CBO just released a report on comparative effectiveness research. Such research holds the potential to reduce health care costs over the long term -- possibly by substantial amounts if it is done rigorously and if its results are ultimately tied to changes in financial incentives for providers and consumers.
CBO Blog
CBO has posted a score of the Medicare, Medicaid, and SCHIP Extension Act of 2007....
CBO released today an updated analysis of the implications of the nation's long-term defense plans. National defense decisions made todayincluding those regarding weapon systems, military compensation, and numbers of personnelcan have long-lasting effects on the composition of U.S. armed forces and the budgetary resources needed to support them. What we're trying to do in this report is evaluate the costs involved.
This morning, CBO released its new long-term budget outlook and I am testifying before the House Budget Committee on our report. The report presents 75-year projections of federal spending and revenues under two alternative sets of assumptions, each of which represents a possible interpretation of current fiscal policy.
Those of you who have recently been following CBO's work on health care will see many familiar themes in this oped in today's Wall Street Journal...
Effective Tax Rates
Throughout this year, the Congress has been considering possible extensions of the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP). CBO today released new estimates of the federal SCHIP funding necessary to maintain the current programs operated by states -- which some observers refer to as the SCHIP "shortfall" -- relative to the baseline funding level of $5.0 billion.
Later this week, CBO will be releasing its new Long-Term Budget Outlook. Perhaps the single most important variable affecting the nation's long-term fiscal outlook is the rate at which health care costs will grow in the future. Over the past 30 years, total national spending on health care has more than doubled as a share of GDP. According to the projections we released last month in our Long-Term Outlook for Health Care Spending, that share will double again by 2035, claiming more than 30 percent of GDP.
CBO released its Monthly Budget Review today. During the first two months of fiscal year 2008, the budget deficit was $157 billion, according to our estimates -- $35 billion higher than the same period last year.
CBO released a new report this morning on the impact of unauthorized immigrants on state and local government budgets. Most analyses have found that the fiscal impact of immigrants as a whole (both legal and unauthorized, and including all levels of government) is slightly positive -- the tax revenues generated by immigrants exceed the cost of the government services they use.