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Plan Smart. Live Well!
Open Enrollment is your annual opportunity to review and select the best benefit options for you and your loved ones.
During Open Enrollment, you can evaluate your current benefits and explore new options that may better suit your needs. Whether you are looking for comprehensive health coverage, dental and vision plans, or want to review your life insurance and retirement options, now is the time to act.
We encourage you to explore your options, meet with a benefit enroller, and make the best choice for you and your family.
Note: In the next few days, this site will be updated with 2026 premiums and other important information.
Key Dates
The Virtual Benefit Fair will take place on Thursday, Oct. 23.
Open Enrollment begins on Tuesday, Oct. 28, at 12:01 a.m.
Open Enrollment ends on Monday, Nov. 17, at 12 a.m.
Important Links
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FAQs
Note: Questions that were submitted by employees are included in this section.
Open Enrollment is when you may enroll, cancel, or make changes to your benefit elections. These changes will be effective as of Jan. 1, 2026.
This website will include information about our 2026 benefits.
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Open Enrollment begins on Tuesday, Oct. 28, 2025, and ends on Monday, Nov. 17, 2025.
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Important: IRS regulations do not allow for plan enrollment or changes beyond the end of Open Enrollment unless there is a qualifying event (i.e. marriage, divorce, birth of a child, etc.) during the year.
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Effective Jan. 1, 2026, there will be updated premiums for the PPO, HDHP, and dental plans.
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There will also be some minor adjustments to the contribution limits and amounts for the Health Savings Account (HSA), Healthcare Flexible Spending Account (HC FSA), and Dependent Care Flexible Spending Account (DC FSA).
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Open Enrollment will be approximately three weeks this year, from Oct. 28 to Nov. 17.
We strongly encourage you to review your benefit options and to explore the insurance offerings that are available to full-time, benefit-eligible employees.
If you are enrolled in health, dental, and/or vision insurance plans, the Health Savings Account, or other voluntary benefit plans, and you do not want to make any changes to your coverages, there is nothing you need to do to continue them.
However, if you wish to participate in the Flexible Spending Account, you are required to enroll/re-enroll during Open Enrollment.
You should review the following information as you complete online enrollment, providing updates or changes as necessary:
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Your beneficiaries (the person or entity you name in an insurance policy to receive benefits) for basic life, voluntary life and accidental death and dismemberment (AD&D) insurances, along with voluntary and mandatory retirement accounts
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Social Security number(s) and date(s) of birth for your dependent(s)
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Life insurance rates for you and your dependent(s) (Rates may change depending on age)
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Emergency contacts: You can update your emergency contacts through AU Access. Look for “Emergency Contacts” under the “Personal Information” tab.
Ensuring the eligibility of all dependents and members enrolled in our benefit plans is crucial to reducing financial, legal, and employee risk. During Open Enrollment, you should review your dependents and remove anyone who may not meet the definition of an eligible dependent.
In 2018, the Employee Hardship Fund was established to provide financial support to eligible Auburn employees who are experiencing temporary financial hardship due to a qualifying life event.
It is funded entirely by voluntary charitable donations. Any person or entity is eligible to donate to the fund. Contributing to the fund is easy, and donors can make a one-time or ongoing gift. They can also share gift credit with or give in honor or memory of another person. For more information on the fund or to find links to contribute, visit the Hardship Fund website.
As you and your family’s health, wellbeing and financial needs change over time along with the designs and prices of the benefit plans that Auburn University offers, we recommend that you actively review your current elections and pick the best ones for you during Open Enrollment for 2026 as this is your one time every year to do so.
If you do not take any action during the Open Enrollment period for 2026, all of your 2025 benefit elections will roll-over to 2026 except your premiums will be set to the 2026 rates. In addition, if you wish to enroll in a Flexible Spending Account (FSA), either Health or Dependent Care, you must actively select an FSA contribution for 2026 during open enrollment even if you had an FSA in 2025. If you do nothing, you will not have an FSA in 2026. This is an IRS rule.
If you join the Auburn community or become benefits eligible after Open Enrollment begins on October 28 and before the end of the year, you will be given special instructions on how to enroll in your benefits for 2025 and 2026.
No. DC FSA are designed to help parents with the cost of childcare for children under the age of 13. The encompasses babysitting, before and after school care, summer camps (day camps only), etc. Kindergarten, whether public or private, is considered 'education' and not 'care' and therefor not qualified DC FSA expenses.
Child and Dependent Care Credit & Flexible Benefit Plans | Internal Revenue Service
