Deficit Down But Health Costs to Bleed Red Ink Again Read more: Budget Deficit: CBO

DA60 · Feb 4, 2014

'The federal budget deficit will fall sharply through 2015 before surging again in the decade to come, according to a new government report. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office report out Tuesday sees America’s coffers being strained in the years ahead by entitlements under the new health care law, soaring health costs in general, and an aging population.

The projected budget deficit in 2014 is $514 billion, according to CBO, the lowest level during President Barack Obama’s presidency and well below the $1.4 trillion deficit in 2009, which followed heavy federal spending and and a collapse in revenue after the financial crisis. After falling again next year, according to CBO, the deficit will mushroom to more than $1 trillion by 2022.'

Read more: Budget Deficit: CBO Predicts More Red Ink, Obamacare Job Losses | TIME.com Budget Deficit: CBO Predicts More Red Ink, Obamacare Job Losses | TIME.com

Carjosse · Feb 4, 2014

Re: Deficit Down But Health Costs to Bleed Red Ink Again Read more: Budget Deficit:

Old people.

Greenbeard · Feb 4, 2014

Re: Deficit Down But Health Costs to Bleed Red Ink Again Read more: Budget Deficit:

DA60 said:
'The federal budget deficit will fall sharply through 2015 before surging again in the decade to come, according to a new government report. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office report out Tuesday sees America’s coffers being strained in the years ahead by entitlements under the new health care law, soaring health costs in general, and an aging population.

Not sure where they got "soaring health costs in general," the increase in public spending is driven largely by growing enrollment in public insurance, like people aging into Medicare coverage or enrolling in Medicaid under the new rules. For instance, here's what CBO had to say about rising Medicare spending:

CBO projects that spending per beneficiary will also grow at an average rate of 3 percent per year over the coming decade—much more slowly than it has grown historically. In particular, CBO projects that after adjusting for inflation, Medicare spending per beneficiary will increase at an average annual rate of 1.5 percent between 2014 and 2024, compared with average annual growth of 4 percent between 1985 and 2007 (excluding the jump in spending that occurred in 2006 with the implementation of Part D, the prescription drug program). . .

Second, the slowdown in Medicare cost growth during the past several years has been sufficiently broad and persistent to lead CBO to project that growth will be slower than usual for some years to come. Markedly lower growth rates for Medicare spending in recent years have extended across all types of services, beneficiaries, and major regions.8 As spending has fallen short of CBO’s projections, the agency has made a series of downward adjustments to those projections. For example, since March 2010, CBO has reduced its projection of Medicare outlays in 2020 (the last year included in the March 2010 projection) by $109 billion, or about 12 percent, based on analysis by CBO and other analysts of data on Medicare spending. (CBO has also made other revisions to its projections for Medicare spending in response to legislative action and revisions to CBO’s economic outlook.)

The third factor leading to slow projected growth in Medicare spending per beneficiary for the coming decade is the constraints on payment rates for most services that are built into current law:

Even given the slowdown, they see Medicare spending rising by 80 percent over the coming decade. But it's not because per beneficiary costs are rising more quickly, they're actually growing slower than ever.

Deficit Down But Health Costs to Bleed Red Ink Again Read more: Budget Deficit: CBO

DA60

Carjosse

Sit Nomine Digna

Greenbeard