More than 45,000 federal employees, spouses and same-sex domestic partners signed up for the Federal Long Term Care Insurance Program (FLTCIP) during the open season period earlier this year.
The open season period, which ran from April 4 to June 24, allowed these individuals to sign up for the long term care insurance coverage with abbreviated underwriting, which means they had to answer fewer health questions during the enrollment process.
The Office of Personnel Management, which runs the program, said today that the 20 percent increase in enrollment brought the program to 270,000 total enrollees. “The Federal program is the nation’s largest group plan,” explains Jesse Slome, executive director of the American Association for Long-Term Care Insurance http://www.aaltci.org. “In addition to those enrolling in the plan, we estimate some 10,000 or more individuals purchased private coverage as a result of all the promotion.”
“We’ve seen strong support for the program in federal agencies, and ultimately in the number of people who applied and were accepted into the program,” OPM Director John Berry said in a statement. “OPM is proud of the success of the FLTCIP — one of the most flexible, inclusive and affordable long term care insurance programs, designed to help employees plan for their needs as they age.”
The open enrollment was the first major open season since OPM initiated the program and the first time eligibility was extended to same-sex domestic partners. OPM said it received more than 300 applications from same-sex domestic partners.
“We were receiving as many as 30 calls a day from consumers during the open enrollment period,” Slome adds. “As a result, we expect overall industry sales for 2011 will be higher than 2010 a most welcome occurrence.”
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