On the recordFebruary 1, 2012
I rise today in support of fiscal responsibility and in support of H.R. 1173. The CLASS program was created with a good intention, relieving the crushing burden of long-term care. But we have known from the beginning that this program would not be able to sustain itself without a massive bailout from taxpayers. The CBO said so. Medicare's Chief Actuary said so; and, more recently, Secretary Sebelius concluded the CLASS Act was totally unsustainable and decided not to implement it; and for this, I give her credit. But the program is still in law. And given the trillion-dollar deficits that we face, the only option right now is to make sure that the taxpayers are not left with an unsustainable program in a big bill. This debate should not be about the health care law in general. It should be about this program. It should be about doing what is fiscally responsible, and that is eliminating the CLASS program and getting to work right now in a bipartisan manner on a solution to long-term care.
