CBO released an issue brief today on different approaches for splitting the projected growth in the costs of the major federal health care programs into "excess cost growth" and demographic effects (these two factors reflect, respectively, rising costs per beneficiary and the number and age of beneficiaries). For more information about CBO's projections of long-term health care costs, see here.
The key points of the issue brief are:
I am delivering a talk on behavioral economics and health care later today at the National Academy of Social Insurance. Today's event is being held in honor of Peter Diamond's winning the Robert Ball award from NASI. Peter is not only brilliant but also a wonderful friend and colleague, and I am thrilled that he has won this award. Peter has been interested in behavioral economics, which combines insights from psychology with those from economics, for almost 40 years.
CBO is often asked for our most recent estimates of before- and after-tax household income, along with our estimates of effective tax rates. We have therefore just created a special page on our website containing our most recent household tax and income data, to make it easier for people to find those numbers.
Many people believe that health information technology (health IT) has the potential to transform the practice of health care by reducing costs and improving quality. CBO just released a significant study, prepared at the request of the Chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, examining the evidence on the costs and benefits of health information technology.
I am testifying this morning on climate change before the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. Reducing greenhouse-gas emissions would provide benefits to society by helping to limit the damage associated with climate change, especially the risk of significant damage. The testimony focuses on ways to reduce the economic cost of achieving any given greenhouse gas emissions target. In particular:
Under current law, rising costs for health care and the aging of the population will cause federal spending on Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security to rise substantially as a share of the economy.
Health Affairs held a briefing on the future of health care reform earlier this week. A theme that emerged during the session I participated in with Jason Furman of Brookings, and that will be the focus of an upcoming speech, is the need for more attention to behavioral economics and psychology in health policy.
Last month, I participated in an event on mortgage and housing markets with Alan Blinder of Princeton and Zanny Minton Beddoes of The Economist magazine. The event was co-hosted by the Woodrow Wilson School and The Economist.
A new study out yesterday provides yet more evidence of substantially widening inequality in life expectancy by education and socio-economic status.
