Stay CLASS-y, Washington

By Meg Reid, Undergraduate Research Fellow, February 6, 2012 at 11:00 am

The US House of Representatives voted to repeal the CLASS Act. Conservatives are touting the vote as a first step into the destruction of the Affordable Care Act, which they hope to fully “repeal and replace.”

As part of the ACA, CLASS would set up a voluntary, affordable insurance program, run by the federal government, to support those in need of long-term care. The White House originally scrapped the program in October after Health & Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced that HHS would not be able to make the program fiscally solvent due to several problems with the bill’s setup.

First, the repeal by the House is a waste of time—the Obama administration has already discontinued implementation of the CLASS Act, and the repeal is unlikely to pass the Senate anyway. Second, and more importantly, repealing the bill outright is irresponsible. Despite its problems, the CLASS Act stands as one solution to a significant issue. We should be working within the CLASS Act or investigating alternatives in order to find a workable solution.

Even though the CLASS Act in its current state isn’t viable, simple repeal is not the answer. Long-term care remains an important issue because, though 70% of those 65 and up will need long-term care, only 2.8 percent have insurance that covers it*. Medicare covers barely any of these costs, so those who need long-term care will have to pay out-of-pocket or deplete their resources until they are eligible for Medicaid. Growing numbers of retirees and rising health care costs will be a significant issue for the federal government and Medicaid in coming years,

During the debate, Sen. Charles Boustany Jr. (R-La.) said, "I believe beyond CLASS repeal, we should make it easier for disabled Americans to save for their future needs. We can expand access to affordable private long-term-care coverage, we can better educate Americans on the need for retirement planning." Retirement planning is a nice thought, but the average lifetime spending on long-term care is $47,000 – and some Americans will pay upwards of $250,000*. Most people won’t be able to plan for those figures.

Helping Americans save for long-term care is not enough. We need solutions that control costs and support people who need care, and one of these solutions should be federal long-term insurance. The CLASS Act might not be this solution, but its repeal without an attempt at amendment or a feasible alternative is thoughtless. We should all recognize that working on a viable plan for long-term care is more important than scoring political points.

*These numbers come from an October HHS memo (PDF) advising Secretary Kathleen Sebelius against continuing CLASS implementation. 

Posted in Health Care | Related Topics: Health Insurance  Health Care Reform  Federal Government