Health Care

On March 20, 2010, CBO released its final cost estimate for the major health care legislation approved by the Congress shortly thereafter. (The estimate covers the effects of both the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act.) In the estimate, Table 1 (on page 5) provides a summary; Table 2 (near the back of the estimate) offers a detailed breakdown of the budgetary effects; Table 3 presents the effects on health insurance coverage and the budgetary effects of the provisions related to coverage; and Table 5 shows the budgetary effects of the health care provisions that are not related to insurance coverage (primarily involving the Medicare program). The estimated impact of the legislation's revenue provisions was reported separately by the staff of the Joint Committee on Taxation.

CBO has also released other information related to the legislation:

 

Panel of Health Advisers

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CBO’s panel of health advisers meets periodically to advise the agency on its analyses of health care issues. The panel thus helps to further the reliability, professional quality, and transparency of the agency’s work.

Inside CBO

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Experts from across the agency come together to analyze health care: estimating the budgetary impacts of federal health care programs, preparing studies of health policy issues, and estimating the budgetary and other effects of proposals to alter the health care system. Two units in the Budget Analysis Division focus particularly on estimating the cost of proposed health care legislation and projecting spending for federal health care programs. The Health and Human Resources Division conducts studies of health issues, including Medicare, Medicaid, pharmaceuticals, public health, and private health markets; it also develops models that underlie cost estimates. The National Security Division conducts studies of the health care provided by the Departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs. The Microeconomic Studies Division also analyzes health issues, especially those related to competition or market structure, including most recently prescription drug pricing and research and development in the pharmaceutical industry.

CBO continually seeks health economists, analysts, and research assistants for health-related programs. The agency has also devoted an internship to health policy, which is for graduate students. It may be available on a summer, semester, or year-long basis depending on work needs and students' availability.

Supplemental Budget Info

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Background Reading

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Publications

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Cost Estimates

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