Health Care
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How Would Authorizing Medicare to Cover Anti-Obesity Medications Affect the Federal Budget?
CBO estimates the budgetary effects of an illustrative policy that would authorize Medicare to cover anti-obesity medications. The policy would apply to all beneficiaries with obesity and some beneficiaries who are classified as overweight.
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Alternative Approaches to Reducing Prescription Drug Prices
CBO discusses prescription drug prices and approaches aimed at reducing those prices. Some of the approaches would cap prices or limit their growth, and other approaches would promote price competition or affect the flow of information.
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Medicare Accountable Care Organizations: Past Performance and Future Directions
CBO summarizes recent research findings about Medicare accountable care organizations and the factors that have contributed to or limited their ability to achieve net budgetary savings for the Medicare program.
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Options for Reducing the Deficit, 2023 to 2032--Volume I: Larger Reductions
CBO issues a volume describing 17 policy options that would each reduce the federal budget deficit by more than $300 billion over the next 10 years or, in the case of Social Security options, have a comparably large effect in later decades.
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Options for Reducing the Deficit, 2023 to 2032--Volume II: Smaller Reductions
CBO issues a volume that contains short descriptions of 59 policy options that would each reduce the federal budget deficit by less than $300 billion over the next 10 years.
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Policy Approaches to Reduce What Commercial Insurers Pay for Hospitals’ and Physicians’ Services
CBO identified policy approaches that federal lawmakers could adopt to reduce the prices that commercial insurers pay for hospitals’ and physicians’ services, thereby lowering health insurance premiums and the cost of federal subsidies.
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Work Requirements and Work Supports for Recipients of Means-Tested Benefits
CBO analyzes the effects of work requirements and work supports on employment and income of participants in Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, and Medicaid.
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Budgetary Effects of a Policy That Would Lower the Age of Eligibility for Medicare to 60
CBO and the staff of the Joint Committee on Taxation estimate that lowering the age of Medicare eligibility to 60 would increase federal budget deficits, change primary sources of health insurance, and increase the number of people insured.
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The Economic Effects of Waiting to Stabilize Federal Debt
CBO analyzes the economic effects of waiting to stabilize federal debt. The longer action is delayed, the larger the policy changes needed to stabilize debt. The timing and type of policy would determine its effects on different age and income groups.
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Options for Reducing the Deficit: 2021 to 2030
CBO periodically issues a compendium of policy options and their effects on the federal budget. This document provides estimates of the budgetary savings from 83 options that would decrease federal spending or increase federal revenues.
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Accounting for Federal Retirement and Veterans' Benefits: Cash and Accrual Measures
CBO examines the differences between cash and accrual accounting for federal retirement and veterans’ benefits, the information that the two types of estimates provide, and ways to expand the use of accrual measures for such benefits.
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Options for Reducing the Deficit: 2019 to 2028
CBO periodically issues a volume of options—this year’s installment presents 121—that would decrease federal spending or increase federal revenues. CBO’s website allows users to filter options by topic, date, and other categories.
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A Premium Support System for Medicare: Updated Analysis of Illustrative Options
CBO presents new estimates of the budgetary effects of options for a premium support system for Medicare and examines the reasons for the changes in the estimates, including changes in law that have affected the Medicare program.
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Options for Reducing the Deficit: 2017 to 2026
CBO periodically issues a volume of options—this year’s installment presents 115—that would decrease federal spending or increase federal revenues over the next decade. The report is available both as a PDF and in a searchable format.
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Social Security Policy Options, 2015
CBO analyzes 36 policy options commonly proposed by policymakers and analysts. Most of them would improve Social Security’s long-term finances, but only a few would significantly postpone the combined trust funds’ exhaustion date.
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Budgetary and Economic Effects of Repealing the Affordable Care Act
CBO and the staff of the Joint Committee on Taxation estimate that, over the next decade, a repeal of the Affordable Care Act would probably increase budget deficits with or without considering the effects of macroeconomic feedback.
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Approaches to Reducing Federal Spending on Military Health Care
Between 2000 and 2012, the cost of providing health care to service members, retirees, and their families increased by 130 percent (after adjusting for inflation). What approaches might curtail the growth in those costs?
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Health-Related Options for Reducing the Deficit: 2014 to 2023
This document is a reprint of Chapter 5 of CBO's publication Options for Reducing the Deficit: 2014 to 2023 (November 2013).
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Raising the Age of Eligibility for Medicare to 67: An Updated Estimate of the Budgetary Effects
CBO's new estimate of the net budgetary savings from adopting this policy is much lower than its earlier estimates for proposals to raise Medicare’s eligibility age. This report describes CBO’s new estimate and the reasons for the change.
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A Premium Support System for Medicare: Analysis of Illustrative Options
CBO analyzes the ways two illustrative options for a premium support system for Medicare would affect federal spending and beneficiaries’ choices and payments.