Blog
Welcome to our blog – The Bottom Line, where you’ll find up-to-date commentary and analysis on the most important news in the fiscal world. Below is a list of our blog posts.
The Debt Ceiling and Fiscal Reforms
With federal debt subject to the limit currently at $31.38 trillion, the federal government has officially run up against its debt ceiling. In January...
Good Management of Medicare Advantage is Not a “Cut” to Medicare
Although politicians often speak of wanting to target “waste, fraud, and abuse” in government programs, there is currently an effort to prevent the...
81 Percent of Spending Growth Will Come from Health Care, Social Security, and Interest
The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) projects that budget deficits will double from $1.4 trillion in Fiscal Year (FY) 2023 to nearly $2.9 trillion by...
What Would It Take to Balance the Budget? An Update
The analysis below updates our previous analysis " What Would It Take to Balance the Budget?" to account for the Congressional Budget Office's latest...
Net Interest Will Total $10.5 Trillion Over the Next Decade
One of the fastest-growing expenditures over the next decade will be net interest on the national debt, according to the latest projections from the...
CBO's Latest Projections Make Fiscal Goals More Difficult
Federal debt held by the public is on track to exceed its record as a share of the economy – 106 percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), set just...
CBO Releases February 2023 Budget and Economic Outlook
The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) just released its February 2023 Budget and Economic Outlook, its first baseline since May 2022. CBO's new budget...
Site-Neutral Payments Would Lower Private Health Costs, Encourage Competition
The Health Savers Initiative recently published “ Moving to Site Neutrality in Commercial Insurance Payments,” which examines the market...
Tax Policy Center Estimates Medicare Revenue Proposals
The Tax Policy Center (TPC) recently published a report on “ Options for Increasing Medicare Revenues.” This report identifies 12 options to increase...
BCBSA Offers Options to Reduce Health Care Costs
Recently, the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association (BCBSA) released a plan to lower health care costs that focuses primarily on reducing the high prices...
Prevent Government Shutdowns Act of 2023 Introduced in the Senate
Last week, Senators James Lankford (R-OK), Maggie Hassan (D-NH), and a bipartisan group of nine additional senators reintroduced the Prevent...
Biden IDR Plan Will Cost More than Advertised
Last month, the Biden Administration put forward a proposed rule to unilaterally expand the Income-Driven Repayment (IDR) program for student debt. In...