CBO released two reports this week related to the analysis of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) conducted by CBO and the staff of the Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT). One report presented updated estimates for the insurance coverage provisions of the ACA, and the other responded to questions we’ve received regarding the effects of the ACA on employment-based health insurance.
CBO Blog
Each year, after the President releases his annual budget request in February, CBO analyzes the budget proposals and, using its own estimating procedures and economic assumptions, projects what the federal budget would look like over the next 10 years if those proposals were adopted. CBO usually provides those results in two parts.
CBO and the staff of the Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT) continue to expect that the Affordable Care Act (ACA)—the health care legislation enacted in March 2010—will lead to a small reduction in the number of people receiving employment-based health insurance. Some observers have expressed surprise that CBO and JCT have not expected a much larger reduction given the expanded eligibility for Medicaid and the subsidies for insurance coverage purchased through health insurance “exchanges” that will result from the ACA.
In preparing the March 2012 baseline budget projections, CBO and the staff of the Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT) have updated estimates of the budgetary effects of the health insurance coverage provisions of the Affordable Care Act (ACA)—the health care legislation enacted in March 2010. Those provisions:
As it usually does in March, CBO has updated the baseline budget projections that it released in January. The new baseline projections incorporate the budgetary effects of recently enacted legislation and updated technical assumptions based on new information (such as data about spending and revenues so far this year and program details released in conjunction with the President’s budget). CBO has not revised its outlook for the economy since January.
Policymakers, analysts, and the public continue to express concern about the prospects for job creation. Although the most recent recession ended more than two years ago, the recovery has been slow, and the economy remains in a severe slump.
CBO plans to release its updated baseline projections of federal spending, revenues, and budget deficits for the 2012–2022 period on Tuesday, March 13. CBO’s analysis of the President’s budgetary proposals will be released in a separate report a few days later.
CBO Estimates That the Federal Budget Deficit Totaled $578 Billion for the First Five Months of Fiscal Year 2012
The federal government incurred a budget deficit of $578 billion in the first five months of fiscal year 2012 (that is, October 2011 through February 2012), CBO estimates in its latest Monthly Budget Review—$63 billion less than the shortfall recorded for the same period last year. Without shifts in the timing of certain payments and in the recording of tax refunds, however, the deficit would have been close to $600 billion.
The federal government has used both tax preferences and spending programs to provide financial support for the development and production of fuels and energy technologies in recent decades. At the request of Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, CBO released a brief addressing the following questions:
The federal government supports some private activities—such as home ownership, postsecondary education, and certain commercial ventures—by making or guaranteeing loans. At the end of fiscal year 2011, about $2.7 trillion was outstanding in federal direct loans and loan guarantees.