Medicaid provides medical care for certain poor and low-income people, and Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) provides coverage for children in low-income families that do not qualify for Medicaid. Federal spending for Medicaid and CHIP was about $251 billion and $9 billion, respectively, in 2012. CBO projects that federal Medicaid spending will rise rapidly over the coming decades because of expanding eligibility under the Affordable Care Act, the aging of the population, and rising costs per beneficiary.
Medicaid and CHIP
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Federal Grants to State and Local GovernmentsMar 2013 - In 2011, the federal government provided $607 billion in grants to state and local governments, accounting for 17 percent of federal outlays and a quarter of spending by states and localities. Nearly half of that amount was for Medicaid.
Growth in Means-Tested Programs and Tax Credits for Low-Income HouseholdsFeb 2013 - During the past 40 years, federal spending for major means-tested programs and tax credits for low-income households more than tripled as a share of gross domestic product. In 2012, such spending totaled $588 billion.
Estimates for the Insurance Coverage Provisions of the Affordable Care Act Updated for the Recent Supreme Court DecisionJul 2012 - Updated estimates of the budgetary effects of the health insurance coverage provisions of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) taking into account the Supreme Court decision that essentially made the expansion of the Medicaid program under the ACA a state option.
Letter to the Honorable John Boehner providing an estimate for H.R. 6079, the Repeal of Obamacare ActJul 2012 - CBO and the JCT have estimated the direct spending and revenue effects of H.R. 6079, as passed by the House of Representatives on July 11, 2012.
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.
The Long-Term Budgetary Impact of Paths for Federal Revenues and Spending Specified by Chairman RyanMar 2012 - The calculations presented here represent CBO's assessment of how the specified paths would alter the trajectories of federal debt, revenues, spending, and economic output relative to the trajectories under two scenarios that CBO has analyzed previously.
latest work
Federal Grants to State and Local Governments
reportMarch 5, 2013How Have CBO’s Projections of Spending for Medicare and Medicaid Changed Since the August 2012 Baseline?
blog postFebruary 21, 2013Growth in Means-Tested Programs and Tax Credits for Low-Income Households
reportFebruary 11, 2013Medicaid—February 2013 Baseline
data or technical informationFebruary 5, 2013Children's Health Insurance Program—February 2013 Baseline
data or technical informationFebruary 5, 2013CBO’s Long-Term Projections for Medicare and Medicaid Spending in the United States
presentationNovember 30, 2012H.R. 6429, STEM Jobs Act of 2012
cost estimateNovember 28, 2012S. 3391, Taking Essential Steps to Testing Act
cost estimateSeptember 19, 2012
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