CBO: Healthcare projected to consume increasing share of federal outlays in next decade

Every year, the Congressional Budget Office projects how the federal budget will look over the coming decade. For the coming decade, the numbers look grim. Federal deficits in CBO’s baseline average $1.2 trillion per year and total $11.6 trillion over the 2020– 2029 period…Those deficits would average 4.4 percent of gross domestic product (GDP). Other…

CHIP take-up is high among children

Federal funding for the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) ended in September 2017.  This caused a stir as many parent’s relied on CHIP for their children’s health insurance.  In January 2018, however, the federal government’s passed a six-year CHIP funding extension and resolved to continue to fund this program. The headlines at the time showed pictures of…

What happens to CHIP?

The Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) is a federal program that provides matching funds to states in order for them to provide health insurance to children.  The program was designed to cover uninsured children in families with incomes that are modest but too high to qualify for Medicaid. Currently, however, the program is in jeopardy.  In fact, federal funding for…

What is causing U.S. debt to explode?

According to the Congressional Budget Office’s (CBO’s) 2017 Long-Term Budget Outlook, you need to look no further than entitlements for the elderly. Mandatory programs have accounted for a rising share of the federal government’s noninterest spending over the past few decades, exceeding 60 percent for the past several years. Much of the growth has occurred because…

MEPS vs. NHEA

Many researchers use household data sources to examine a variety of hypothesis.  The use of household data has many benefits including allowing for more detailed socioeconomic information (e.g., education, income) beyond what is contained in administrative claims files.  One drawback of household data is that extrapolations made from household survey data may not match national…