The Sleeper Wakes up at the Kaiser Family Foundation

The room at the Kaiser Family Foundation was packed on Tuesday for the forum, The Sleeper in Health Reform: Long-Term Care and the CLASS Act. AAHSA’s Larry Minnix was one of the respondents on an impressive panel of experts.  After struggling for so long to bring attention to the issue of long-term care in health reform, I found it gratifying to see the esteemed foundation help fuel the conversation about CLASS. 

Perhaps the most interesting comment came from Richard Frank, Deputy Assistant Secretary, Office of Disability, Aging and Long-Term Care Policy, at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.  He said, “We in the Department have modeled this extensively, perhaps more extensively than anybody would want to hear about.  We are entirely persuaded that reasonable premiums, solid participation rates, and financial solvency over the 75-year period can be maintained.  And so, it is on this basis that the Administration supports it and that the bill continues to meet the standards of being able to stand on its own financial feet.”

I hope that some of that modeling becomes available for the public to see.  The issue of solvency has been contentious as CLASS makes its way through extensive Congressional negotiations.  If HHS could shed some light, the sleeper might wake up to some bright sunshine.