Members of the full House Energy and Commerce Committee today voted 33-17 to endorse H.R. 1173, a bill that could officially kill off the Community Living Assistance Services and Supports Act (CLASS) program.
The bill was introduced by Rep. Charles Boustany, R-La.
The CLASS Act was added to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 partly in honor off Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., who worked for years to create a universal long-term care benefits program.
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U.S. Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced in October that HHS experts had reviewed the CLASS program and could see no way to make the version of the program described in the statutes actuarially sustainable.
The CLASS Act would have created a voluntary LTC benefits program. Critics say the voluntary nature of the program would lead to antiselection, escalating price increases and, ultimately, a death spiral.
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Allison Bell
Allison Bell, a senior reporter at ThinkAdvisor and BenefitsPRO, previously was an associate editor at National Underwriter Life & Health. She has a bachelor's degree in economics from Washington University in St. Louis and a master's degree in journalism from the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University. She can be reached through X at @Think_Allison.
