CBO describes how its new health insurance simulation model was used to develop the agency’s new baseline budget projections. CBO also has made available segments of computer code to provide more detail about how the new model works.
Summary
To prepare its spring 2019 baseline budget projections, CBO is using new sources of data as inputs and has completely revamped the way it models consumers’ and employers’ behavior. To that end, it has developed HISIM2, a new version of the model CBO uses to generate estimates of health insurance coverage and premiums for the population under age 65. The model is used in conjunction with other models to develop baseline budget projections (which incorporate the assumption that current law generally remains the same). It is also used to estimate the effects of proposed changes in policies that affect health insurance coverage.
HISIM2 incorporates new base data, including data from surveys and administrative data. It changes the way individuals and families are projected to choose among coverage options. And it changes the way firms are projected to take workers’ preferences into account when deciding whether to offer employment-based coverage.