House Bills Expanding HSAs Would Boost High-Income Tax Breaks — Not Affordability of Care

Two bills due for House Ways and Means Committee consideration this week contain a slate of provisions that would expand health savings accounts (HSAs) — increasing tax breaks that overwhelmingly benefit high-income people, exacerbating racial...

Puerto Rico and Other Territories Should Get Food Assistance Equity in Upcoming Farm Bill

More than 40 years ago, Puerto Rico was ousted from the nation’s federal food assistance program, with its food assistance benefits converted to an inflexible block grant and cut substantially. The upcoming farm bill is...

House Republicans’ SNAP Amendments Would Take Food Away From More Than 1 Million Low-Income People

September 27: This post has been updated.

As part of the Agriculture appropriations bill for fiscal year 2024 that the House is considering this week, the House Rules Committee has allowed three amendments to...

In Case You Missed It…

This week at CBPP, we focused on the federal budget, food assistance, health, and Social Security.

• On the federal budget, CBPP President Sharon Parrott released a statement on the House Republican budget, explaining that...

Social Security Administration Needs Additional Funding to Avoid Exacerbating Customer Service Crisis

The Social Security Administration (SSA) faces a customer service crisis, with applicants for disability benefits and callers on hold at the agency’s toll-free number facing record-long waits. The Biden Administration has proposed some much-needed relief...

End of SNAP’s Temporary Emergency Allotments Resulted in Substantial Benefit Cut

Recent harmful Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) proposals by some House Republicans should be viewed in the context of the reductions households have already experienced because of the end of pandemic-related benefits, known as...

In Case You Missed It . . .

This week at CBPP, we focused in particular on analyzing 2022 Census Bureau data on poverty, income, and health coverage.

• We released a statement from CBPP President Sharon Parrott on how the record rise in...

Record Low Uninsured Rate Offers Roadmap to Long-Term Coverage Gains

The uninsured rate fell to an all-time low of 8.0 percent in 2022, according to data released today in the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey (ACS). That’s well below the prior record of...

Policymakers Should Raise SSI’s Harsh Savings Limits

A newly reintroduced bill would provide relief for low-income older and disabled beneficiaries of Supplemental Security Income (SSI), who face the strictest savings limits of any federal program. At no more than $2,000...

Analyzing the Census Bureau’s 2022 Poverty, Income, and Health Insurance Data