CLASS delayed another year
A recent Congressional Budget Office update indicates there will be a one-year delay in the implementation of the Affordable Care Act's long-term care insurance plan.The Community Living Assistance Services and Supports program (or CLASS Act) was expected to start collecting premiums in 2012. It is now facing a 2013 start date, according to the CBO report.
“Based on the pace of implementation actions thus far, CBO now estimates that the program will begin collecting premiums in fiscal year 2013, lowering projected offsetting receipts (whereas, for the March baseline, CBO assumed that those collections would begin in fiscal year 2012),” the report states.
The controversial program — which has been a target during deficit reduction negotiations — is the first federally backed LTC insurance option for elderly and disabled individuals. Provider groups, notably LeadingAge, have championed it.
Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius has told Congress the plan will not be implemented until modeling shows it will be solvent for at least 75 years.
