CBO just released an interim report on the VA health system. VA's health care program has attracted lots of attention, and as part of CBO's ongoing effort to expand our health-related activities, we are examining the evidence on the VA system -- along with what lessons, if any, it may hold for other parts of the health care system.
December 2007
As you can imagine, CBO prides itself on its analytical capabilities -- and its analysis is (justifiably, in my opinion!) widely respected. From time to time, though, criticisms of our analysis are raised. I won't respond to most of these criticisms, but in some cases, it may be worth examining the issues raised in a critique of CBO's analysis -- and that's what this post does.
As I mentioned in a previous post, corporate tax receipts have recently appeared relatively weak: in each of the past five months, payments of corporate receipts have experienced notable year-over-year declines. December may turn out to reverse that trend, however, and December is a relatively important month for corporate receipts.
CBO just released a report on comparative effectiveness research. Such research holds the potential to reduce health care costs over the long term -- possibly by substantial amounts if it is done rigorously and if its results are ultimately tied to changes in financial incentives for providers and consumers.
CBO has posted a score of the Medicare, Medicaid, and SCHIP Extension Act of 2007....
CBO released today an updated analysis of the implications of the nation's long-term defense plans. National defense decisions made todayincluding those regarding weapon systems, military compensation, and numbers of personnelcan have long-lasting effects on the composition of U.S. armed forces and the budgetary resources needed to support them. What we're trying to do in this report is evaluate the costs involved.
This morning, CBO released its new long-term budget outlook and I am testifying before the House Budget Committee on our report. The report presents 75-year projections of federal spending and revenues under two alternative sets of assumptions, each of which represents a possible interpretation of current fiscal policy.
Those of you who have recently been following CBO's work on health care will see many familiar themes in this oped in today's Wall Street Journal...
Effective Tax Rates
Throughout this year, the Congress has been considering possible extensions of the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP). CBO today released new estimates of the federal SCHIP funding necessary to maintain the current programs operated by states -- which some observers refer to as the SCHIP "shortfall" -- relative to the baseline funding level of $5.0 billion.