Washington, D.C.– U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell made the following statement on the senate floor Wednesday regarding the need for the President to support the repeal of the CLASS Act:
“Later this morning, President Obama is scheduled to speak in Virginia on ‘the economy.’
“I haven’t seen the speech, but I expect he won’t be talking about the negative impact his health care bill is already having on job creation. And I guarantee he won’t be talking about one provision in particular, the CLASS Act, which the House of Representatives is voting today to repeal.
“Like so many of the policies this President has put in place, the CLASS Act, hasn’t turned out the way the American people were told it would. At the time of its passage, Americans were told it would be a long-term care cost-saver. Proponents of the CLASS Act said it would account for nearly half the deficit reduction they claimed the health care bill would somehow miraculously bring about.
“More recently, however, the administration has admitted that government officials knew its projections about the CLASS Act couldn’t possibly be true. They knew it wouldn’t work as advertised. And yet the Obama administration went ahead with it anyway.
“In 2009, the chief Medicare actuary wrote that based on his 36 years of actuarial experience, he believed the CLASS Act would, ‘collapse in short order and require significant Federal subsidies to continue,’ and that it would lead to what he called an ‘insurance death spiral,’ since only the sickest people would sign up — making it impossible for the program to remain solvent.
“Another health policy official said the program, ’seemed like a recipe for disaster.’
“So last October, the Obama administration was finally forced to admit what they refused to admit when the health care bill first passed — that the CLASS Act was indeed unsustainable. As HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius put it, there is no viable path forward for the program.
“Yet for some reason the President is unwilling to follow through on that conclusion. He opposes today’s vote. Most people would conclude that the administration would support repealing a portion of the health care bill that they now acknowledge isn’t financially viable. But they’d be wrong.
“Despite admitting this program is doomed to fail, the Obama administration refuses to take it off the books. This is all the more remarkable given the fact President Obama has repeatedly said that he’s willing to listen to critics of his health care bill if they come up with ways to improve it. When it comes to the CLASS Act, the President doesn’t even appear willing to listen to himself.
“Well, it should be obvious what’s going on here.
“The President is so determined to distract people from his own legislative record that he doesn’t even want to have a conversation about it. He’s so determined to convince people that the ongoing economic crisis is somebody else’s fault that he’s acting as though the first three years of his presidency never even happened. He refuses to admit the central role his polices have played in prolonging the economic mess we’re in. Instead of leading, he’s biding his time, hoping the public will blame somebody else for the jobs crisis. Instead of acknowledging the effects of his own policies, he’s hoping he can change the subject.
“The problem is, the longer we wait to tackle these problems the harder they’ll be to solve. And frankly, most Americans think their president should be leading that charge, not avoiding it.
“In 2009, President Obama said that rising health care costs were the most pressing fiscal challenge we faced as a nation. Yesterday, the Congressional Budget Office said government health care costs will double over the next decade.
“So the verdict is in. This administration looked at an area that both parties agree was in critical need of reform and they made it worse. And now, they won’t even admit it. Why? Because it interferes with the President’s re-election strategy. If it’s about him or his policies, he doesn’t want to talk about it. And when it comes to the CLASS Act, it’s easy to see why.
“So I encourage our friends in the House in their efforts today.
“I hope they send this bill over to the Senate on a strong bipartisan vote.
“If the President won’t listen to his own advisors, let’s hope he listens to Congress on the failures of his health care bill. And in particular, on the failures of the CLASS Act.
“If we’re going to replace the President’s health care bill with the kind of common sense reforms the American people really want, repealing the CLASS Act is a good place to start. And, as the House is showing today, if the President refuses to act on this most important issue, Congress will.”
