Obama Administration Advances Long-Term Services and Supports in Health C...( WASHINGTON July 7 -- The American As...),Health

WASHINGTON, July 7 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The American Association of Homes and Services for the Aging (AAHSA) today applauded the Obama Administration for affirming their commitment to the millions of Americans who need and provide long-term services and supports. In a letter to the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius expressed the Obama's administration's support for including the Community Living Assistance Services and Supports (CLASS) Act in health care reform. She described the CLASS act as an "innovative voluntary program that will provide benefits to people who need them" that President Obama endorsed and cosponsored as a senator.

The CLASS Act would create a publicly-driven financing plan whose premiums provide cash benefits to pay for long-term services. It is a plan built on principles that support America's families and have the potential for significant Medicaid savings.

"Long-term services and supports is the health care issue nobody wants to deal with and everybody will face," said Larry Minnix, AAHSA's president & CEO. "The administration's support of the CLASS provision of the HELP Committee bill is an important step in providing support to people with disabilities - young and old - who want the choice to stay at home, which will help people avoid Medicaid unnecessarily."

About AAHSA

The members of the American Association of Homes and Services for the Aging (www.aahsa.org) help millions of individuals and their families every day through mission-driven, not-for-profit organizations dedicated to providing the services that people need, when they need them, in the place they call home. Our 5,700 member organizations, many of which have served their communities for generations, offer the continuum of aging
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