CLASS Act

All eyes turn to the Senate over the fate of the CLASS Act

McKnight's Staff February 03, 2012

Providers will be among the interested stakeholders watching closely for signs whether the Senate will follow the House's lead and vote to repeal the CLASS Act. Many observers believe the Democrat-led Senate will not, but there has been at least a minor shift in momentum for it recently. Various news reports have detailed what it could mean to have the dormant measure still on the books, and fiscal conservatives don't like it. Meanwhile, proponents of the first-ever government long-term care benefit continue to press their opponents with the question: If not CLASS, then what?
 

House repeals CLASS Act

February 02, 2012

The House of Representatives repealed the CLASS Act on Wednesday night, although its future is far from clear. Many observers expect Republican efforts to repeal CLASS will die in the Senate, where there is likely not enough support to push through the Fiscal Responsibility and Retirement Security Act.
 

House committee passes bill repealing CLASS Act

January 19, 2012

As expected, the House Ways and Means Committee passed a bill on Wednesday repealing the CLASS Act.
 

House GOP continue with CLASS repeal efforts

January 18, 2012

With Congress back in session, House Republicans are back at trying to repeal the Affordable Care Act's disability insurance benefit.
 

Yes, it was a good year

December 22, 2011

If you're like most operators, you're probably staggering toward the end-of-year holidays. And your unsteady gait may have nothing to do with spiked eggnog.
 

CLASS Act remains safe from repeal for rest of the year

December 14, 2011

Advocates for the CLASS Act can take some comfort in knowing that efforts for full repeal of the program are at a dead end, at least for the rest of this year.
 

House panel votes for repeal of CLASS

November 16, 2011

The House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health recommended a repeal of the CLASS Act Tuesday, according to published reports.
 

Republicans lobby for CLASS repeal; aging groups push back

November 04, 2011

Senate Republicans are continuing to push for repeal of the CLASS Act.
 

Legislation repealing CLASS would have no budgetary impact, CBO says

November 02, 2011

Cancellation of the CLASS Act means there will be billions less going toward reducing the nation's net deficit, the Congressional Budget Office said Monday. The Community Living and Assistance Services and Support (CLASS) program was a part of healthcare reform law, the total of which the CBO estimated would reduce the federal deficit by around $143 billion in a decade. Of that, $81 billion was coming from premium payments for long-term care insurance through CLASS.
 

Demise of CLASS boosted awareness of long-term care, says former actuary

October 26, 2011

Although all signs point to the CLASS Act being shelved indefinitely, the program's former leader says the silver lining is the ongoing discussion about long-term care needs.
 

Talk of federal long-term care benefit won't go away

October 21, 2011

If opponents of the CLASS Act think they've beaten down or somehow subdued chief advocate Larry Minnix or his LeadingAge members, they have another thing coming. Despite a week of roiling controversy and confusion that has some official sources leaving it for dead, CLASS still has an active champion in Minnix. That much was abundantly clear in a video interview with McKnight's on Wednesday.
 

LeadingAge: Don't stop fighting for CLASS Act

October 18, 2011

The Department of Health and Human Services may have shelved the CLASS long-term care benefit, but advocates of the program said mixed messages from the White House suggest otherwise. One major provider association said it would continue to fight to keep the program alive while another issued a statement Monday that was more resigned that the CLASS Act was all but dead.
 

CLASS Act is far from dead, according to supporters

October 16, 2011

When the White House effectively killed the CLASS Act, the program's most vocal advocates dug in their heels in hopes of resurrecting the long-term care insurance program.
 

Funding for CLASS halted, prompting questions from GOP

September 26, 2011

The White House has asked the Senate Appropriations Health subcommittee to halt all funding for the CLASS Act for fiscal year 2012.
 

In another blow to CLASS, HHS shuts down office, reassigns staff

September 23, 2011

The chief actuary for the Department of Health and Human Service's CLASS Act program has said HHS is shutting down its CLASS office and that he no longer has a job, according to published reports.
 

Experts renew hope for embattled CLASS Act

September 19, 2011

Despite a report hotly questioning the merits of the CLASS Act late last week, defenders of the first-ever federal long-term care benefit say various tweaks could still save the embattled program.
 

CLASS Act was doomed from the start, says GOP report

September 16, 2011

Health and Human Services officials were concerned about the sustainability of the CLASS Act prior to the bill's passage, according to a new report.
 

CLASS implementation likely delayed by one year

August 25, 2011

A Congressional Budget Office update issued Wednesday indicates there will be a one-year delay in the implementation of the Affordable Care Act's long-term care insurance plan.
 

GAO: Federal long-term care insurance program had unexpected premium hikes

August 15, 2011

Although 66% of enrollees in the Federal Long-Term Care Insurance program saw an increase in premiums in 2009, almost half opted for the increase rather than taking a reduction in benefits or a lapse in coverage, according to a Government Accountability Office report.
 

Legislators deeply concerned about CLASS Act sustainability

August 09, 2011

A group of state legislators has said that it has "grave concerns" about the long-term sustainability of the controversial CLASS Act.
 

Deficit reduction and long-term care: Enjoy things while you can

August 03, 2011

If you thought the last few weeks of politicians' stomach-turning brinksmanship over the national debt ceiling wasn't fun — and who did? — you have no reason to look forward to the end of November and December.
 

Provider groups remain vigilant on entitlement spending as Obama signs debt ceiling legislation

August 03, 2011

A bipartisan Congressional committee will be tasked with reforming entitlement programs, including Medicare and Medicaid, as part of a federal debt limit deal signed yesterday by President Obama.
 

Heavenly intercession for the CLASS Act?

July 22, 2011

The good news is politicians can always change their minds. The bad news is, well, politicians can always change their minds. That must be the mixed feelings that many providers — Larry Minnix and his faithful crew at LeadingAge foremost among them — carry in their heads right now. It was little over a year ago when President Obama finally signed sweeping healthcare reform into law, and with it the much-debated CLASS Act.
 

Providers to battle for life of CLASS Act, other Medicare and Medicaid payment issues

July 22, 2011

With lawmakers coming down to the wire to create a U.S. deficit reduction package, provides will be turning up the lobbying heat in an effort to keep the CLASS Act, and certain other important Medicaid and Medicare programs. It could be an uphill battle: Several prominent proposals have already recommended billions of dollars of cuts in healthcare funding.
 

Providers outraged: 'Gang of Six' spending proposal would eliminate CLASS Act

July 20, 2011

Providers immediately ripped a new deficit-reduction proposal Tuesday that was announced by a bipartisan group of influential U.S. Senators and endorsed at least modestly by both the White House and some key Republicans. The nearly complete proposal, cobbled together within two weeks of the United States possibly starting to default on its financial obligations, would slash numerous areas of healthcare spending and eliminate the nation's first government-sponsored long-term care insurance program.
 

Federal appeals court upholds Affordable Care Act challenge

June 30, 2011

A U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati upheld President Obama's Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act on Wednesday. The circuit court affirmed a Michigan federal judge's previous ruling that Congress can mandate Americans to purchase health insurance.
 

CMS actuary voices concern over healthcare reform measures

June 15, 2011

In a Society of Actuaries speech on Monday, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services' chief actuary accused legislators and policymakers of ignoring his warnings about the sustainability of the CLASS Act and changes to Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act.
 

Support for universal healthcare program grows, poll finds

June 09, 2011

Residents of Massachusetts are increasingly supportive of the state's 2006 universal healthcare law, lending belief to the idea that the national Affordable Care Act will gain more public support over time.
 

CLASS Act changes in the works

May 31, 2011

The Department of Health and Human Services plans to issue a rule amending the Community Living Assistance Services and Support (CLASS) program, a top official says.
 

State caregiver matching programs complement CLASS Act, study finds

May 09, 2011

Caregiver matching programs, which help elderly and disabled individuals manage their own home healthcare, are a good fit with various provisions of the Community Living Assistance Services and Supports (CLASS) Act, according to a new study.
 
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