While most of our 1.5 million members stayed with their health plan, as they typically do, 55,000 of you changed Basic plans, and 6,000 of you moved to a new Medicare plan. That’s lower than prior years, when roughly 87,000 and 70,000 of you changed plans in 2024 and 2023, respectively.
While we don’t know exactly why each member changes health plans, there were some factors for the lower 2025 plan year that likely contributed:
- Fewer members switched due to lower premium increases for Kaiser Permanente and CalPERS PPO plans compared to last year, and because all Basic plans continued to be available in the program for 2025, unlike in 2024 when HealthNet SmartCare was no longer offered to members.
- UnitedHealthcare SignatureValue Harmony expanded to Contra Costa, Solano, and Napa counties, Blue Shield Trio to Contra Costa and Shasta counties, Health Net Salud y Más to Imperial County, and Kaiser Permanente to Monterey County. When plans expand service areas, it gives members more plan options to choose from, and 890 of you made the switch.
- UnitedHealthcare Medicare Advantage Edge and Western Health Advantage MyCare Select exited the CalPERS Health Program, so 6,000 of you moved plans, mostly to UnitedHealthcare Group Medicare Advantage PPO and Blue Shield Medicare PPO.
- We increased communication outreach with emails, articles, the website, and myCalPERS to encourage members to shop and compare health plans.
Overall, the health plans that experienced the largest net gain of members were Blue Shield Access+, UnitedHealthcare SignatureValue Alliance, and UnitedHealthcare SignatureValue Harmony. Kaiser Permanente, PERS Platinum, and Anthem Blue Cross Select HMO experienced the largest net loss. The 2024 Open Enrollment results for 2025 plan year (PDF) are updated every year for transparency around enrollment changes.
You can search for CalPERS health plans available in your area any time using the Health Plan Search by ZIP Code tool on our website, or by logging into your myCalPERS account and using the Search Health Plans feature. The next opportunity to consider your health plan choice and make a change (outside of special enrollment events) is Open Enrollment this fall, from September 15 through October 10, 2025.