CLASS ACT IS SUSPENDED
October 31, 2011
The Affordable Care Act¹ had included a provision, referred to as the CLASS Act, which was intended to provide long term care benefits to many Americans. However, on October 14, the Secretary of Health and Human Services, Kathleen Sebelius, released a report regarding the analysis and viability of the CLASS Act and announced that the Administration had decided to not move forward with its implementation.
In the report, Sebelius states, “In 2009, the actuary at [CMS] released a report to Congress…that raised concerns about the [CLASS] program's viability. Because of such concerns, the law passed by Congress required me to design a plan that would be actuarially sound and financially solvent for at least 75 years.” HHS has concluded that it cannot certify the plan’s long-term financial viability as currently structured. As a result of this decision, for all practical purposes, the CLASS Act is dead.
Employers who were holding off on their decision to offer long term care benefits because of the Act may now want to re-consider its implementation as more workers look to their employers to provide access to this benefit.
¹ “Affordable Care Act” means The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) and the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 (HCERA).
