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Medicare

The Medicare program provides subsidized medical insurance for the elderly and for some disabled people. During 2012, enrollment in Medicare averaged about 50 million people. Gross spending (excluding administrative costs that are subject to appropriation) for the program was $551 billion. (Net spending, which has beneficiaries’ payments of premiums and some other receipts subtracted out, was $466 billion.) CBO anticipates that Medicare spending will rise rapidly over the next decade, spurred by the retirement of the baby boomers. The agency’s work on Medicare includes projections of future program spending, cost estimates of specific legislative proposals, and a range of analyses of policy options and issues affecting the program.
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Offsetting Effects of Prescription Drug Use on Medicare’s Spending for Medical Services

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November 29, 2012

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H.R. 1063, Strengthening Medicare and Repaying Taxpayers Act of 2011

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November 9, 2012

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S. 3391, Taking Essential Steps to Testing Act

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Medicare's Payments to Physicians: The Budgetary Impact of Alternative Policies Relative to CBO's March 2012 Baseline

data or technical information

July 31, 2012

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CBO Releases Two Analyses Related to the Affordable Care Act

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Letter to the Honorable John Boehner providing an estimate for H.R. 6079, the Repeal of Obamacare Act

cost estimate

July 24, 2012

read complete document  (pdf, 220 kb)

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Upcoming Health Care Analyses

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Update on CBO's Response to the Supreme Court's Decision Regarding the Affordable Care Act

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July 9, 2012


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Response to the Supreme Court’s Decision Regarding the Affordable Care Act

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June 28, 2012


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Breakfast with Reporters

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June 14, 2012


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