Budget
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Transferring Credit Risk on Mortgages Guaranteed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac
CBO reviews Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac’s program to transfer some of the credit risk of their guarantees to investors and analyzes two approaches for expanding those efforts.
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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 to Manage FHA’s Exposure to Risk From Guaranteeing Single-Family Mortgages
CBO analyzes options to reduce FHA’s exposure to risk from its program to guarantee single-family mortgages, including creating a larger role for private lenders and restricting the availability of FHA’s guarantees.
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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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Options to Improve the Financial Condition of the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation’s Multiemployer Program
The pensions of some 10 million people are insured by the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation’s multiemployer program. CBO projects future claims on the program and losses to its beneficiaries and analyzes potential policy changes.
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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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The Federal Role in the Financing of Multifamily Rental Properties
CBO reviews the federal government’s current role in the multifamily mortgage market and four broad approaches to modifying that role.
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Child Nutrition Programs: Spending and Policy Options
Since 1990, real spending for child nutrition programs more than doubled—to $20 billion in 2014. CBO expects that increases in food prices and demographic changes will cause spending to rise further in the future.
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Federal Housing Assistance for Low-Income Households
CBO describes federal housing assistance to low-income households and how it has changed since 2000, provides information about the households that receive assistance, and assesses options for altering that assistance.
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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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The Effects of Potential Cuts in SNAP Spending on Households With Different Amounts of Income
CBO examines several options that would reduce federal spending on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and the effects they would have on households with different amounts of income.
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Temporary Assistance for Needy Families: Spending and Policy Options
This report examines spending on TANF, how TANF compares to other low-income support programs, and the effects of TANF on employment. CBO also analyzes policy options that would change the program’s funding and requirements for states.
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Federal Policies and Innovation
The federal government influences innovation through two broad channels: spending and tax policies, and the legal and regulatory systems. Policymakers have a number of options for spurring additional innovation.
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Veterans' Disability Compensation: Trends and Policy Options
From 2000 to 2013, the number of veterans receiving VA disability payments rose by nearly 55 percent, and spending for those benefits almost tripled. How might changes in VA's disability compensation program affect the federal budget?
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Answers to Questions From Senator Hatch About Various Options for Payroll Taxes and Social Security
CBO examined the implications of various approaches to altering the Social Security payroll tax rates as well as the taxable maximum (the maximum amount of earnings on which those payroll taxes are imposed).
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The Highway Trust Fund and the Treatment of Surface Transportation Programs in the Federal Budget
How can lawmakers address the imbalance between revenues and spending in the Highway Trust Fund? How does the unique budgetary classification of surface transportation programs limit the effectiveness of standard spending controls?
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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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Choices for Deficit Reduction: An Update
Federal debt is projected to rise significantly over the long term. What policy changes could reduce future deficits and thus lower the trajectory of federal debt? What criteria might be used to evaluate those policy changes?
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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.