Health Care | Center for Effective Government

Medicare: Protecting Seniors for 50 Years

Jul 31, 2015 by Jessica Schieder

Fifty years ago, the United States created the Medicare insurance program – which has significantly increased the affordability of health care for America’s seniors, as well as those with certain disabilities and medical conditions. Today, close to 55 million people are covered by Medicare, and 60 percent of Americans say the program is working well for most seniors.

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CBO Says We Have a Tax Problem, Not a Spending Problem

Sep 18, 2013 by Guest Blogger

On Sept. 17, the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released its 2013 Long-Term Budget Outlook, and it has some great news. Specifically, CBO is predicting substantially lower health care spending this year and 25 years into the future.

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Why "Obamacare" Supporters Need to Care about the Health of the Regulatory System

Jun 28, 2012 by Jessica Randall

By now, you’ve almost certainly heard about the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark decision in “the health care case” (National Federation of Independent Businesses v. Sebelius). In short, the majority ruled that the mandate is a legitimate exercise of Congress’s power to tax and that financial incentives can be used to encourage states to expand Medicaid eligibility.

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CTJ: For Some in Congress, Priorities Lie With the Rich

Sep 8, 2009 by Gary Therkildsen*

According to a new report released today by Citizens for Tax Justice (CTJ), the tax cuts passed under President George W. Bush, which provide benefits mostly to the rich, will cost the country $2.5 trillion over the decade after they were first enacted (2001-2010). A number of lawmakers who voted for the Bush tax cuts have recently been arguing against health care reform legislation aimed at helping all Americans, claiming reforms are "too costly." How can this be?

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Medicare is the Culprit

Jul 13, 2009 by Jocelyn Yin*

On July 8th, Peter R. Orszag, the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, wrote a letter to Reps. George Miller (D-CA), Charles Rangel (D-NY), and Henry Waxman (D-CA), to express the Administration's support for the policy changes that have been discussed thus far. After commending their efforts thus far to make policies deficit-neutral, Orszag writes that these changes are not enough.

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CTJ and RRAN Call for Funding Health Care through Responsible Tax Reform

Jul 7, 2009 by Gary Therkildsen*

This morning, Citizens for Tax Justice (CTJ), in conjunction with Rebuild & Renew America Now (RRAN), a tax policy group, released a report outlining two tax reform proposals devised to help pay for the much anticipated overhaul of the U.S. health care system by Congress. The proposals, designed to place the least amount of tax burden on low and middle-income families, call for an expansion of the Medicare tax and a limitation on itemized deductions. According to CTJ, the two tax reforms could yield as much as $60.5 billion in the first year and $760 billion over the course of a decade. The report breaks down how the tax reforms would affect citizens of different income levels on a state-by-state basis. In addition to the report, Deborah Weinstein, Executive Director of the Coalition on Human Needs, which is part of RRAN, published an opinion piece on Huffington Post arguing for responsible revenues to pay for health care reform.

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From the Tax Policy Center

Jul 10, 2003 by Guest Blogger

Here's the latest from the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center:

TAX EVASION, IRS PRIORITIES, AND THE EITC Leonard E. Burman Testimony to United States House of Representatives

THE AMT: PROJECTIONS AND PROBLEMS Leonard E. Burman, William G. Gale and Jeff Rohaly TAX NOTES, July 7, 2003

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