The Community Living Assistance Services and Supports Act of 2010 (The Class Act)
(5/11/10)- The Community Living Assistance Services and Supports Act of 2010 (The Class Act) was signed by President Barack Obama in March of this year. Some people call it the Senator Edward M. Kennedy Act.
The purpose of this law is to help American who have no long term care insurance. People who are already retired as of the date of the enactment of the law are not eligible to benefit from it. Participants must pay premiums for a vesting period of five years before they can receive benefits, and they have to continue working for three of those years.
Part-time workers are eligible, though they must earn enough each year to pay Social Security taxes, a threshold that is now about $1,200. The self-employed and anyone whose employer declines to offer Class A coverage will also be able to sign up but the exact procedure has not been determined yet.
The law prohibits excluding people with pre-existing conditions. The amount of the premium for the coverage has not been set by the secretary of health and human services. The cash benefit for participants in the program has also not been set yet, but the Congressional Budget Office has used $75 a day as their assumption for the benefit.
To be eligible a participant must need help with two to three activities of daily living, which includes eating, bathing dressing, using the toilet, transferring from bad to chair to wheelchair, and/or continence care.
The law states that the average daily benefit has to be at least $50 per day. The law also states that the premiums taken in must pay for the benefits paid out. No tax dollars can be used for the program
FOR AN INFORMATIVE AND PERSONAL ARTICLE ON PRACTICAL
SUGGESTIONS WHEN SELECTING A NURSING HOME SEE OUR ARTICLE "How to Select a Nursing
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By Allan Rubin
posted May 11, 2010
http://www.therubins.com
To e-mail: hrubin12@nyc.rr.com or rubin@brainlink.com