Today CBO released a letter on the changes in Medicare Part D premiums that would result from certain provisions of H.R. 3200, Americas Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009, as introduced on July 14. According to CBOs estimates, enacting those changes would lead to an average increase in premiums for Part D beneficiaries of about 5 percent in 2011, rising to about 20 percent in 2019.
August 2009
CBO released updated economic and budget projections today, showing baseline (i.e., current law) budget deficits of about $1.6 trillion for the current fiscal year that ends on September 30 and roughly $7.1 trillion for the 2010-2019 period. That 10-year total is about $2.7 trillion higher than the baseline projection CBO published in March 2009.
Today CBO issued its annual summer update of the budget and economic outlook. CBO estimates that the federal budget deficit for 2009 will total $1.6 trillion, which, at 11.2 percent of gross domestic product (GDP), will be the highest since World War II. That deficit figure results from a combination of weak revenues and elevated spending associated with the economic downturn and financial turmoil.
Today CBO released a study that examines the Veterans Health Administrations (VHAs) experience with quality improvement and health information technology. The assessment also examines how VHAs system serves its patients. The information contained in this reportmay prove useful to private-sector health providers who are working to improve the quality of care in their own facilities as well as to analysts and decision makers considering how veterans health care might be affected by proposals for health care reform.
On Friday CBO released a letter that discusses how the agencys budget estimates reflect potential reductions in federal costs from improvements in health that might result from expanded governmental support for preventive medical care and wellness services.
Today, CBO released anupdate of its long-term Social Security projections.The projections are qualitatively similar to those in previous CBO reports: Social Securitys annual revenues currently exceed its annual outlays, but as the baby-boom generation continues to age, growth in the number of Social Security beneficiaries will pick up, and absent legislative changes, outlays will increase much faster than revenues.
Today CBO released its estimates of federal revenues and outlays for the first 10 months of fiscal year 2009. The budget deficit through July 2009 reached $1.3 trillion, CBO estimates, close to $880 billion greater than the deficit recorded in the 10 months through July 2008. Outlays rose by almost $530 billion (or 21 percent) and revenues fell by more than $350 billion (or 17 percent) compared with the amounts recorded during the same period last year.
The Department of Defenses (DoDs) proposed budget for fiscal year 2010 includes a number of significant changes in planned military programs. Many of the issues addressed in the budget have been apparent for some time to analysts in CBOs National Security Division. (J. Michael Gilmoreled this divisionfrom 2001 until earlier this year; Matthew S. Goldberg is CBOs Acting Assistant Director for National Security.) Indeed, many of the programmatic changes just proposed have been examined by CBO in recent publications, including:
CBO regularly presents compendiums of budget options to help inform Members of Congress about the effects that various policy choices would have on spending or revenues. For the current budget cycle, CBO has issued Budget Options in two volumes. The first volume, released in December 2008, focused on options regarding health care and its financing. The second volume, released today, includes options that address other areas of federal spending and revenues.
Today CBO released a brief that discusses how activities with emissions that are not subject to limits in a cap-and-trade program might lower the burden of reducing the concentration of greenhouse gases (GHGs) in the atmosphere.