Sponsors (6)
Introduced March 11, 2025 by Thomas Suozzi · Last progress March 11, 2025
The bill creates a federally backed LTSS insurance program, trust fund, and national education/oversight framework that would reduce catastrophic long‑term care risk and improve planning, but it significantly increases federal fiscal exposure, adds administrative complexity, may leave coverage gaps for many, and could disrupt private market options.
Seniors and people with long-term care needs gain a federal insurance program and trust fund that covers catastrophic LTSS (especially multi-year spells), lowering the risk that middle-class families and retirees exhaust assets and reducing reliance on Medicaid.
Eligible recipients (meeting disability and insured tests) receive monthly benefit payments geared to median paid personal care (helping pay for home care), with expanded access for people with limited work history and referrals to Aging and Disability Resource Centers.
A federal program creates national consistency and eases cross‑state mobility and administrative coordination compared with state-only LTSS solutions, simplifying coverage portability for beneficiaries.
Taxpayers and working Americans may face substantial added federal spending or new dedicated revenues/premiums because the program increases long‑term federal outlays and indexing could raise future costs.
Many middle‑income seniors could still face significant out‑of‑pocket costs because benefits are targeted at very long spells and payouts scale with work credits, leaving gaps for shorter or earlier LTSS needs.
Designing and implementing a federal LTSS program that coordinates with states, Medicaid, and private insurers is administratively complex and could delay benefit delivery or create transitional eligibility/cost-shifting problems.
Based on analysis of 7 sections of legislative text.
Creates a federal long-term care insurance benefit for eligible retirees, funded by a new trust fund, and requires public education, individual notices, and regular program reviews.
Creates a new federal long-term care insurance benefit for people who reach Social Security retirement age and meet work-history and disability tests, pays a monthly benefit based on the median cost of about 6 hours/day of paid personal care scaled to an individual’s work credits, and funds the program through a newly created Federal Long-Term Care Insurance Trust Fund. The law also provides startup appropriations, requires public education and regular notices to workers about their projected long-term care earnings and coverage status, and mandates periodic GAO and HHS reports on program performance and unmet needs for people who are not covered.