title: A 10-foot rope for a 50-yard drop: the CLASS Act in the patient protection and Affordable Care Act.
abstract: The Community Living Assistance Services and Supports (CLASS) Act, part of the 2010 health care reform, would have paid a daily cash payment toward the costs of long-term care. This article points out that although the CLASS Act may have been sufficient to cover the costs of most home- and community-based services, it was an inadequate response to the most pressing long-term care financing problem facing baby boomers: nursing home care costs. The risk of needing a nursing home is higher than other catastrophic risks. Boomers lack savings to pay those costs. CLASS aimed to encourage people to use home- and community-based services to substitute for nursing home care, but research spanning decades shows there is little substitution effect.
authors.affiliation: Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL 32306-2230, USA. wweissert@fsu.edu
authors.forename: William G
authors.initials: WG
authors.lastname: Weissert
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D018166:Health Care Reform; D005102:Health Expenditures; D006699:Home Care Services / Q000191:economics*; D006801:Humans; D008134:Long-Term Care / Q000191:economics; D008484:Medicaid / Q000191:economics; D009735:Nursing Homes / Q000191:economics*; D058991:Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D011158:Population Growth; D012946:Social Welfare / Q000191:economics; D014481:United States