Special Notice of Intent to Exercise Option to Extend FLTCIP Contract for a New 7-year Term

The U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is voluntarily posting a Special Notice to announce its intent to exercise the contract extension option in the current Federal Long Term Care Insurance Program (FLTCIP) contract with John Hancock Health & Life Insurance Company.  Pursuant to 5 U.S.C. § 9003(d), the new performance period will be for a term of seven years, and extend the current contract from May 1, 2023, to April 30, 2030.  

The Long Term Care Security Act, 5 U.S.C chapter 90, directed the Office of Personnel Management to contract with one or more qualified carriers for a policy or policies of long-term care insurance without regard to 41 U.S.C. § 6101(b) to (d) or any other statute requiring competitive bidding.  For purposes of being eligible to bid on the FLTCIP contract, a qualified carrier is an insurance company (or consortium of insurance companies) licensed to issue long-term care insurance in all States.  The FLTCIP contract encompasses the insurance benefits offered to current FLTCIP enrollees and potential coverage offered to new FLTCIP applicants, and includes claims administration, web services, customer support, and quality assurance. Currently FLTCIP enrollment is approximately 267,000. 

The results of our market research, including receipt of no responses from a qualified carrier to our Sources Sought Notice posted on December 20, 2021, lead us to conclude that we are unlikely to receive proposals from an insurance company other than incumbent if a competitive procurement process were held.  Based on this perceived lack of interest from the group long term care insurance market, as well as other factors, we believe that exercising the option to extend the term of the current contract is the most advantageous method of fulfilling the Government’s need.   

The determination not to compete this proposed contract action is solely within the discretion of OPM.  Nonetheless, out of an abundance of caution, we are posting this Special Notice to provide qualified carriers one last opportunity to express interest in competing for the FLTCIP contract.  Any information received from a qualified carrier will be considered as part of our final determination on whether to conduct a competitive procurement.  The Government will not be responsible for any costs incurred by responding to this notice. This is NOT a request for quotes or proposals.

The NAICS code is 524128 Other Direct Insurance (except Life, Health, and Medical) Carriers. 

Questions or comments about this Special Notice should be directed to the Contracting Officer, Edward M. DeHarde at Edward.DeHarde@opm.gov by Wednesday, May 11th. Please submit all inquiries or comments via e-mail, as no phone calls or voicemail messages regarding this notice will be accepted and no calls will be returned.