Long-term care insurance benefits soon will be available to the same-sex partners of federal employees, a government employment agency recently said.

The Office of Personnel Management on Tuesday said that the same-sex domestic partners of eligible federal employees will themselves soon be eligible for the Federal Long-Term Care Insurance Program, The Washington Post reported. Beginning next month, same-sex couples can register for the long-term care benefit at www.ltcfeds.com. The benefit is not being extended to opposite-sex domestic partners, since they can obtain the benefit through marriage, which is not an option available to same-sex couples, according to the Post.

The Federal Long Term Care Insurance Program provides long-term care insurance for federal employees, including U.S. Postal Service employees, active and retired members of the uniformed services, and their qualified relatives. The new eligibility ruling covers only the long-term care benefit.