‘Obamacare” appears ready to collapse under its own weight. Look at the CLASS Act, a government-run long-term care program Congress is likely to vote to repeal from the 2010 law.

Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) ignored warnings from the Medicare actuary and the American Academy of Actuaries when they added this budget gimmick to the 2010 health law. A bipartisan Senate majority voted to strip CLASS from the law, but Democratic leaders needed CLASS premiums to offset the costs of unrelated parts of “Obamacare.”

Last year, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius suspended CLASS after department attorneys conceded HHS lacked the legal authority to make CLASS appear more actuarially sound. Citing HHS, the Congressional Budget Office added: “The program cannot be operated without mandatory participation so as to ensure its solvency.”

Unfortunately, CLASS could return to haunt us if it isn’t fully repealed before October 2012. Legal experts at the Congressional Research Service warn that a federal judge could force HHS to revive CLASS after this key deadline in the law expires.

As we seek to repeal CLASS, we should confront two myths used to sell this Ponzi scheme.

First, CLASS does not guarantee a daily minimum cash benefit for working disabled Americans with pre-existing conditions. The administration planned to break the law, according to HHS attorneys, by excluding them from coverage, writing new income rules and phasing enrollment because of health status.

HHS also said solvency or legal problems could force the program’s shutdown, at the risk of leaving some working disabled Americans “worse off.”

Second, CLASS is a bad deal for healthy Americans and leaves us unprepared for the aging of the baby-boom generation. Howard Gleckman of the Urban Institute notes the average CLASS premium would run as high as $391 per month, “which far exceeds private market premiums.”

In addition, consumers receive no private contract that guarantees benefits. They must meet a five-year vesting period and forfeit what they contribute into a pay-as-you-go system with no reserve requirements.

Approximately, six out of 10 seniors will likely need some type of long-term care. The number of Americans 85 or older could grow 250 percent by 2040, and this group has the greatest need for long-term care.

As a physician, I treated hundreds of patients who needed long-term care, including ones with Alzheimer’s. More than 13.5 million seniors could have this disease by 2040. Middle-class families remain dangerously unprepared for these costs. Some people will likely spend more than $100,000 on care. The fictional CLASS daily benefit of $50 per day won’t cover this.

I urge my House and Senate colleagues to support this CLASS repeal. We should instead make it easier for disabled Americans to save for future needs, expand access to affordable private long-term care coverage and better educate Americans about the need for retirement planning.

Rep. Charles Boustany (R-La.), a physician, is chairman of the Ways and Means Subcommittee on Oversight.

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