“Growing old is not for wimps!”

Denise Leger-Lee, director of the Personnel Policy and Partnership Division in the Office of Human Resources Management, made that observation during a recent discussion about long term care. For many aging baby boomers at USDA--and many other employees, for that matter--it’s a topic that has moved to center stage.

What’s driving many discussions about this subject of late is the fact that the federal government came out with a Federal Long Term Care Insurance Program. Many USDA employees already made a decision about whether to enroll in that program during the “open season” from July through December 2002, while many other employees opted to defer their decision until a later time. “Nonetheless,” advised Eleanor Ratcliff, USDA’s benefits officer in OHRM, “it’s never too late to get some helpful information about that subject.”

Long term care insurance is designed to help cover the cost of services for people who need assistance with the activities of daily living--custodial care--such as eating, dressing, and bathing, or who have a severe cognitive impairment such as Alzheimer’s disease. Care can be received at home, an adult day care center, a hospice, an assisted living facility, or a nursing home.

According to Ratcliff, studies show that 60 percent of people who reach age 65 will need long term care at some point in their lives. In addition, more than half of all women and one-third of all men who survive to age 65 are expected to spend at least some time in a nursing home during the remainder of their life. “Another twist to those numbers,” she advised, “is that 40 percent of the people who use long term care are less than 65 years old--so this insurance coverage isn’t only for seniors.”

For care in a nursing home, the national average annual cost is $52,000 for a semi-private room. If a person can receive health care at home instead, the national average annual cost of home health care is estimated at over $20,000.

Ratcliff emphasized that Medicare and health insurance don’t routinely pay for many long term care expenses. In addition, Medicaid--which is the federal program designed to help those who meet their state’s poverty guidelines--won’t kick in until virtually all of a person’s assets--and his/her spouse’s assets, if the individual is married--have been depleted. “For those not using Medicaid benefits, most of the cost of long term care comes out of their own pockets,” she said.

OHRM employee relations specialist Marjorie Rawls noted that Congress approved the Federal Long Term Care Insurance Program two years ago as a way to help federal employees and federal retirees obtain coverage for such services as nursing home care, assisted living care, and adult day care. The Office of Personnel Management selected LTC Partners--formed by the Metropolitan Life and the John Hancock insurance companies--to provide that coverage.

“The Federal Long Term Care Insurance Program--and virtually all reputable programs, for that matter--require ‘underwriting’,” she explained. “That means the program will evaluate the health of the applicant to determine if he/she qualifies for coverage.” During the ‘open season’ for the federal program, applicants were asked seven specific questions about their health. “Those applying after completion of the open season face more questions about their health, and presumably tougher standards, to get coverage under the federal program,” Rawls said.

At USDA, persons eligible to apply for the Federal Long Term Care Insurance Program include current and retired employees--plus many qualified relatives, to include many adult children and parents--of those employees.

The federal program offers a gradation of services and benefits, so enrollees can customize their long term insurance to meet their own needs.

Concerning cost of the program, she said the rule of thumb is “The higher the benefits, the higher the premiums. And the younger the policyholder, the cheaper the premiums--but the longer you pay them. Plus, enrollees pay the full cost of the premiums--but at group rates.”

Many aspects of the Federal Long Term Care Insurance Program are spelled out on OPM’s website at http://www.opm.gov/insure/ltc, and a toll-free telephone line at 1-800-582-3337 is provided by LTC Partners.

In addition, during October USDA sponsored eight presentations on the Federal Long Term Care Insurance Program at USDA headquarters in Washington, DC. A number of USDA field locations also held their own sessions.

“Long term care insurance policies,” Ratcliff advised, “should be evaluated against an individual employee’s anticipated health needs, personal assets, family assets as appropriate, and overall financial planning goals.”