Reports by Paul N. Van de Water
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Social Security Keeps 21 Million Americans Out of Poverty: A State-by-State Analysis
October 16, 2012
Social Security benefits play a vital role in reducing poverty. Without Social Security, 21.4 million more Americans would be poor, according to the latest available Census data (for 2011). Although most of those whom Social Security keeps out of poverty are elderly, nearly a third are under age 65, including 1.1 million children.… -
Romney Budget Proposals Would Necessitate Very Large Cuts in Medicaid, Education, Health Research and Other Programs
Updated September 24, 2012
Governor Mitt Romney’s proposals to cap total federal spending at 20 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) and boost defense spending to 4 percent of GDP would require very large cuts in other programs, both entitlements and discretionary programs. This update of an earlier analysis is based on updated economic and budget … -
History Shows Spending Cuts in Deficit-Reduction Packages “Stick”
June 27, 2012
Some opponents of including any revenue increases in a deficit-reduction deal — no matter how outweighed by spending cuts — argue that such cuts never “stick.” They claim — as Grover Norquist’s Americans for Tax Reform recently did — that “when bipartisan deals are struck promising to … -
Budget Plans Should Not Rely on "Dynamic Scoring"
Revised June 21, 2012
Some Members of Congress and outside groups are calling for the use of "dynamic scoring" to estimate the budgetary effects of major legislation, notably tax reform proposals. In February, for instance, the House passed a bill (H.R. 3582) requiring the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) and the Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT) … -
Limitation on Use of Tax-Advantaged Health Accounts Should Not Be Repealed
June 5, 2012
The House will consider legislation this week to repeal the health reform law’s limitation on the use of flexible spending accounts (FSAs) and other tax-advantaged accounts to buy over-the-counter medicines. The limitation makes sense both as tax policy and as health policy and should not be repealed. (The bill, H.R. 436, … -
Romney Budget Proposals Would Require Massive Cuts in Medicare, Medicaid, and Other Programs
Revised May 12, 2012
This report has been superseded by a new version, dated September 24, 2012, that reflects updated data and other information. Click to view the new analysis. Governor Mitt Romney’s proposals to cap total federal spending, boost defense spending, cut taxes, and balance the budget would require extraordinarily large cuts in other programs, both … -
Toomey Budget Similar to House-Passed Ryan Budget
May 9, 2012
The Senate may take up, as early as this week, a budget proposal from Senator Patrick J. Toomey (R-PA)[1] that is similar in most important respects to the budget resolution from House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-WI), which the House passed on March 29. [2] Like the Ryan budget, the Toomey plan (S. Con. Res. 37) would protect and extend tax cuts that … -
Testimony of Paul N. Van de Water - Senior Fellow, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities - Before the Subcommittee on Oversight Committee on Ways and Means U.S. House of Representatives
April 25, 2012
Mr. Chairman, Ranking Member Lewis, members of the subcommittee, I appreciate the invitation to appear before you today. The Affordable Care Act (ACA) includes a number of spending reductions and tax increases designed to assure that expanding health coverage does not drive up the deficit. Some provisions limit the use of tax-advantaged … -
Medicare Is Not “Bankrupt”
Updated April 24, 2012
Claims by some policymakers that the Medicare program is nearing “bankruptcy” are misleading. Although Medicare faces major financing challenges, the program is not on the verge of bankruptcy or ceasing to operate. Such charges represent misunderstanding (or misrepresentation) of Medicare’s finances. … -
Statement of Paul Van de Water, Senior Fellow, on the 2012 Medicare Trustees’ Report
April 23, 2012
The new report from Medicare’s trustees shows little change from last year’s report in the near-term outlook for the program, while indicating that the program continues to face significant financing challenges in the long run. The projected date of insolvency for Medicare’s … -
Letter: Improving the Strength and Solvency of Medicare
April 18, 2012
The Honorable Phil Gingrey, M.D. U.S. House of Representatives Washington, D.C. 202515 Dear Congressman: We are pleased to respond to the letter of March 22 from you and your colleagues asking our views on how to improve the “strength and solvency of Medicare.” We divide our response into three parts: some background … -
Medicare in the Ryan Budget
March 28, 2012
The budget resolution developed by House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-WI) would make significant changes to Medicare. It would replace Medicare’s current guarantee of coverage with a premium-support voucher, raise the age of eligibility from 65 to 67, and reopen the “doughnut hole” in Medicare’s coverage of … -
What You Need to Know About Premium Support
March 19, 2012
The budget resolution that House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-WI) will unveil this week is expected to include a Medicare premium support proposal fashioned by Ryan and Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR). Although billed as a kinder, gentler form of premium support, the Ryan-Wyden plan has the same basic features as earlier premium … -
Independent Payment Advisory Board Will Help Reduce Health Costs
March 15, 2012
The health reform legislation enacted in 2010 (the Affordable Care Act, or ACA) establishes the Independent Payment Advisory Board, or IPAB — a presidentially appointed commission that will help slow the growth of Medicare costs if those costs are projected to exceed a specified target level.[1] Other cost-control measures included … -
Chained CPI Can Be Part of a Balanced Deficit-Reduction Package, Under Certain Conditions
February 22, 2012
A proposal included in several deficit-reduction packages — those from fiscal commission co-chairs Erskine Bowles and Alan Simpson, the Domenici-Rivlin panel, and the Senate "Gang of Six" — would shift from the regular or official Consumer Price Index (CPI) to the "superlative" or "chained" CPI when … -
House Spending-Cap Bills Would Enact Radical Ryan Budget Into Law
February 6, 2012
The House may soon consider two bills (H.R. 3576 and H.R. 3580) that would limit federal spending to levels similar to those in the House-passed budget resolution, authored by Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-WI). These bills are part of a package of ten bills that Chairman Ryan and other committee members recently … -
House Bill Would Artificially Inflate Cost of Federal Credit Programs
Revised January 24, 2012
The House Budget Committee approved legislation on January 24 that would change the federal accounting of direct loans and loan guarantees in ways that would overstate the federal costs of those programs. As a result, the legislation also would overstate the size of federal deficits. The Federal Credit Reform Act of 1990 changed …
