January 30th, 2012

Dear Member of Congress:

On behalf of the undersigned members of the Health Care Freedom Coalition and our ally organizations, representing industry, policy, taxpayer, medical professional groups, and their millions of patients and members, are writing to say that we agree with the Obama Administration's conclusion that the CLASS Act is fundamentally flawed and cannot be salvaged.

Therefore, we urge Congress to move quickly to pass a permanent fix to this problem. In the House, we urge co-sponsorship of H.R. 1173, the “Fiscal Responsibility and Retirement Security Act of 2011,” authored by Charles Boustany, Jr., MD., and in the Senate, S. 720, the “Repeal the CLASS Entitlement Act” authored by Senator John Thune. These two bills seek to repeal the Community Living Assistance Services and Supports (CLASS) Act, signed in to law through the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA).

According to the Chief Medicare Actuary, the CLASS Act poses a "very serious risk that the problem of adverse selection will make the CLASS program unsustainable.” The decision by Health Human Services (HHS) to suspend implementation of CLASS Act does not negate the need to fully repeal the provisions. Unless the CLASS Act is repealed, the temporary protection of this suspension is to the whim of the Secretary of HHS. It is necessary to eliminate the underlying statutory provisions authorizing the program It is clear the CLASS Act was a “bait and switch” accounting trick designed to mislead the public and Members of Congress as to the real costs of the PPACA in order to mask over $70 billion in PPACA's total cost over its first decade - fully half of the claimed deficit savings by PPACA proponents.

Even Senate Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad (D–ND) called CLASS “a Ponzi scheme of the first order, the kind of thing that Bernie Madoff would have been proud of.” Congress should be making it easier for disabled Americans to save for future needs, expand access to affordable private long-term care coverage and better educate Americans about the need for retirement planning, rather than creating another unsustainable government run program.

Our organizations believe that repealing the CLASS Act does not undermine support for full PPACA repeal. The CLASS Act was merely an accounting trick that resulted in an unsustainable government run program, which must be repealed immediately. While our organizations support the repeal of the CLASS Act, it does not undermine the fact that we believe the PPACA individual mandate to be unconstitutional. Our desire and intensity for the entirety of PPACA to be repealed remains undiminished.

We thank the co-sponsors of S. 720 and H.R. 1173 and urge immediate passage of both bills.

Sincerely,

Kathryn Serkes,
Chairman & CEO Doctor Patient Medical Association

Grover Norquist,
President Americans for Tax Reform

Heather Higgins,
President Independent Women's Voice

Tim Phillips,
President Americans For Prosperity

Jim Martin,
Chairman 60 Plus Association

James Wootton,
Chairman Partnership for America Medical Society of the District of Columbia

Christopher Jaarda,
President American Healthcare Education Coalition

Mario H. Lopez,
President Hispanic Leadership Fund

Jane Orient, MD,
Executive Director Association of American Physicians & Surgeons

Amy Ridenour,
Chairman The National Center for Public Policy Research

Tom Schatz,
President Council for Citizens Against Government Waste