CBO just released an impressive document on health care costs and long-term fiscal issues. It includes:

• A more realistic projection of health care costs, absent changes in federal law
• The relative importance of an aging population, health care costs, and social security costs
• A systematic explanation of the rise in health care costs and its value
• A discussion of possible remedies to excess health care costs

It's encouraging that CBO's examination of health care costs is becoming more sophisticated and detailed. They have clearly shifted a considerable amount of resources into studying health care, and hopefully the think tanks, policy experts and lawmakers who control the debate over long-term fiscal issues will do likewise. Addressing health care costs, after all, is much more important than addressing forecasted shortfalls in Social Security.