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- Blog Post
In fiscal year 2012, the federal budget deficit surpassed $1 trillion for the fourth year in a row. If lawmakers maintained current policies by preventing most of the tax increases and spending cuts that are scheduled to occur in January, deficits would total almost $10 trillion over the next decade. Federal debt held by the public would increase from nearly 73 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) at the end of 2012 to 90 percent of GDP 10 years from now.
- Report
Are fiscal rules a useful tool for achieving budgetary goals? View the appendix of this report to learn more.
- Data and Technical Information
Medicare’s payment rates for physicians’ services are scheduled to be reduced by 27 percent in 2013, CBO estimates, under the provisions of law known as Medicare’s Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR) mechanism. The SGR mechanism consists of expenditure targets, which are established by applying a growth rate (calculated by formula) to spending for physicians’ services and certain related services in a base period, and annual adjustments to the payment rates, which are designed to bring spending in line with the expenditure targets over time.
- Blog Post
The Social Security Disability Insurance (DI) program has expanded rapidly during the past few decades, and CBO projects that, under current law, future spending for the program will significantly exceed the revenues dedicated to it.
- Report
The Disability Insurance program provided benefits to 8.3 million disabled workers in 2011. By 2022, CBO projects, the program will provide benefits to over 10 million disabled workers and spending on benefits will exceed $190 billion.
- Blog Post
The federal government provides credit assistance to individuals and businesses in the form of direct loans and through guarantees of loans made by private financial institutions. In a report requested by the Chairman and Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, CBO provides an illustrative analysis of the federal government’s costs for those credit programs following two approaches:
- Report
CBO provides an illustrative analysis of the federal government’s costs for credit programs following two approaches.
- Cost Estimate
As approved by the House Committee on Financial Services on April 18, 2012 H. Con. Res. 112, the Concurrent Budget Resolution for fiscal year 2013, as passed by the House of Representatives on March 29, 2012, instructed several committees of the House to recommend legislative changes that would reduce deficits over the 2012-2022 period. As part of this process, the House Committee on Financial Services was instructed to recommend changes to current law that would reduce the deficit by $29.8 billion for fiscal years 2012 through 2022.
- Report
In response to a request from the Honorable Paul Ryan, Chairman of the Committee on the Budget, U.S. House of Representatives, the Congressional Budget Office has prepared a list of its publications that analyze the budgetary impact of the Budget Control Act of 2011 (P.L. 112-25).
- Report
One in seven U.S. residents received benefits through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) in 2011, at a total cost of $78 billion. Spending on SNAP benefits more than doubled between 2007 and 2011.