Federal Daily - May 5, 2009

OPM Announces FLTCIP Contract

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) announced May 1 it had awarded a contract for the Federal Long Term Care Insurance Program (FLTCIP) to the John Hancock Life and Health Insurance Co. The seven-year pact offers enhanced benefits, which include increased home health care reimbursement, new benefit periods, higher daily benefit amounts and increased payment limits on informal care provided by family members, OPM said. Premium rates for current enrollees with automatic compound inflation protection will increase between 5 percent and 25 percent. The program has not had an increase in the last seven years. There is no premium increase for enrollees with Future Purchase Option, OPM said. OPM said that John Hancock will provide a decision period for current enrollees before any premium increases take effect. OPM said enrollees will have a chance to choose from personalized options that include remaining with their current benefit structure, keeping their current premiums substantially the same by making changes to their benefits, or taking advantage of a one-time opportunity to switch to the new benefit structure without underwriting—in other words, feds get an “open season” opportunity to change their benefits through the new plan, and they do not have to qualify for enhanced benefits via underwriting. John Hancock has been a 50 percent joint-program insurer since the program's 2002 inception, OPM said. “The Federal Long Term Care Insurance Program is an important benefit that helps enrollees pay for long-term care costs that are not covered by health insurance, which can be emotionally and financially devastating for their entire family,” said OPM Director John Berry.

:: Back to Top ::

Lawmakers Seek TARP Preference for IRS Workers Facing Job Loss

Lawmakers have asked that the Special Inspector General of the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) give a TARP hiring preference to 1,500 employees at the IRS’s Andover, Mass., service center who could lose their jobs this year. In a letter to TARP Special Inspector General Neil M. Barofsky, Reps. Stephen F. Lynch, D-Mass., Niki Tsongas, D-Mass., and Paul Hodes, D-N.H., sought the hiring preference and also restated their opposition to the shuttering of the Andover facility. The Andover office and one in Fitchburg, Mass., which handle paper tax returns, are due to be closed in part because of projected increases in the number of tax returns filed electronically. Paper tax return processing has already ceased at IRS facilities in Long Island, N.Y., Memphis, Tenn., and in Philadelphia, with another center in Atlanta slated to close in 2011, according to the National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU), which supported the lawmakers’ efforts. “These lawmakers have shown great concern for the economic wellbeing of impacted employees at Andover,” NTEU President Colleen Kelley said May 4. Lawmakers pointed out that a Government Accountability Office report last year showed 59 percent of returns were filed electronically, about the same as the previous year. “The IRS is nowhere near hitting its 80 percent projection of electronic filing,” Kelley said. To see more, go to: www.nteu.org

:: Back to Top ::

VA Opens Online Applications for Post-9/11 GI Bill

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) announced May 1 it had opened the online application process for veterans who want to apply for Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits. Veterans, servicemembers, reservists and National Guard members with active duty since Sept. 10, 2001, may be eligible for this benefit, VA said. Prospective beneficiaries may apply online through the GI Bill Web site at www.GIBILL.VA.gov. The Post-9/11 GI Bill provides eligible applicants with tuition payments to assist them in getting a college education. For many participants, it also provides a housing allowance and a stipend for books and supplies, VA said. Benefit payment rates range from 40 percent of the maximum benefit for a person with at least 90 days, but less than 6 months of aggregate service, to 100 percent for those with at least 36 months of aggregate service or 30 continuous days and a discharge due to a service-connected disability. Vets remain eligible for benefits for 15 years from the date of last discharge or release from a period of active duty of at least 90 continuous days, the VA said. “There is no better investment than education,” said Tammy Duckworth, VA’s assistant secretary for public and intergovernmental affairs. To see more, go to: http://www1.va.gov/opa/pressrel/pressrelease.cfm?id=1669.

:: Back to Top ::