Seven Reasons Why Republicans Shouldn’t Repeal CLASS

Republicans in the House are gearing up to repeal CLASS, the Affordable Care Act’s long-term care program on Wednesday. The late Sen. Ted Kennedy and other long-term care advocates designed CLASS to minimize beneficiaries’ reliance on Medicaid by encouraging younger Americans to establish a cash benefit in their working years that would be made available to them should they become disabled. The program offered a small daily allowance — an average of at least $50 per day — but advocates hoped that it could serve as “an opportunity to put government behind an education, a marketing effort….[and] support the purchase of private long-term care insurance alongside a modest public benefit.” The whole idea “was to have people while they were working to establish a cash benefit, that they were going to pay while they were working, that was put in to a trust fund and made available to them once they’re disabled,” Rep. Frank Pallone (D-NJ) explained during a Energy & Commerce health subcommittee hearing. “It was very much a notion of personal responsibility and not relying on the government.”

In October, the Department of Health and Human Services announced that it did not believe Secretary Kathleen Sebelius had the discretion necessary bring the program in compliance with the health care law’s sustainability provision, and would not be implementing the measure. Administration officials and many Democrats, however, oppose repealing CLASS outright, arguing that it represents an important first step towards reducing the nation’s long-term care crisis and could eventually be modified into sustainability. As Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) warned Republicans back in November, “Those who are gloating today about the administration’s decision not to carry forward with the CLASS Act are not the fiscal heroes they make themselves out to be. They have no answers. They have no answers. They have no alternative.”

Indeed, under today’s system, Americans have to spend down their assets to qualify for Medicaid, which has evolved to become the nation’s primary payer for long-term services. Below are seven reasons why lawmakers should focus on reforming the nation’s long-term care infrastructure rather than repealing a defunct initiative:

Medicare dollars spent on long-term care	$0 after 90 days
Medicaid costs are ballooning	Finances 43 percent of all long-term care
Private long-term care market is dysfunctional	2.8 percent of Americans currently have a policy
Percent of people turning 65 today who will need long-term care	70 percent
Number of long-term care recipients 18-64 year olds	40 percent
Cost of long-term care	$6,500 a month, $70,000 to $80,000 a year
Savings to Medicaid from CLASS	$2 billion

Sen. John Thune (R-SD) acknowledged yesterday that the repeal effort will likely die in the Senate, where Democrats hold a majority. “I think we’d get a majority; I don’t think we’d get 60,” Thune said. Republicans would need to pursuade four Democrats to join their effort in ending the program.