Federal Long Term Care Insurance Program

Joan Melanson and Paul Forte of Long Term Care Partners will talk about the Federal Long Term Care Insurance Program and other federal benefits available during this open season, including dental and vision insurance.

Crippling medical bills are the number one cause of bankruptcy in this country, but federal workers can avoid financial ruin — if they pay attention to open season.

The Office of Personnel Management’s inspector general says the agency needs a contingency plan to address risks in the long-term care insurance market.

It’s good news for feds who won’t be facing a 188 percent premium hike in their long-term care insurance like Senior Correspondent Mike Causey.

Reps. Don Beyer and Gerry Connolly (D-Va.) haven’t forgotten about rising premium rates to the Federal Long Term Care Program, and they certainly haven’t forgotten about the Office of Personnel Management’s response when asked what the agency planned to do about rising costs.

John Hancock Life & Health Insurance Company, OPM’s provider for the Federal Long Term Care Program, said “a confluence of factors” led to the sudden and drastic increases in premiums for 2017.

Most Federal Long Term Care Program policyholders chose to accept higher premiums or took advantage of special benefit reduction options during this summer’s enrollee decision period. Premiums rose for about 264,000 active and retired federal employees by as much as 126 percent.

What, if any, changes should you make to your coverage in the federal long term care insurance program? Paul Forte and Joan Melanson with Long Term Care Partners will answer that question and explain the long-term care insurance dilemma when they join host Mike Causey on this week’s Your Turn radio show. September 21, 2016

A little more than a month after the Office of Personnel Management dropped its long-term-care bombshell, the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee is asking where exactly that bomb came from.

In today’s Top Federal Headlines, Maryland’s two Senators write the Office of Personnel Management to express the concern they’re hearing from federal employees about the dramatic premium increases for the program.