Thursday, September 22, 2011

The CLASS Plot Thickens…

In yet another development on the CLASS Act, Bob Yee – the soon-to-be-former actuary of the program – told the Wall Street Journal this afternoon that “my understanding is they’re slowing down the development” of CLASS; “they’re taking a pause and reducing the amount of work being done.”

Why is the Administration “taking a pause” in implementing CLASS?  If the program CAN be made solvent, then why is the Administration not going forward with a program they previously endorsed enthusiastically?  If the program CAN’T be made solvent, then why isn’t the Administration shutting the program down entirely, and/or calling for its repeal?  Or – as noted below – is the Administration just trying to make CLASS go away until after the President’s re-election..?

One final update: A bicameral group of Republican Members of Congress sent an oversight letter to HHS this afternoon requesting information on today’s announced reorganization – as well as information about what the Department knew about the program’s unsustainability prior to enactment of PPACA.