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By: FEDweek StaffDeadlines lie just ahead for new enrollments, or changes in existing enrollments, in the FLTCIP long-term care insurance program and for filing claims related to financial losses from the breaches of OPM databases revealed in 2015.
The FLTCIP will no longer accept applications after December 18, a suspension that is to last at least 24 months. During that time, OPM and the carrier are to reassess the program’s long-term financial projections, with OPM having strongly hinted—and it’s IG’s office already having projected—that as a result premiums will increase and/or benefits will decrease once enrollment is reopened.
“Eligible individuals who submit an application for FLTCIP prior to the start of the suspension period will have their application considered. If the application is approved for coverage, then the individual will receive a benefit booklet and schedule of benefits with complete coverage information,” says a notice on www.ltcfeds.com, the enrollment portal.
“Current enrollees’ coverage status will not change as long as they continue to pay premium. For those in a claim status, there is no change to coverage or the claims reimbursement process as long as benefits have not been exhausted,” it adds.
Meanwhile, December 23 is the deadline for filing claims in a court-approved settlement over the breaches of OPM databases on current and former federal employees (plus others on whom the government ran background checks to gain access to federal facilities). The settlement, approved in October in a suit dating to soon after the breaches were revealed, created a $63 million fund from which claimants stand to receive the greater of $700 or the actual amount of their loss, up to $10,000.
To be eligible, individuals must join the suit by the deadline and establish that their information was compromised and that they suffered an out of pocket expense or lost compensable time for certain related reasons. Those include to purchase a product or service to identify or remediate the data breaches; to access, freeze or unfreeze a credit report with a credit reporting agency; or as a result of an identity theft incident or to mitigate an identity theft incident.
Further information and claims-filing procedures are at www.opmdatabreach.com.
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