Latest News | Federal Budget

From: Center for Economic and Policy Research

Article Excerpt:

The U.S. health care system is possibly the most inefficient in the world: We spend twice as much per person on health care as other advanced countries, but we have worse health outcomes, including a lower life expectancy. The government, through programs like Medicare and Medicaid, pays for approximately half of the country’s health care, almost all of which is actually provided by the private
sector. Thus, the bulk of our projected rising budget deficits are due to skyrocketing private health care costs.

The CEPR Health Care Budget Deficit Calculator shows that if the U.S. can get health care costs under control, our budget deficits will not rise uncontrollably in the future. But if we fail to contain health care costs, then it will be almost impossible to prevent exploding future budget deficits.

The Calculator lets you see what projected U.S. budget debts would be if we had the same per person health care costs as any of the countries listed below, all of which enjoy longer life expectancies than the U.S. (Life expectancies are listed in parentheses.)

Read more… Healthcare Budget Deficit Calculator

From: National Journal – 1/10/12

Article Excerpt: 

The federal government could save $148 billion over 10 years by increasing Medicare eligibility two years to age 67, the Congressional Budget Office reported on Tuesday. 

The projected savings are lower than CBO’s March estimate of $162 billion, but the earlier calculation did not include the premiums that seniors must pay into the program. A CBO official said that a senator requested the additional analysis of increasing the Medicare and Social Security eligibility ages.

Either way, the savings may not significantly cut the budget deficit but they could pay for a program such as the “doc fix”–a permanent solution to a temporary pay raise Congress must legislate for Medicare doctors every year.

CBO estimated the effects of increasing Medicare eligibility by two months every year beginning in 2014 for people who were born in 1949 until the Medicare eligibility age reached 67 in 2027 for people born in 1960.

Read more…

Lawmakers urged to weigh cost of extending special Medicare payments

From: the Hill.com Healthcare Blog – 9/21/2011

Article Excerpt:

House members examining whether to renew special Medicare payment bumps for laboratories, patient therapy and rural hospitals heard Wednesday from the usual array of industry groups clamoring for their share of the pie. But one witness, a former member of the nonpartisan Government Accountability Office, said they’re bad policy and should expire.

The so-called extenders, health economist Bruce Steinwald said, are “deceptively costly” when you add them all up — some $2.5 billion a year.

Read more..

Living Within Our Means and Investing in the Future

President’s Proposed Budget Cut Plan – September 19, 2011

The White House released their detailed deficit reduction plans in an 80 page document earlier this week.  I have prepared a summary below of the proposed reductions to the Medicare program reimbursements.  In review of the proposed cuts, it is interesting to note the growing influence that MedPAC is having in the discussion as many of the proposals are taken directly from MedPAC’s March 2011 reportto Congress. 

Summary of Proposed Reductions to Medicare Reimbursements

Living Within Our Means and Investing in the Future

President’s Proposed Budget Cut Plan – September 19, 2011

Last week we highlighted the White House proposed cuts related to the Medicare program.  Click here to view this summary of the proposed Medicare cuts.  This week we are highlighting from the same report, the proposed cuts that will impacting the Medicaid program.

Summary of Proposed Reductions to Medicaid Reimbursements 

From: The Disciplined Investor Blog – 7/21/11

Blog Excerpt

Here is the executive summary of the plan that is being offered by the Gang of Six. What it means is anyone’s guess. Why did it take so long for them to come up with something?  Already there is a major pushback from both sides on this as the “Right” does not want tax increases and the “Left” does not want cuts to entitlements. Back to the drawing board?

Executive Summary

This bipartisan, comprehensive, and balanced plan consistent with the recommendations of the Bowles-Simpson fiscal commission that will:

• Slash our nation’s deficits by $3.7 trillion/$3.6 trillion over ten years under CBO’s March 2011 baseline, or $4.65 trillion/$4.5 trillion under the original fiscal commission baseline (which used the President’s 2011 budget request as the starting point for discretionary spending). 
• Stabilize our publicly-held debt by 2014.
• Reduce our publicly-held debt to roughly 70% of our economy by 2021.
• Impose unprecedented budget enforcement

Click here to read the rest of the executive summary provisions.

From: Financial Times 7/21/11

Article Excerpt

President Barack Obama and John Boehner, the top Republican in the House of Representatives, are engaged in a final high-stakes push to secure an ambitious budget deal, less than two weeks before the US runs out of cash to pay its bills.

Both the White House and Mr. Boehner’s office denied they were close to an agreement, amid rising anxiety in both the Republican and Democratic camps that elements of the deal could provoke a backlash from their respective bases.

Click here to read article.

From: USA Today – 7/14/11

Excerpt:

President Obama implored congressional leaders Thursday to reach a deal on raising the nation’s $14.3 trillion borrowing limit by this weekend to reassure jittery world financial markets, and he suggested he could settle for a smaller deficit-reduction package than he originally sought.

Rather than continue to push for $4 trillion in savings over the next decade, Obama outlined a plan that would achieve roughly $2 trillion, almost entirely from spending reductions. That marks a major concession — one the president is likely to address at a news conference scheduled for 11 a.m. ET this morning.

At the same time, Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell and Democratic leader Harry Reid forged ahead with an even smaller deal of their own, one that represents a second fallback plan. It would allow Obama to raise the debt limit and create a process by which Congress would vote in the future on spending reductions.

Click here to view full article.

From: the Hill’s Healthcare Blog – 7/12/11

Here is an article outlining changes to Medicare and Medicaid that were outlined by House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) on Monday.  The savings are estimated to save $353 billion over ten years.  Given the current state of negotiations, it is hard to say what if any of these provisions will actually be agreed to.

From:Kaiser Health News – July 8, 2011

Article Excerpt:

The drug industry and teaching hospitals are among the health industry sectors that are bracing for hits from the budget deal. Meanwhile, other health care providers are watching and waiting — trying to figure out what might become of their interests as the negotiations go forward. And Democrats and liberal advocates, the staunchest supporters of the health law, fear President Barack Obama could give up too much in the ultimate agreement.