Growth in spending on federal health care programs is one of the central fiscal challenges facing the federal government. That growth is driven by rising enrollment in public programs deriving from the aging of the population coupled with expansions in insurance coverage and by rising health care spending per person (which has slowed recently but, during the past few decades, has significantly outpaced increases in economic output per person). Moreover, rapid growth in spending on health care is a key challenge not only for Medicare, Medicaid, and other federal programs, but also for state and local governments and for the private sector. CBO devotes a large share of its resources to studying proposals that would make narrow or broad changes in the nation’s systems for delivering and financing health care.
Health Care
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Updated Budget Projections: Fiscal Years 2013 to 2023May 2013 - A robust increase in revenues projected over the next few years will help shrink deficits through 2015. But deficits are projected to rise later in the decade, partly because of pressures of an aging population and rising health care costs.
Cost Estimate for H.R. 45, a bill to repeal the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and health care-related provisions in the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010May 2013 - Due to time constraints, CBO will not be able to provide a cost estimate for H.R. 45, a bill that would repeal the Affordable Care Act.
CBO’s Estimate of the Net Budgetary Impact of the Affordable Care Act’s Health Insurance Coverage Provisions Has Not Changed Much Over TimeMay 2013 - This blog post describes in more detail CBO’s revised expectations about sources of people’s insurance coverage and the net budgetary impact of those revisions, as reflected in CBO’s May 2013 baseline projections.
Offsetting Effects of Prescription Drug Use on Medicare’s Spending for Medical ServicesNov 2012 - CBO estimates that greater use of prescription drugs by Medicare beneficiaries reduces Medicare’s spending on medical services.
Raising the Excise Tax on Cigarettes: Effects on Health and the Federal BudgetJun 2012 - CBO's study demonstrates the complex links between policies that aim to improve health and effects on the federal budget.
Long-Term Budget OutlookJun 2012 - The explosive path of federal debt under the fiscal scenario that many budget analysts believe is more representative of fiscal policies that are now or have recently been in effect underscores the need for large policy changes to put the federal government on a sustainable course.
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S. 330, HIV Organ Policy Equity Act
cost estimateMay 22, 2013How CBO Prepares Long-Term Projections of Federal Spending for Social Security and Major Health Care Programs
presentationMay 21, 2013Estimated Effects on Direct Spending and Revenues for Health Care Programs of Proposals in the President's 2014 Budget
data or technical informationMay 17, 2013H.R. 45, a bill to repeal the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and health care-related provisions in the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010
cost estimateMay 15, 2013Medicaid—May 2013 Baseline
data or technical informationMay 14, 2013Medicare—May 2013 Baseline
data or technical informationMay 14, 2013Children's Health Insurance Program—May 2013 Baseline
data or technical informationMay 14, 2013CBO’s Estimate of the Net Budgetary Impact of the Affordable Care Act’s Health Insurance Coverage Provisions Has Not Changed Much Over Time
blog postMay 14, 2013
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