Jesse Slome American Association for Long-Term Care Insurance director
The Congressional health care bill just signed by President Obama contains provisions for the first ever federal long-term care insurance program.
The goal of the program initially drafted and proposed by the late Senator Ted Kennedy (D, MA) was enabling individuals are unable to secure private long-term care insurance with a modest benefit to pay for care when needed. Experts estimate as many as 50 percent of Americans over the age of 65 will need long-term care at some point in their lives.
Referred to as the Community Living Assistance Services and Supports Act, (or the CLASS Act) the plan was spearheaded by the late Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass.. The program calls for workers to pay a premium over a five-year vesting period to later receive about $50 per day in benefits for medical equipment and home renovations — provided they were unable to perform activities of daily living.
"The signed bill offers little in terms of details," explains Jesse Slome, executive director of the American Association for Long-Term Care Insurance, the Los Angeles-based national trade organization. "Over the year or two, the Department of Health & Human Services will determine pricing, benefit levels and requirements for employers offering the plan."
Current projections by government entities and outside actuaries expect the cost will be between $110-to-$160 per month for participants in their 50s. "The new plan will offer little benefit for anyone currently age 55 or older," Slome explains. Most experts don't expect details to be finalized until 2012 and then the first offerings extended to employees in 2013 making one ineligible for any benefits until 2018.
"The plan may be attractive coverage for those unable to health qualify for traditional long-term care insurance," Slome notes, "or those working for employers not offering a long-term care insurance benefit to their employees." According to industry data, some eight million Americans own long-term care insurance protection purchased on an individual basis or through a plan offered by their employer.
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