Budget office gives Republicans cover to repeal health reform program

{mosads}The Department of Health and Human Services on Friday announced that it had not found a way to make the voluntary benefit sustainable “at this time” and wouldn’t be working further to implement it. For CBO, the program is as good as dead. 

New baseline budget projections due out in January, Elmendorf wrote, “will assume that the program will not be implemented (unless there are changes in law or other actions by the Administration that would supersede Friday’s announcement).”

In the Senate, Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) has a bill to repeal the CLASS Act that has attracted 32 Republican co-sponsors. In the House, Rep. Charles Boustany (R-La.) has a similar bill with 48 co-sponsors, including Democratic Rep. Dan Lipinski of Illinois.