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House Repeals CLASS Program With Rigell's Support
Washington,
Feb 1, 2012 -
House Repeals CLASS Program With Rigell's Support
February 1, 2012 -- Congressman Scott Rigell voted today to permanently repeal the Community Living Assistance Services and Supports (CLASS) program, a government-run, long-term care insurance program embedded within the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA). Despite the fact that in October 2011 the Obama Administration quietly abandoned implementation of the CLASS program, the House of Representatives today voted 267-159 to ensure any effort to resurrect the program is completely off the table.
“Our nation’s dangerous debt is by many estimates the greatest threat to the future of our Republic,” Rigell said. “Piling on further debt created by unfunded mandates from the federal level – such as the CLASS program – is reckless and irresponsible.
“At the same time, we have real and serious challenges embedded within our healthcare system. We must move forward in developing sensible, market-based reforms that meet Americans’ needs without jeopardizing the nation’s financial future.”
The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) reported that the CLASS program frontloaded its savings and backloaded its costs. The CBO wrote, “the cash flows under the new program would generate budgetary savings (that is, a reduction in net federal outlays) for the 2010-2019 period and for the 10 years following 2019, followed by budgetary costs (an increase in net federal outlays) in subsequent decades.”
Additionally, both parties agreed that the CLASS program was fundnamentally unworkable. If only a small group of unhealthy people — those who anticipate using the services — signed up, the program could quickly destabilize. Late last year, the Obama Administration acknowledged that the program could not work as structured and ended it, but did not rule out enacting it in the future.
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