life and/or Dependent Life-Spouse coverage, the Office of Human Resources will submit the NOE(s) to PEBA. You should make all other open enrollment changes in the MyBenefits Employee Portal.
- Enroll in Optional Life coverage with medical evidence. Submit your request via the Life Insurance Request Portal.
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Choose your supplemental long term disability coverage
- Apply for Supplemental Long Term Disability (SLTD) coverage with medical evidence.
- Change your benefit waiting period from 180 days to 90 days for existing coverage with medical evidence.
- Change your benefit waiting period from 90 days to 180 days for existing coverage without medical evidence.
- Drop coverage.
Employees who wish to enroll in SLTD, change their waiting period from 180 to 90 days for existing coverage must use the Supplemental Long Term Disability (SLTD) Portal and complete an NOE (PDF) and Medical History Statement form (PDF).
To drop coverage or change the waiting period from 90 to 180 days, you must use the MyBenefits portal to submit changes for processing by October 31, 2026, at 11:59 p.m.
As a reminder, you can apply for SLTD or change your waiting period throughout the year with medical evidence.
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Choose your MoneyPlus elections
- Enroll in or drop the Pretax Group Premium feature.
- Enroll in or re-enroll in flexible spending accounts:
- Medical Spending Account
- Limited-use Medical Spending Account
- Dependent Care Spending Account
You can carry over up to $680 of unused Medical Spending Account (MSA) and Limited-use MSA funds into the 2027 plan year. Be sure to take this into consideration when making your election. If the IRS changes limits during October, this webpage will be updated with the new information.
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For Savings Plan enrollees: Choose Health Savings Account options
If you are enrolled in the Savings Plan as your State Health Plan you may:
- Enroll in or drop a Health Savings Account (HSA).
- If you enroll in an HSA, you must open and fully activate a bank account with Central Bank to access your funds. HSA Central will automatically set up the bank account based on enrollment information from PEBA. You will receive a welcome email from HSA Central with instructions on how to fully open/activate the HSA. HSA Central debit card will be delivered in 7 to 10 business days. Be sure to log in to your account online to accept the account’s terms and conditions and call to activate your debit card to access your new HSA fully.
- Change your contribution amount for an existing HSA election.
- Consider whether you would like to change your contribution amount for 2027. As a reminder, you can enroll in an HSA or change/stop your HSA contributions anytime throughout the year.
- Health Savings Accounts (HSA) elections will continue into the next year if an employee takes no action.
- Enroll in or drop a Health Savings Account (HSA).
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Choose your supplemental insurance coverage
- Enroll in or adjust Accidental Injury Insurance.
- Enroll in or adjust Critical Illness Insurance.
- Enroll in or adjust Hospital Indemnity Insurance.
Additional information about each plan, including limitations and exclusions, is included in the plan brochures. For assistance, to learn more about supplemental insurance coverage through Aflac or to enroll, attend one of the webinars listed below or use the button to schedule a virtual appointment with an Aflac representative.
Aflac Webinars
Monday, October 6, 2025 - 1:30 p.m. (ET)
Add October 6 Webinar to Calendar
Thursday, October 9, 2025 - 11:00 a.m. (ET)
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Choose your identity protection coverage
Enroll in or adjust Identity Protection coverage through Allstate Identity Protection Pro Plus. Allstate Identity Protection delivers a powerful new approach to online privacy with unique tools and proactive monitoring that help you see, manage, and protect your personal data.
- Enrollments and changes are limited to the annual open enrollment period.
- To enroll in or adjust coverage through the Allstate Identity Protection Pro Plus plan, submit the Identity Protection Open Enrollment Form.
Identity Protection Open Enrollment Form
Questions about Allstate Identity Protection Pro Plus? Call 1-800-789-2720.
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2026 is not a dental year
Changes to existing dental coverage can only be made during open enrollment periods in odd-numbered years. Your next opportunity to make changes will be in October 2027 or within 31 days of a special eligibility situation.
Basic Dental premiums will not increase in 2027.
Need Support?
PEBA
PEBA offers assistance to its members via phone, email and video consultation. Visit the page below to contact PEBA or schedule an appointment.
Aflac
Aflac supplemental insurance brochures can be found in the “Open Enrollment Options” section). Use the enrollment instructions below or contact Michael Weaver at m_weaver@us.aflac.com.
Allstate Identity Protection
Need assistance or more information? Call 1.800.789.2720 or visit Allstate’s website below to get answers to your questions.
Clemson Human Resources
The Office of Human Resources is available should you have general questions about open enrollment. Choose from a list of available times to schedule a meeting.
