subject: Class Act Discussed By Linda Huff Redman [print this page] Redman defined the Community Living Assistance Services and Supports Program (CLASS Act) as a federally-administered voluntary insurance program for long-term care services and supports.
The program is developed with the goal of providing individuals with functional limitations a financing alternative for long-term care services and supports. This additional support, according to Redman, is intended to help these individuals continue to live in the community, defray the cost of institutional care and avoid the need to become impoverished in order to access these services through Medicaid.
Redman cited that CLASS Act is not designed to replace the need for basic health insurance or potentially the care that is provided by family, friends and neighbours.
The program is administered by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) with key elements including the following:
(a) Adults who work for a participating employer will be automatically enrolled, unless they choose to opt out. The self-employed and employers who do not offer the class program can enrol through a separate enrolment process,
(b) Individual adult workers will be able to participate in the program with no medical underwriting and no lifetime or aggregate benefit limits.
(c) The program is required to be fully self-sustaining through the premiums payment made by the enrolled individuals. These payments may be made through automatic payroll deductions.
(d) The program will be consumer-directed. A cash benefit is paid to eligible enrolees who have a disability expected to last at least 90 days, meet the function/cognitive eligibility criteria and have paid premiums for five years.
And, for individuals who are eligible for both CLASS and Medicaid, a portion of the CLASS benefits will be used to offset the costs to Medicaid. For example, a Medicaid enrolee residing in HCBS will be able to retain 50 percent of their CLASS cash payment with the remainder going to the state to offset the individuals Medicaid costs.
It is also possible that if CLASS recipients are eventually enrolled in AHCCCS (Arizonas Medicaid program), AHCCCS will benefit financially by receiving a share of the cash payment made by the CLASS program.
According to Redman, despite being a federal program, Arizona will have a number of tasks it will be required to complete to implement the CLASS program. And a key to the programs success will be the development and implementation of an outreach and education campaign to encourage participation in the CLASS program. Arizona should partner with community organizations to educate and encourage working adults and their employers participation in the program.
