The long-term care commission created by the “fiscal cliff agreement” added its last three members this month and is ready to start work.
 
As outlined in the bill, the commission’s job is to “develop a plan for the establishment, implementation and financing of a comprehensive … high-quality system that ensures the availability of long-term services.”
 
In other words: The commission is tasked with finding a replacement for the long-term insurance provision in the Affordable Care Act, better known as the Community Living Assistance Services and Supports (CLASS) Act. HHS had indicated as far back as 2011 that it wouldn’t be able to implement CLASS because it couldn’t find a way to make it financially sustainable.
 
There’s been skepticism among experts as to what the commission can really achieve, however, given both the constant stalemate in Congress and the short turnaround time the commission has for its recommendations – six months.
 
Further cause for skepticism: It took until March 13 to appoint all the members, when that job was supposed to have been finished by Feb. 1, Forbes points out.
 
The commission has 15 members, three each of which were appointed by President Obama, the house speaker, the house minority leader, the Senate majority leader and the Senate minority leader.
 
Here’s a full rundown of the commission’s membership:
  • Carol Raphael, vice chair of the AARP board and former CEO of the Visiting Nurse Service of New York
  • Henry Claypool, executive vice president of the American Association of People with Disabilities
  • Dr. Julian Harris, the Massachusetts Medicaid director
  • Javaid Anwar, a Nevada physician
  • Laphonza Butler, president of the SEIU’s United Long Term Care Workers Union
  • Bruce Chernof, president and CEO of the SCAN Foundation
  • Judy Feder, a professor of public policy at Georgetown University
  • Judith Stein, founder of the Center for Medicare Advocacy
  • George Vradenburg, founder of USAgainstAlzheimer’s
  • Judith Brachman, chair of the Jewish Federation of North America’s Aging and Family Caregiving Committee
  • Bruce Greenstein, Louisiana’s Secretary of Health and Hospitals
  • Stephen Guillard, CEO and president of Belmont Nursing Center Corp.
  • Neil Pruitt, chairman and CEO of UHS-Pruitt Corp.
  • Grace-Marie Turner, president of the Galen Institute
  • Mark Warshawsky, director of retirement research at Towers Watson
 
When the commission issues its recommendations, you’ll hear about them, and what they mean for home health, in Home Health Line.