Obama team axes part of health care plan

[Dave]

Maybe if they would of bothered to read the bill, they wouldn't be having problems trying to fund it and not have to axe parts of it like they have.... morons.

 

 

The Obama administration announced today it will not move forward with a new long-term-care insurance plan -- a major part of its health care law -- because of problems with paying for it.

"Despite our best analytical efforts, I do not see a viable path forward," wrote Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius in a letter to Congress.

Congressional Republicans had vowed to kill the program, calling the Community Living Assistance Services and Supports program (CLASS) too expensive.

Some Republicans also say they will try and repeal the entire Obama health care law, calling it too much of a government intrusion into the health care system.

A key part of the law -- the requirement that nearly all Americans buy some form of health insurance -- is also being challenged in court; the Supreme Court is likely to rule on the case next summer.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., welcomed the administration's decision to abandon the CLASS Act.

"The Obama administration today acknowledged what they refused to admit when they passed their partisan health bill: The CLASS Act was a budget gimmick that might enhance the numbers on a Washington bureaucrat's spreadsheet but was destined to fail in the real world," McConnell said.

The Associated Press examines today's development:

The program was supposed to be a voluntary insurance plan for working adults regardless of age or health. Workers would pay an affordable monthly premium during their careers, and could collect a modest daily cash benefit if they became disabled later in life.

The problem all along has been how to ensure enough healthy people would sign up.

A longstanding priority of the late Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., the Community Living Assistance Services and Supports program, or CLASS, was spliced into the health care law despite nagging budget worries.

CLASS was intended as a voluntary plan, supported by premiums, not taxpayer dollars. Workers would pay around $100 a month or less. In exchange, they would receive a modest daily cash benefit averaging no less than $50 if they became disabled later in life. Beneficiaries could use the money for services to help them stay at home, or to help with nursing home bills.

Kennedy's idea was to give families some financial breathing room. The burden of long-term care is growing. Most families cannot afford to hire a home health aide for a frail elder, let alone pay nursing home bills. Long-term care is usually provided by family members, often a spouse who may also have health problems.

But a central design flaw dogged CLASS from the beginning. Unless large numbers of healthy people willingly sign up during their working years, soaring premiums driven by the needs of disabled beneficiaries would destabilize it, eventually requiring a taxpayer bailout.

It's unclear whether the program can be salvaged. Congressional Republicans are committed to repealing it.

http://content.usatoday.com/communities/theoval/post/2011/10/obama-...

[Willy]

Dave

I think you description of them is quite accurate. Not only are they morons but I would add fools.

[easymoney]

Dave, you have to remember, there is quite the difference between inteligence and stupidity, there's a limit to inteligence.

[masonco]

You have to remember they threw anything someone said they wanted to get the votes knowing that later they would have to remove some of those "concessions" they made to the special interest swing votes

[Dave]

Yesterday the voters in Ohio overwhelmingly rejected the Health Care mandate of forcing people to buy insurance... another axe swing into the heart of the health care bill.