Statement on the Implementation and Sustainability of the New, Government-Administered Community Living Assistance Services and Supports (CLASS) Program

"Thank you, Mr. Chairman. An essential element of health care reform was ensuring that vulnerable populations have access to coverage that meets their needs. For people with disabilities and for chronically-ill Americans, long-term care and support services are the primary, unmet health care need and are critical to promoting health and preventing illness.

"Today we are discussing the Community Living Assistance Services and Supports Act (CLASS) - a program that offers an alternative to provide services for disabled Americans so they can remain in their homes and in their communities. The proposal is one I first introduced back in 2007, with my good friend Ranking Member Emeritus Dingell and the late Senator Kennedy.

"Currently, there are 10 million Americans in need of long-term services and that number is expected to increase to 26 million by 2050. Meanwhile, more than 200 million adult Americans lack any insurance protection against the cost of long-term services. As a result, nearly half of all funding for these services is now provided through Medicaid, which is a growing burden on states and requires individuals to become and remain poor to receive the help they need.

"As America continues to age, we are faced with an impending crisis in long term care. The implementation of CLASS offers a new approach that builds upon our existing safety net system and helps our elderly and disabled finance the long term care they need to remain active and productive members of their communities for as long as possible.

"It is a voluntary, self-financed program designed to assist Americans who choose to participate to proactively prepare for their future, long term care needs. It focuses on personal responsibility and ensures as many choices as possible are available to those needing future services. It does all this without requiring Americans to become impoverished to qualify.

"Now, I know my Republican colleagues have concerns about the program’s sustainability and its impact on the budget deficit in the long term. But to them I would say that the Secretary will have the tools she needs to make sure this program does not grow into a new “entitlement” and add to our nation’s economic woes. In fact, the law requires that she certify the program to be actuarially sound and deficit neutral.

"If anything, this program helps alleviate some of those problems. As CBO noted in its analysis, CLASS could save Medicaid $2.5 billion in the first ten years and possibly additional savings after that.

"Conversely, CBO estimates that repeal of CLASS would add $86 billion to the federal deficit.

"I strongly believe CLASS is an important step in the evolution of public policy because it is a framework based on the principles of independence, choice, and empowerment. CLASS is about ensuring you have the services and supports you need to remain independent members of society. Thank you.

"I now yield the remainder of my time to Mr. Dingell. But before I do, I would ask UC to enter into the record a narrative essay by Michael Ogg from New Jersey titled “Running Out of Time, Money, and Independence?,” which powerfully illustrates the realities of the current long term care environment."