Fedweek

OPM has raised the rates for new enrollments in the FLTCIP long-term care insurance program, effective August 1, a change made with no advance warning to those who may have been thinking of enrolling and might have wanted to act before that hike, if they had known it was coming. The increases apply to the various options for structuring coverage. In percentage terms, the hike is the steepest for new enrollees at younger ages and lessens as the age at enrollment increases. While the increases don’t apply to those already enrolled as of August 1, it is rare for premiums to increase in the program at all, much less with no prior warning. FLTCIP rates increased in early 2010 for many of those who were enrolled at the time in coverage with an inflation protection feature, largely for the same reason OPM cited for these increases: that income from premiums would be insufficient to cover expected outlays. The latest increase applies to all options of coverage.