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.
H.R. 1173, the Fiscal Responsibility and Retirement Security Act of 2011 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 (LTC) benefits program.
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.
Because workers would have to be in the program for at least 5 years before collecting benefits, the program would have built up an $80 billion surplus during the early years of its existence, according to budget analyst projections.
Critics say the voluntary nature of the program would lead to antiselection, escalating price increases and, ultimately, a death spiral.
Some Democrats held out hope that Congress could find a way to save the program while reducing antiselection pressure.
Rep. Fred Upton, R-Mich., the committee chairman, says in a statement about the bill that he wants to return to the LTC issue.
"I believe we have to start over on long-term care reform—an issue that will affect millions of Americans as they or a loved one need care," Upton says.
Rep. John Sullivan, R-Okla., also voted for the bill. He says in a statement of his own that he sees committee action on the bill as "an important step toward derailing President Obama's unconstitutional health care law piece by piece."
Republicans agreed by a voice vote to approve a Republican amendment to H.R. 1173 that would deauthorize funding for the National Clearinghouse for Long Term Care Information. HHS developed the site to give consumers information about LTC costs and strategies for dealing with those costs, such as buying long-term care insurance (LTCI) and using reverse mortgages.
Republicans defeated Democratic efforts to amend the bill to keep it from being implemented until alternative LTC arrangements were in place or 50% of Americans have LTC insurance.
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