The CLASS Act, the proposed national long-term care insurance program, is included in the latest compromise health bill introduced today by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.). This version of the bill has now been endorsed by all 60 Senate Democrats, including several, such as Nebraska's Ben Nelson, who had previously vowed to oppose the health measure if it included CLASS.
Another critic, Senate Budget Committee Chair Kent Conrad (D-N.D.), said he was now satisfied the latest version of CLASS would resolve his concerns that CLASS premiums would be used to pay for other provisions of the health bill.
I have not yet seen a copy of Reid's 500-page amendment to the health bill, so don't have any details. But it looks as if CLASS will make it to the next step--a House-Senate conference to resolve the many differences in the overall health bills. Reid hopes the Senate will formally approve his compromise before the Christmas holiday break.
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