The United States Senate is about to pass a far-reaching healthcare overhaul that could possibly bring about a new government insurance program that will assist the disabled and the elderly to stay in their homes. With that said, critics of the measure are vehemently opposing it as well as questioning its feasibility and overall cost. The proposal hasn't gotten the intense amount of scrutiny that the government-run medical coverage plan has had in the last few months, which has been chucked out from the Senate's healthcare legislation and isn't likely to be returned in the final draft of the bill.

However, even though the measure is what critics call a gratuitous bill that will only worsen the federal treasury's enduring debt issues, the supporters of the CLASS (Community Living Assistance Services and Supports) Act believe it to be a crucial project that is long overdue for launching since it was advocated by the late Senator Edward Kennedy several years back.

To Bill or Not To Bill?

Senator Charles Grassley specifically takes note on a Senate talk last December 2009 that once the CLASS Act becomes law, an added and unnecessary burden will be thrown onto the backs of the average taxpayer, to the point that once the CLASS Act fails, a major fiscal catastrophe will happen. Meanwhile, backers of the bill insist that it's an act that should become law because of its life-saving benefits for the disabled, poor, or elderly people, and it could even save the nation billions of dollars' worth of Medicaid insurance for the indigent.

More to the point, supporters allege that it'd be better for the disabled to get long-term care that allows them to stay put in their residences rather than opt for the standard institutional care, which usually comes at a higher cost. Provided that the act becomes successful, it could establish itself as a cost-effective and charitable law for senior citizens and handicapped persons everywhere.

Part-Time Help

Larry Minnix, the chief executive of AAHSA (American Association of Homes and Services for the Aging), believes that CLASS is an act in the healthcare reform bill that's revolutionary and groundbreaking in its own right. What's

more, because disabled and elderly care through Medicaid will potentially rise in the next decade or so without the new program, he believes that the voluntary, cash-benefit-rewarding CLASS Act should be passed for the sake of America's hapless citizens.

The Senate proposal for CLASS Act basically works this way: Workers are stipulated to send a monthly premium in order to purchase coverage, usually via their employer. They need to pay into the program for five years at the very least in order to qualify for the benefits-which is believed to be least fifty dollars per day and assumed by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office to reach up to seventy-five dollars per day.

Senator Tom Harkin from the Senate's HELP (Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions) Committee disclosed that the CLASS Act is a reliable proposal that can bring about the hiring of a nurse for a few hours to assist disabled people with their morning rituals and everyday work. He also revealed that the late Senator Kennedy wished that the act be included in the controversial healthcare reform as well.