10.14.11

Sessions On CLASS Act Termination: ‘Very Troubling Questions Remain’

“Very troubling questions remain about why this crucial information was not disclosed prior to the bill’s passage and I continue to believe that the Senate Budget Committee’s majority should hold a hearing with Secretary Sibelius at once.”

WASHINGTON—U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, issued the following statement today regarding the notification from the Obama Administration that it was dismantling the controversial CLASS Act program, the sustainability of which Sessions and other lawmakers had previously called into question:

“Secretary Sebelius’ letter to Congress today admits there is no viable path forward for the administration to implement the CLASS program. The letter confirms what many members of Congress already suspected: that the program is neither actuarially sound nor solvent over the long term. The $86 billion in phony savings from the CLASS program in its first 10 years was crucial to the Democrats’ claims that the president’s health care law would reduce the federal deficit. It is now abundantly clear that these savings were not real and that this is just one example of how dishonest accounting gimmicks—such as double counting—were used to conceal the true cost of the president’s health law. Truthful accounting reveals that, rather than saving money, the president’s healthcare legislation will add at least $700 billion to our nation’s debt in the first ten years alone.

Americans have a right to get the facts from their elected representatives and to know how their money is being spent. Very troubling questions remain about why this crucial information was not disclosed prior to the bill’s passage and I continue to believe that the Senate Budget Committee’s majority should hold a hearing with Secretary Sebelius at once.”