The U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is replacing its old voluntary long-term care insurance (LTCI) plan.
The new version of the Federal Long Term Care Insurance Program plan, FLTCIP 3.0, still offers stand-alone LTCI coverage, but it now comes with a new premium stabilization feature.
(Related: U.S. Raise Long-Term Care Insurance Rates for Government Workers)
If the plan does poorly, the administrators will use the cash parked in the feature to hold premiums as steady as possible, OPM officials say.
If the plan does well, the administrators will use the cash to lower the cost of the policyholders’ premium payments, or to provide a kind of a rebate in the form of a refund-of-premiums death benefit, officials say.
Program Basics
Manulife Financial Corp.’s John Hancock Life & Health Insurance Company insures the plan.
Long Term Care Partners LLC serves as the administrator.
Originally, back in 2001, when OPM was organizing the program, John Hancock worked with an arm of MetLife Inc. to offer the program. MetLife walked away from the partnership in 2009, when the federal employees’ LTCI plan went through its first renewal period.