Don't let our country make a long-term mistake.

The CLASS Act (Community Living Assistance Senrvices and Support Act) represented a vision --a vision of a system of services that was owned and invested in by the citizens of the United States. CLASS is intended to be an infrastructure under which the government would design a voluntary, federally administered, consumer-financed insurance plan. It became law when President Barack Obama signed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act on March 23, 2010. The CLASS plan would provide those who participate with cash to help pay for needed assistance if they become functionally limited. This cash benefit is intended to be used in the place people call home, ranging from independent living to a nursing facility, if they so choose. While most provisions of the CLASS Act became effective as of January 1, 2011, it was up to the secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to develop the details of the plan and proceed to its implementation. The law requires that the secretary release details of the plan no later than October 1, 2012.