Policy Makers Increasingly View Long Term Care as Crucial to Health Care Reform

The importance of long term care is gaining awareness as members of Congress and health care experts move forward with health care reform plans. Long-time health care champion Senator Kennedy (D-MA) is adamant that a reform bill must include long term care and is pushing for the inclusion of the CLASS Act (S. 697 and H.R.1721), a bill he introduced which would create an optional long term care fund to aid people in paying for long term supports and services. Other groups are pushing for incentives to make long term care insurance more affordable while some have voiced concern that the expansion of government sponsored programs will be too costly.