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Insurance Services Programs

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Federal Long Term Care Insurance Program

2003 Bulletin Board Archive

Navy Personnel Command (BUPERS) employees and retirees now eligible to apply; Open Season announced

As of December 29, 2003, Navy Personnel Command (also known as BUPERS) employees and retirees, and their qualified relatives, became eligible to apply for this insurance. Click here for details on a special open season with abbreviated underwriting for these employees and their spouses. Retirees and other qua

lified relatives can apply at any time with full underwriting.

District of Columbia Government Open Season announced

Click here for details on a special open season with abbreviated underwriting for District of Columbia employees first employed by the D.C. Government before October 1, 1987, and their spouses. Eligible D.C. Government annuitants (those first employed by the D.C. Government before October 1, 1987) and other qualified relatives can apply at any time with full underwriting.

December 8, 2003 —

Additional Groups Eligible to Apply!

Pursuant to section 561 of Public Law 108-136, the National Defense Authorization Act for 2004, signed into law by President Bush on November 24, 2003, three additional groups, and their qualified relatives, are now eligible to apply for this insurance:

D.C. Government employees and retirees who were first employed by the D.C. Government before October 1, 1987
Federal deferred annuitants who separate with title to a deferred annuity, even if they aren't yet receiving that annuity
Retired "grey" reservists, even if they are not receiving their retired pay yet

Read more about who is eligible to apply for this insurance.

June 18, 2003 —

Can I still apply?

YES! Although Open Season has ended, if you are in an eligible group, you can still apply for Federal Long Term Care Insurance. This is the only long term care insurance program sponsored by the U.S. Office of Personnel Management.

April 21, 2003 —

Special Open Season and New FAQs for D.C. Courts Employees and Annuitants

President Bush signed H.J.Res. 2 into law as Public Law 108-7 on February 20, 2003. Section 138(a) of the law makes employees and annuitants of the District of Columbia Courts and their qualified relatives eligible to apply for insurance under the Program. From May 1 through June 30, 2003, active District of Columbia Courts employees and their spouses will be able to apply with abbreviated underwriting. Annuitants and their spouses, and other qualified relatives may apply at any time (even after the special Open Season) with full underwriting.

April 17, 2003 —

New FAQs on the Flexible Spending Accounts Program

We added a new set of FAQs explaining those Long Term Care expenses that can be reimbursed through the Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA) program.

March 20, 2003 —

New FAQs on Call-Up to Active Duty

We posted new frequently asked questions on how being called up to active duty may affect coverage under the Program.

February 24, 2003 —

Employees of D.C. Government Courts Eligible to Apply

President Bush signed H.J.Res. 2 into law as Public Law 108-7 on February 20, 2003. Section 138 (a) of the law makes employees of the District of Columbia Courts eligible to apply for insurance under the Federal Long Term Care Insurance Program.

February 13, 2003 —

FLTCIP On Track to Become the Largest Employer-Sponsored LTC Insurance Plan in U.S.

265,000 members of the "Federal Family" have applied for insurance under the Federal Long Term Care Insurance Program. When underwriting is complete on all Open Season applicants (by early spring), the Program is expected to be the largest employer-sponsored long term care insurance program in the country.

February 5, 2003 —

Interim Regulations Published

Interim regulations for the Federal Long Term Care Insurance Program were published in the Federal Register on February 4, 2003. The comment period ends on April 7th. They are available for download as a
[64 KB] or [57 KB]

January 1, 2003 —

If You Have An Open Season Application, You Can Still Submit It!

Although Open Season ended on December 31, 2002, if you already have an open season application (or will be receiving one soon because you requested one by December 31), you can still submit it, as long as Long Term Care Partners receives it by January 31. (Note this means received by, and not postmarked by). Click here for the Open Season application mailing addresses and fax number.

Long Term Care Partners is no longer fulfilling requests for Open Season applications. Application requests received after December 31, including downloading an application from www.ltcfeds.com, are being fulfilled with the regular, non-Open Season application materials.

Please note that you do NOT have to have your open season application approved or your billing options completed by any particular date in order to take advantage of the open season rules. The key is the date that Long Term Care Partners receives your application, not the date it is approved. As long as Long Term Care Partners receives it by January 31, they will process it using open season rules (e.g., the July 1 "age freeze").

We updated our Frequently Asked Questions to reflect that Open Season has ended. We also added several new questions and revamped the format. So you may want to take a look. Please note that we're starting fresh with the "FAQ Changes" and will note changes we make from today forward.

If you were in the eligible group during the 2002 Open Season, but didn't apply or request an open season application, don't panic. You can STILL APPLY. But you may need to apply using the full underwriting application.

Yes, you can if you are in a group eligible to apply for this Program. You will use either an abbreviated underwriting application or a full underwriting application, depending on when you apply.

AND you apply within 60 days of becoming eligible, then you use the abbreviated underwriting application.

If you apply after those 60 days (or if you're eligible to apply, but are not in one of the new employee/spouse groups listed above), then you use the full underwriting application.