Daily printout: Dec. 10, 2024

Open season — the once-a-year opportunity for Postal Service employees to make changes to their health benefits or enroll in a new plan — has been extended through Friday, Dec. 13, at 11:59 p.m. Eastern.

The extension covers the Postal Service Health Benefits (PSHB) Program, flexible spending accounts, the Annual Leave Exchange and the USPS Health Benefits Plan for noncareer employees.

Open season for the Federal Employees Dental and Vision Insurance Program has not been extended and will end on Monday, Dec. 9, at 11:59 p.m. Eastern.

A comparable PSHB plan has been identified for all employees who are currently enrolled in a Federal Employees Health Benefits plan.

Employees are encouraged to review the comparable plan, and if satisfied, they do not have to take any action. The employee and their dependents will automatically be transitioned to the new plan.

For employees who wish to change plans, they can review and compare plans using Checkbook’s Guide to Health Plans for Federal Employees, which can be accessed through the MyHR website.

Employees who wish to make a change to their health plan will need to set up an account with Login.gov, which is a secure government sign-in service. Instructions are available on the Login.gov homepage.

Once an employee has established a Login.gov account, they can visit MyHR to access the enrollment platform.

To enroll in a flexible spending account, employees can go to LiteBlue, sign in, click the “Apps” tab, and select the red “Flexible Spending Account” link.

To join the Annual Leave Exchange or enroll in the USPS Health Benefits Plan, employees must go to LiteBlue, sign in and select PostalEASE.

Links to enroll in PSHB or flexible spending accounts can be found on the Blue, LiteBlue and MyHR homepages.

Employees who have difficulty enrolling online in PSHB or for a flexible spending account can download manual enrollment forms from MyHR.

MyHR’s open season page has more information.

The Postal Service offers a variety of seasonal stamps for this year’s holidays. Here’s a look at 12 of them available at usps.com and many Post Offices:

• Christmas Madonna and Child. This 2024 stamp features an oil painting from the workshop of the 17th century Italian artist Giovanni Battista Salvi, known as “Sassoferrato.”

• HolidayJoy. These four 2024 stamps show folk-art inspired images of colorful flowers and Christmas ornaments.

• Hanukkah. This 2024 stamp features an image of a hanukkiah, the nine-branch candelabra used during the holiday.

• Kwanzaa. This 2024 stamp shows a male drummer and two female dancers and highlights the colors of the Pan-African flag.

• Winter Whimsy. These 2024 stamps showcase four different white, lacy, symmetrical graphic forms inspired by snowflakes.

• Winter Woodland Animals. These four stamps from 2023 feature deer, rabbits, owls and foxes.

• Snow Globes. These four 2023 stamps depict icons of the holiday season among flakes of snow, under a dome of glass.

• Hanukkah. The 2023 version of this annual stamp features an abstract image of a hanukkiah.

• Kwanzaa. An image of a girl and boy facing a kinara — a seven-stem candelabra that represents the holiday’s seven founding principles — graces the 2023 version of this annual stamp.

• Virgin and Child. This stamp from 2022 features a painting of the Virgin Mary gazing downward at the infant Christ by an unidentified Florentine artist known as the Master of the Scandicci Lamentation.

• Holiday Elves. This block of four stamps from 2022 depicts Santa’s helpers cheerfully working on an assembly line containing toys and candy.

• Poinsettia. This global Forever stamp from 2018 features a photo of a poinsettia that is taken from above and shows green leaves, red bracts and yellow flowers.

Additionally, a variety of stamp-related postal products are available at usps.com.