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POLICY INSIGHT
BEYOND THE NUMBERS

In Case You Missed It...

| By CBPP

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

  • On food assistance, Robert Greenstein stated that President Trump’s SNAP (food stamps) proposal would cost many of the nation’s poorest their food aid. Ed Bolen noted that the proposal restricts states’ ability to provide SNAP benefits to those struggling to find a steady job.
  • On health, Aviva Aron-Dine pointed out that bills that would repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA) would do much the same damage as a judge’s recent decision to strike down the law. Paul N. Van de Water showed how the decision would undermine Medicare. Jennifer Wagner commented that Arkansas’ Medicaid waiver is taking coverage away from eligible people as predicted. Halley Cloud noted that ACA enrollment remains strong despite significant headwinds. We updated our Sabotage Watch tracker of efforts to undermine the ACA and our brief on how taking away Medicaid for not meeting work requirements harms children.
  • On the federal budget and federal taxes, Joel Friedman explained how the threat of a government shutdown puts 2019 policy improvements at risk. Brendan Duke warned that the 2017 tax law’s pass-through deduction could weaken wages and workplace standards, and summarized those findings in a post. Roderick Taylor called on the new Congress to fund the IRS and refocus the agency’s enforcement priorities.
  • On the economy, we updated our backgrounders on the federal minimum wage and payroll tax, and on how many weeks of unemployment compensation are available.

Chart of the Week — In Sixth Month of Medicaid Work Requirement, Most Arkansas Beneficiaries Still Unable to Navigate Reporting

A variety of news outlets featured CBPP’s work and experts recently. Here are some of the highlights:

Trump administration moves to impose stricter work requirements for food stamps
NBC News
December 20, 2018

Trump plans to make more people work for food stamps
CNN
December 20, 2018

Happy Birthday, GOP Tax Law. More Workers Might Become Contractors Because Of You.
HuffPost
December 19, 2018

Thanks To Work Requirements, Thousands of Arkansans Are Losing Medicaid. That’s the Point.
New York Magazine
December 18, 2018

Here’s how Trump hobbled Obamacare and drove enrollment down this year
CNBC
December 15, 2018

CBPP will return with new analyses after New Year's. Happy holidays!

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