ABC Jan. 31 urged the U.S. House of Representatives to pass the Fiscal Responsibility and Retirement Security Act (H.R. 1173), which would repeal the Community Living Assistance Service (CLASS) Act – a bill that creates an entitlement program for long-term care patients.
The CLASS Act, enacted as part of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, was originally expected to go into effect this year, but the implementation was delayed when the Department of Health and Human Services announced that CLASS was not financially sustainable. The Congressional Budget Office also reported that CLASS cannot be operated without mandatory participation to ensure its solvency.
“The CLASS Act is fundamentally flawed and actuarially unsound,”
ABC stated in its letter. “This program is just another costly and job-killing section of the Democrat health care bill that will fall on the backs of the American Taxpayer.”