In Op-Ed, OPM Director Encourages Federal Employees To Join Long-Term Care Insurance Program
The new Federal Long-Term Care Insurance Program offers a "unique opportunity for families to plan for the future" and the 20 million eligible federal employees, military personnel and families should enroll, Kay Coles James, director of the Office of Personnel Management writes in a Washington Times opinion piece (James, Washington Times, 4/3). The OPM, which administers the program, offers three plans that provide coverage for nursing home care, assisted living, adult day care and other long-term care. Plan A provides benefits of $100 per day for three years; Plan B provides $150 per day for three years; and Plan C provides $150 per day for five years. Enrollees in the program pay monthly premiums that range from $8.40 to $675.60 based on the plan that they select and their age (Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, 3/26). James cites several "solid reasons" to support the OPM program. According to James, the program will help attract "highly qualified and motivated professionals" to serve in the federal government. In addition, it will help federal employees and their families avoid having to "impoverish themselves to be eligible for" Medicaid-funded long-term care. She notes that nursing homes only accept a limited number of Medicaid patients and that Medicaid often does not cover the cost of adult day care centers, assisted living facilities or home health care. The OPM program, however, allows enrollees to have "greater control over where and how they receive their care," James writes. She concludes, "This new federal benefit plan will set the standard for employers and long-term care insurance plans to follow. Its participants will set an example of how long-term care insurance is integral to responsible financial planning. Finally, it will empower federal employees with a tool to make their futures more secure while preserving their care choices" (Washington Times, 4/3).
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