OPM Renews FLTCIP Contract with John Hancock, Premium Increases to Come

from August 2023 NARFE Magazine

Monitoring Sea Turtles

Effective May 1, 2023, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) extended its contract with John Hancock to provide insurance coverage to all Federal Long Term Care Insurance Program (FLTCIP) enrollees. Although OPM solicited multiple bids, John Hancock remained the sole bidder. The program administrator, Long Term Care Partners LLC, has mailed notice of this action to enrollees.

Per the extended contract, most enrollees should expect to face a premium increase effective January 1, 2024. In September 2023, each enrollee will be offered personalized options that will include accepting the premium rate increase to maintain current coverage or to decrease coverage to reduce the impact of any increase. OPM indicated that premium increases would be phased in over three years that straddled the July 6 date to reach the 20-year work requirement, even though these employees had been paying the higher retirement contributions for more than a decade and making retirement decisions based on what they were told when hired.

For historical reference, premium increases in 2016 averaged 83 percent and were as high as 126 percent, while premium increases in 2009 were as high as 25 percent. It’s possible that the range and average for premium increases presented to enrollees in 2023 will exceed those amounts.

As a result, Sens. Gary Peters, D-MI, and Josh for some coverage options. No additional information on the premium increases or personalized options is available currently. Notably, OPM did not disclose the range of the premium increases nor the average premium increase, which it has done in the past.

NARFE previously requested that OPM provide a partial refund option in addition to the other options it will provide to maintain premium levels (and reduce coverage), but OPM has declined to do so. NARFE is now pursuing legislative options to provide premium relief, as options for administrative relief have passed. We will continue to update members on this issue as developments arise.

—JOHN HATTON, STAFF VICE PRESIDENT, POLICY AND PROGRAMS

Hawley, R-MO, reintroduced the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Officer Retirement Technical Corrections Act, to make good on what the officers were promised. The bill would require CBP to identify the officers affected by the error and grant them the enhanced benefits they were promised. The legislation would also retroactively change the annuities of those eligible who retired prior to enactment. It would also grant the Department of Homeland Security the authority to waive maximum entry age requirements for eligible officers.

The U.S. Customs and Border Protection Officer Retirement Technical Corrections Act now awaits further action by the full Senate.

—BY SETH ICKES, POLITICAL ASSOCIATE

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