Publications -- Federal Spending

Sep 07, 2001

BA #371 – Propping Up SCHIP: Will This Program Ever Work?

Virtually every child in a low-income family is eligible for either Medicaid or the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), but a recent fact sheet from the Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured reports that 24 percent (or about 7.7 million) of the 32 million children in low-income families remain uninsured.

Aug 10, 2001

BA #366 – Straight Talk about the Social Security Trust Fund

President Bush has appointed a bipartisan commission to study reform of Social Security. But the response to the commission's first report reveals that most Americans - and many members of Congress - do not understand how Social Security works.

Mar 19, 2001

BA #357 – How Much Should We Spend on Health Care?

Here we go again. Another round of health insurance rate hikes. This time premiums are going up anywhere from 10 percent to 20 percent and more. And health care costs generally are rising at two to three times the rate of inflation.

Mar 14, 2001

BA #352 – Saving for a Rainy Day

In its January forecast, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) projected budget surpluses totaling $5.6 trillion between 2002 and 2011, up from $4.6 trillion a year earlier. This forecast assumes (1) no tax cut, (2) no spending increase and (3) no Social Security privatization. The forecast therefore assumes that the surpluses will be used to pay down the government debt available for repurchase and then buy assets that earn a return similar to that earned on Treasury issues. This means that beginning in 2006, the government would do something it has never done: accumulate and hold significant levels of private financial assets.

Mar 13, 2001

BA #351 – Medicaid Waivers: Wrong Cure for High Drug Prices

The Health Care Financing Administration (the agency that runs Medicare and Medicaid) can waive some federal requirements for Medicaid eligibility to allow states to experiment with new ways of delivering health care to the poor. Near the end of the Clinton administration, HCFA granted waivers to Maine and Vermont for programs allowing many people ineligible for Medicaid to get Medicaid prescription drug coverage.

Jan 31, 2001

ST #241 – Saving the Surplus

A surplus is political manna, enabling politicians to fund their favorite programs.  The fundamental choice is between using the Social Security surpluses to reduce the federal debt and using them to prepay future Social Security benefits. All other policy choices derive from this choice. Thus, the bulk of our analysis deals with the choice between retiring debt and prepaying future benefits.

Oct 12, 2000

BA #343 – The Power of Compounding and Social Security

Albert Einstein called it the greatest mathematical discovery of all time. Benjamin Franklin supposedly said it was the eighth wonder of the world. MasterCard, Visa and American Express use it - with devastating effects for unwary cardholders. The tool is compounding, and if harnessed correctly, it can save Social Security while ensuring a safe, comfortable and secure retirement for even the lowest-income Americans.

Sep 26, 2000

BA #341 – Facts about Social Security

Social Security reform has emerged as one of the defining issues of the 2000 election. Proposals to "save" Social Security have fueled an onslaught of criticism and praise of the current system - some accurate, some in the neighborhood and some not even close. A number of myths and half-truths about Social Security have clouded the dialogue.

Aug 14, 2000

BA #333 – Americans Support Personal Retirement Accounts

Polls consistently demonstrate the popularity of personal retirement accounts as an alternative to the current Social Security system. Younger voters overwhelmingly favor moving to a new system in which they can invest a portion of their payroll tax in a personal account that they can own and control. Indeed, Social Security reform has moved to the top of the agenda in the 2000 presidential race, with both candidates proposing competing visions of reform - and both including some form of personal retirement accounts.

Aug 10, 2000

BA #332 – Reducing the Social Security Benefits Tax

Since 1993, middle- and upper-income Social Security recipients have been subject to income tax on up to 85 percent of their benefits. On July 27, the House of Representatives voted to repeal this provision, leaving up to 50 percent of benefits still subject to taxation. The tax reduction would total $117.4 billion over 10 years. The vote was 265-159, with 213 Republicans and 52 Democrats in favor - a margin not large enough to override a presidential veto. The Senate must now consider the bill.