News outlets across the country are reporting on the elimination of the CLASS Act (Community Living Assistance Services and Supports), which would have provided a modest long-term care insurance benefit to help elders access community care services and remain in their homes.
This provision would have been a boost to home health, but research and reports by Health and Human Services found that there was no way to ensure that the program would be sustainable and the official announcement to repeal the program came late Friday afternoon.
The move itself, aside from political posturing, does not change the fact that there is “an enormous need” for long term care insurance as HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius put it. The New York Times quoted Secretary Sebelius as adding “At $75,000 a year for a nursing home and $18,000 a year for home health care, most families cannot afford to pay out of pocket.”
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“At $75,000 a year for a nursing home and $18,000 a year for home health care, most families cannot afford to pay out of pocket,” she said.
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