When my kids were little, they played a game that I quietly dubbed “horrible choices.” It seemed, at the time, like a no-win deal for yours truly. Still does, now that I think about it. In the game they would ask whether I preferred to be:

• Eaten by a 90-foot long eel?

• Boiled in baby oil?

• Dropped from 90,000 feet without a parachute, or into a nest of hungry young pterodactyls?

Whatever.

When I said none-of-the-above, they said the rules demanded that I make a choice. When I finally did pick one, they would howl. How could anybody pick that one? As I said, it was lose-lose for me. But we had a good time. And, as of last Monday, none have done any jail time.

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Fast-forward to now. You and the Nov. 1 horrible choices deadline for a quarter of a million current, retired and former feds or their spouses or survivors. People who signed up for the federal group long-term care insurance plan. The problem is that premiums are going up an average of 83 percent. That works out to $111 more per month, each month for the next seven years.

There will be little or no increase for a relatively small numbers of people. Others will see their premiums go up as much as 126 percent.

Paying the new higher premiums will be a problem for many who are looking at a 1.6 percent raise in January and a much larger increase in regular health insurance premiums in the FEHBP program.

Some people may drop LTC. Others may downsize their coverage, reducing the daily benefit they would get, or the length of time they would be covered. LTC is something nobody wants to think about, but the numbers say we should. At its peak, about 102 life insurance companies offered LTC coverage. Today, that number is down to around 14. Only one company, John Hancock, even bid on the federal LTC program when the contract came up this year for renewal. LTC has proved a lot more expensive than anybody figured.

One of the companies that got stung on the rising costs of LTC is the one that offered the group plan I signed up for while at The Washington Post. It got out of the LTC business the first chance it got. Those of us who signed up for the group plan a long time ago still have coverage. But our company hasn’t taken any new policy-holders for a decade. And their premiums are going up next month because of the unexpectedly high costs of providing coverage.

Anyway you look at it, premiums, coverage, costs, it’s not fun. In 2013, the National Association of Insurance Commissioners issued a shoppers guide. At that time, it said:

• Life expectancy after age 65 is 18.6 years. That’s up five years since 1940. People are living longer.

• About 70 percent of those who reach age 65 are expected to need some form of LTC at least once in their lifetime.

• About 35 percent of those who reach age 65 will enter a nursing home at least once with the average stay one year.

• The number of people 85 and older will rise from 6 million to over 18 million between now and 2055. More people, living longer and needing help.

So why the price price increase? And what are your options? How do you know whether to drop coverage, downsize or pay the money? Today at 10 a.m. on our Your Turn radio show
Paul Forte, CEO of Long Term Care Partners, the company that administers the FLTCIP, and Joan Melanson, Director of Program Promotion, return to discuss the specific actions FLTCIP enrollees need to take regarding their long-term care benefits, key considerations in choosing an option, and resources available to help enrollees make an informed decisions. Also covered: what options enrollees are selecting, and commonly asked questions and concerns. The show airs live at 10 a.m. EDT on Federal News Radio or 1500 AM. It will also be archived so if you miss it you can listen later, or pass it on to a friend or coworkers.

General information webinars on the Enrollee Decision Period can be viewed using the following links: First event and second event.

As with the previous show, we will try to get to a few email questions if there is time. Please email your questions in advance to mcausey@federalnewsradio.com.

TSP Diversity: When they retire or leave government, about half of all Thrift Savings Plan account holders move their money into an outside IRA. So how come? What are the pros and cons of sticking with the TSP vs. investing in other options. In the second segment of today’s Your Turn show, we’ll be talking to Scott Puritz, retirement investment adviser with Rebalance IRA a Bethesda, Maryland-based company that advocates giving feds more choices.

Nearly Useless Factoid

By Michael O’Connell

The largest eel in the world is the European Conger, which has been known to grow to 9-feet-10 inches in length.

Source: Wikipedia

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