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CLASS Act Repeal Passes House with Strong Bipartisan Support | GovWatch | Advocacy | NAIFA
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NAIFA GovWatch

CLASS Act Repeal Passes House with Strong Bipartisan Support

Date: February 2, 2012

Issue: Health Care Reform

Action Taken: Last night the House of Representatives voted 267 to 159 to repeal the CLASS Act, the government-run long-term care insurance program that the Department of Health and Human Services has declared fatally flawed and unsustainable.

Rep. Charles Boustany’s (R-LA) bill, H.R. 1173, is picking up bipartisan steam. After receiving one Democrat vote in the Ways & Means Committee on January 18, the bill picked up 28 yes votes from Democrats on the floor of the House, in addition to all of the Republicans. The growing bipartisan support in the House increases the bill’s chances in the Senate. The bill’s Democrat supporters were:

On Tuesday this week, NAIFA members met with 170 House and Senate offices as the culmination of our annual political involvement and political action training meeting. Our members explained the crucial role they and their colleagues play in helping Main Street Americans provide for their families and protect their financial futures, and focused on the legislative threats to life insurance, annuities, health, and long-term care insurance. Many of the House members who voted for H.R. 1173 were visited by NAIFA members the day before, including the names above marked with an asterisk.

NAIFA President Robert Miller made the following statement on the vote last night to repeal the CLASS Act:

“The House of Representatives’ vote to repeal the CLASS Act is a good first step towards getting a bad law off the books and developing sustainable solutions to address Americans’ long-term care insurance needs. A program that would inevitably require a government or industry bailout or else would leave the people it was designed to help in the lurch is not a good program. Now, NAIFA urges the Senate and President to do their parts to complete the CLASS repeal.

“While the CLASS Act is not the right law, the long-term care problem is not going to go away. NAIFA encourages Congress and the executive branch to promote long-term care awareness. Also, NAIFA supports measures to encourage the offer of quality insurance products at people’s places of employment, such as allowing long-term care insurance to be included in employer-sponsored cafeteria plans and flexible spending arrangements.”

Next Steps: If your Congressman voted in favor of H.R. 1173 (all of the Republicans plus the Democrats listed above), please contact him or her to express your appreciation.

H.R. 1173 now moves to the Senate for consideration. The Senate is unlikely to take up this bill as a stand-alone bill, but it might be offered as an amendment to other legislation. Please be on the lookout for a GovAlert--should Senate consideration become imminent, we will ask you to contact your Senators to urge their support.

NAIFA Staff Contact: Diane Boyle, Vice President—Federal Government Relations, at dboyle@naifa.org; or Lillian Vogl, Counsel—Federal Government Relations, at lvogl@naifa.org.

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