Congress’ continued failure to meet budget deadlines has prompted widespread calls to improve the budget process, and the recent Bipartisan Budget Act established a joint select committee to examine the budget and appropriations process and recommend reforms. Meanwhile, under the auspices of the...
off the charts
POLICY INSIGHT
BEYOND THE NUMBERS
BEYOND THE NUMBERS
Congress Shouldn’t Suspend Health-Related Taxes
January 17, 2018
The four-week federal funding bill that the House will consider tomorrow would temporarily suspend or delay three health-related taxes: the 2.3 percent excise tax on medical devices, the fee on health insurance providers (also known as the health insurance tax), and the excise tax on high-cost health...
Delaying Health Insurance Tax Would Give Windfall to Insurers, Do Little to Reduce Premiums
December 8, 2017
Health insurers continue to lobby for repealing or suspending the fee on health insurance providers — also known as the health insurance tax, enacted to help pay for health reform — before the end of the year. Policymakers suspended the tax for 2017, but the industry is pushing to...
Increase in Medicare’s Income-Related Premiums Raises Concerns
November 2, 2017
The House will vote tomorrow on a bill to extend funding for the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), temporarily increase federal funding for Puerto Rico’s Medicaid program, extend funding for community health centers and several other public health programs for two years, and temporarily avert cuts to Medicaid disproportionate...
Don’t Repeal IPAB
October 3, 2017
The House Energy and Commerce Committee will mark up legislation tomorrow to repeal the Independent Payment Advisory Board (IPAB) — a presidentially appointed commission charged with developing ways to slow the growth of Medicare spending.
Despite the claims of its critics, repealing IPAB would be unwise, as we’...
Federal Spending and Revenue Needs Will Grow
September 6, 2017
Spending and revenues will have to grow significantly as a share of the economy in coming years just to enable the federal government to continue carrying out existing functions that the public widely supports, our new analysis concludes. As policymakers...
House Should Reject Cuts to CBO
July 26, 2017
Two proposed amendments to the House legislative branch appropriation bill would cut funding and staffing for the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) by as much as 50 percent. House members should reject these amendments, offered by Representatives Scott Perry and...
House Budget Cuts, Restructures Medicare
July 21, 2017
The 2018 budget resolution that the House Budget Committee approved this week would end Medicare’s guarantee of health coverage by converting the program to a premium support system. Overall, it would cut Medicare spending by $487 billion over the 2018-27 period, largely by shifting more health care costs to beneficiaries. President Trump’s budget, by contrast, would spare Medicare from cuts...
Trump Budget May Break Promise to Protect Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid
May 18, 2017
Early word about President Trump’s 2018 budget — which the White House plans to release on May 23 — suggests it will likely break his promise not to cut Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid.
“I was the first & only potential GOP candidate to state there will be no cuts to Social Security, Medicare & Medicaid,”...
House-Passed Health Plan Would Speed Medicare Trust Fund’s Depletion by Two Years
May 9, 2017
Update, May 10: Based on additional information, we have revised the estimated depletion date of the Hospital Insurance trust fund to 2026, from 2025.
The House-passed bill to repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA) would move up the Medicare Hospital Insurance (HI) trust fund’s depletion from 2028 to 2026, we estimate (see graph), and increase HI’s 75-year deficit by more...
