The Bipartisan Policy Center’s (BPC) Debt Reduction Task Force – a highly diverse group of private individuals – has laid out a comprehensive approach to closing the deficit and slowing the rise in national debt. They do this through a combination of spending reductions, many though not all of which …
The President’s National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform is not set to release its final recommendations on how best to tackle deficit spending and entitlement reform until December 1. However, several of its members have already gone public with proposals to reduce runaway spending and put Medicare and Medicaid, …
Congressional Quarterly is reporting that the United States Senate is going to enact a one-month reprieve for Medicare physicians, saving them once again from a draconian reduction in Medicare payment. This entire system is a mess. Under the existing Medicare payment formula (the Sustainable Growth Rate, or SGR) for doctors …
Repeatedly, reports have shown that Obamacare will increase job loss. But what happens when those who are laid off are the workers meant to enable the health care law’s expanded access of care: namely, hospital employees? According to one hospital, layoffs of workers have already begun as a result of …
The 2010 fiscal year just ended, but America’s fiscal crisis has just begun. In 2010, the Congressional Budget Office’s (CBO) preliminary estimates show that the federal government spent $3.45 trillion, amassing a deficit of $1.3 trillion. Spending on entitlement programs, which include Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security, comprised 41 percent …
The Heritage Foundation’s 2010 Index of Dependence on Government, published today, showcases the disturbing trend of Americans becoming more dependent on their government – via their fellow non-dependent tax paying Americans – than ever before. The surge in the Index of 13.6% over last year takes the Index to an …
Currently 3.4 million Americans seniors covered by Medicare find themselves in a giant “doughnut hole,” but despite the tasty terminology, there’s nothing sweet about it. The doughnut hole refers to a gap in prescription drug coverage under Medicare Part D. As David Hilzenrath explains, “…beneficiaries enter the coverage gap when …
Should Americans be forced into mandatory participation in a government-run long-term care Ponzi scheme? Or is a taxpayer bailout of another congressional misadventure a better idea? These may be the choices confronting a future Congress if the Community Living Assistance Services and Support (CLASS) Program is left intact. CLASS is …
