The Obama administration on Friday told congressional leaders that it cannot implement a new program to provide Americans with long-term care insurance, abandoning a controversial part of the new healthcare law the president signed last year.
The move will not affect implementation of other parts of the sweeping healthcare law, including preparations for a major expansion of health insurance coverage starting in 2014, according to administration officials.
But the decision to give up on what was once touted as a key benefit of the law marks a major retreat for the Obama administration and a vindication for critics who have voiced doubt about the promises that Democrats made as they fought to enact the law last year.
It also struck a blow at one of the late Sen. Edward M. Kennedy’s long cherished goals – a government entitlement to help elderly Americans pay for home care or a nursing home at the end of their lives.