Public Policy & Action

• Federal Funding for Seniors Programs
• Older Americans Act
• Long-Term Services & Supports
  • Medicaid HCBS Webinars
  • Duals Integration
• Health Care Reform
• Our Positions
• Advocacy Toolkit

Resources

For Professionals

• Missing from the Presidential Debate: Long-Term Care
• Long-Term Services & Supports: Candidate Survey
• House Vote to Repeal CLASS Shows Congress is Out of Touch with the Struggles of Middle-Class Americans
• Top 6 Policy Issues Affecting Seniors in 2012
• State Health Insurance Assistance Program (SHIP) Point of Contact
• Managed Long-Term Services and Supports: Overview of Key Issues and Guiding Principles
• State Advocate Experiences and Engagement in Duals Integration

For Older Adults and Caregivers

• Long-Term Services & Supports: Candidate Survey

For Advocates

• Long-Term Services & Supports: Candidate Survey
• Money Follows the Person

Community Living Assistance Services and Supports (CLASS)

CLASS is a new voluntary, federally administered, consumer-financed, long-term care insurance program established in the Affordable Care Act.

Workers who chose to enroll in CLASS will pay monthly premiums. When they develop functional needs for long-term services and supports, they will receive a flexible cash benefit to assist them and their caregivers in staying at home without having to impoverish themselves.

Implementation of CLASS has come under scrutiny in recent months. Some opponents in Congress believe the program should be repealed, and the Administration on Aging has suspended implementation because of concerns about how to structure it effectively.

Our Position

NCOA believes that abandoning CLASS is premature. According to actuarial analyses done by the CLASS Office at the Department of Health & Human Services, there are a range of options that can be considered in designing plans that can be “actuarially sound and attractive.”  

Work is needed to find the best path forward, starting with appointment of the CLASS advisory committees outlined in the Affordable Care Act.

NCOA opposes repeal of CLASS. The program is not perfect, but there are viable options to move forward, keep it voluntary and budget neutral, and save significant Medicaid dollars.

NCOA is on the board of Advance CLASS, a nonprofit organization dedicated to the implementation of a strong and vital long-term services and supports program.

• Read our statement on CLASS repeal
• See a joint letter in support of CLASS

Legislation

• CLASS legislation

Resources

• Advance CLASS
  Read the latest updates on CLASS implementation and repeal efforts.
• U.S. Department of Health and Human Services: A Report on the Actuarial, Marketing, and Legal Analyses of the CLASS Program (October 2011)
• Top 10 Reasons Why Conservatives Should Love the CLASS Program

want to live in a country where

older adults don't have to choose between paying for medicine or food.