Another long-term care insurance snafu has prompted the Office of Personnel Management to again extend the deadline for some participants to make changes in their coverage.

About 71,600 enrollees received letters from insurer John Hancock Life & Health Insurance Co. that incorrectly calculated potential premiums under the plan, OPM said last week.

The enrollees are among those who must decide whether to accept premium increases or — if they want to keep their current premiums — reduce the rate at which their benefits accrue. About 155,000 enrollees who had signed up for the automatic compound inflation option, thinking they were insulated against future premium increases, now face premium increases of up to 25 percent.

Enrollees who received incorrect premium data will now have until March 15 to decide on plan changes. All other enrollees must decide by Feb. 15.

"Getting accurate, easy-to-understand information to our enrollees in a timely manner is my top priority," OPM Director John Berry said. "All companies participating in this program must take steps to ensure that similar errors are avoided in the future."

This is the second time OPM has extended the deadline. The first extension came last month, after lawmakers and union representatives blasted the agency for its initial Dec. 14 deadline and said enrollees needed more than a few weeks to decide.

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