Category: Legislation
Indepth discussion of the CLASS Act and other legislation affecting LTC
The idea of the Long-Term Care Partnership is to provide a way for the Medicaid program to work together with private long-term care insurance to help those people who are caught in the middle: they can’t afford to pay the cost of the care or even the cost of a long-term care insurance policy with unlimited benefits, yet their assets are too high to qualify for Medicaid to pay their long-term care expenses. Many middle-income workers and retirees find themselves in this position.
Participating insurance companies in the Partnership recognize the needs of these middle-income Americans by providing LTC insurance policies that have built-in consumer protection benefit standards, and participating states cooperate by allowing these policyholders to access Medicaid without spending down their assets almost to poverty level if the insurance benefits run out.
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The employee education program for the Federal government’s group long-term care insurance program in 2002 beat Donald Trump to The Apprentice.
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The future of the Community Living Assistance Services and Supports program came into question when its chief actuary resigned and its staff was reassigned in recent weeks (Best’s News Service, Sept. 23, 2011). Also, the Senate Appropriations Committee did not provide the program with any funding in a fiscal year 2012 spending plan advanced Sept. …
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The Community Living Assistance Services and Supports (CLASS) Act is a provision in Section 8002 of the new health care reform bill (The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, Public Law 111‐148) enacted March 23, 2010. The CLASS Act is supposed to provide a small cash benefit of an average of $50 a day with a lifetime benefit period depending on the level of impairment. For example, needing help with four Activities of Daily Living vs. two would result in an increased benefit. This benefit is guaranteed issue and is designed to help people with limitations stay in the community instead of going to a nursing home. The program is supposed to be funded solely by premiums paid by employees who do not opt out via payroll deductions by the employers who choose to participate.
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The largest employer-sponsored long-term care insurance program with eligibility estimated at 20 million people, was launched in March of 2002 with limited benefits, and expanded during Open Season (July 1 – December 31, 2002) with full benefits and abbreviated underwriting for active employees and spouses. The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) selected John Hancock and …
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