WASHINGTON – Now that the Community Living Assistance Services and Supports program has been suspended, supporters warn that without some kind of long-term care program, Medicaid costs could steadily increase as the U.S. population continues to grow older.
The CLASS program was enacted in 2010 as a part of the Affordable Care Act and was controversial from the start, due in part to concerns over whether or not it would save federal health care dollars.
After conducting several internal analyses, the Health and Human Services department decided in October to delay implementation of the program, calling it fiscally unsustainable.
According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, Medicaid currently pays for 40% of long-term care services in the United States. Rep. Kathy Castor (D-Fla.) of the Oversight and Investigations subcommittee said that, with the growing elderly population, those numbers will only increase.
"Here comes the Baby Boom generation and if we don’t get in front of this ... we’re going to be paying on the back end in Medicaid," she said.
"We must continue to encourage middle-class Americans to plan."
Kathy Greenlee, assistant secretary for aging at HHS Health, testified that while CLASS was determined to be fiscally unsustainable, the administration considers it a priority to find an alternative that offers similar coverage.
"The opportunity that CLASS presents is a way for people to take responsibility for some of their own long-term care financing," she testified. She added that many Americans who need long-term care can’t afford the high premiums of private insurance or are excluded based on preexisting conditions.
Rep. Ted Deutch (D-Fla.) testified that without a long-term care program that’s affordable, Americans are doing whatever necessary to qualify for Medicaid.
"The current system ‘incentivizes’ poverty. It forces seniors to blow through their life savings and spend down in order to qualify for Medicaid," Rep. Deutch said. "Sadly, Medicaid steers [long-term care patients] into institutional care, despite their preference for less-costly, in-home care and other community-based options."
Republican lawmakers continue to call for a full repeal of the CLASS program.
There are more fiscally responsible options for long-term care than CLASS, according to Rep. Michael Burgess (R-Tex.), vice chair of the Health subcommittee. Congress should allow American to pay for long-term care insurance with pretax dollars, or out of their Health Savings Account, he said.
Rep. Charles Boustany (R-La.) testified that Congress should try to motivate Americans to think ahead.
"Beyond CLASS, we must continue to encourage middle-class Americans to plan. The fundamental issue here is planning, staring at an early age and planning for these kinds of things," he said.