Long-term care plan CLASS shelved by administration

 WASHINGTON – The Obama administration has shelved a financially troubled long-term care insurance plan. Officials said Thursday the staff has been cut and it’s an “open question” if the program will be implemented.

 Known as CLASS, the Community Living Assistance Services and Supports program was created under President Barack Obama’s health care law as a voluntary long-term care insurance program for workers. Doubts about its financial viability were raised early on and it has since languished in bureaucratic limbo, with Republicans in Congress pushing for repeal or defunding.

 A central design flaw has dogged CLASS from the beginning. Unless large numbers of healthy people willingly sign up, it will create a situation where soaring premiums for a smaller group of frail beneficiaries eventually destabilize the program.

Associated Press