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Home :  Federal Budget & Tax : 
Federal Budget & Tax:      News     Blog     Background    



Thursday, January 31, 2008

Bush Budget Expected to Cut Medicare, Medicaid Funding
...while maintaining payments to insurance companies through flawed Medicare Advantage program

Reporting in the International Herald Tribune, Robert Pear reports that the president's budget, which will be released Monday, will slash Medicare and Medicaid spending to an even greater extent than his FY 2008 request.

Budget documents show that Bush will propose legislative changes in Medicare to save $6 billion in the next year and $91 billion from 2009 to 2013. In his last budget, by contrast, his legislative proposals would have saved $4 billion in the first year and $65.6 billion over five years.

Bush's budget also takes aim at Medicaid, the insurance program for low-income people. He would pare $1.2 billion from Medicaid next year and nearly $14 billion over five years.

[...]

Most of the Medicare savings in the president's budget would be achieved by reducing the annual update in payments to hospitals, nursing homes, hospices, ambulances and home care agencies.

The budget would not touch payments to insurance companies for private Medicare Advantage plans, even though many Democrats and independent experts say those plans are overpaid.

These harsh cuts are, of course, a non-starter for Congress, but they're probably a predictor for what's in store for the rest of the budget.



Posted by Craig Jennings, 05:20:23 PM



More Bad News for State Budgets

It seems things are getting worse out in the states, almost by the day. The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities has released another update of their analysis first released last week, adding one more state (Illinois) to the list of states facing a budget crunch in 2009. Now there are 20 states that are projecting budget gaps in 2009. The updated summary stats from CBPP:

More than half of states anticipate budget problems, according to this updated analysis of state fiscal conditions.
  • 20 states now project budget gaps for 2009. Illinois joins this list.
  • The combined budget shortfall for these 20 states in 2009 is now at least $34 billion.
  • 5 states now say they will have 2009 deficits, but have released no further information.
  • 3 other states project budget gaps for 2010 and beyond.

CBPP: 20 STATES FACE TOTAL BUDGET SHORTFALL OF AT LEAST $34 BILLION IN 2009





Posted by Adam Hughes, 04:11:25 PM



Tuesday, January 29, 2008

Projections of State Budget Shortfalls Deteriorate

The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities released an update to their analysis last week, which now shows more than half of the states are facing a budget crunch in 2009. As we've commented, this isn't good news, as state budgets are far less flexible than the federal budget and usually are legally prohibited from running a deficit. From the CBPP update:

More than half of states anticipate budget problems, according to this updated analysis of state fiscal conditions.
  • 19 states now project budget gaps for 2009. New Hampshire, Ohio and Wisconsin have joined this list since our last update
  • The combined budget shortfall for these 19 states in 2009 is now at least $32 billion.
  • 6 states now say they will have 2009 deficits, but have released no further information.
  • 3 other states project budget gaps for 2010 and beyond.

CBPP: 19 STATES FACE TOTAL BUDGET SHORTFALL OF AT LEAST $32 BILLION IN 2009





Posted by Adam Hughes, 10:28:25 AM



Wednesday, January 23, 2008

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Printer(?)

Did the CBO goof or did it change the naming convention for its annual 10-year outlook report?

Last year (Jan. 2007), the CBO released "The Budget and Economic Outlook: Fiscal Years 2008 to 2017."

This year (today, in fact), the CBO released "The Budget and Economic Outlook: Fiscal Years 2008 to 2018."

What's going on? Both reports cover the same forecasting window, so that hasn't changed. My first scan of this year's report hasn't caught a note explaining the difference in naming convention. Anyone out there care to venture a guess?



Posted by Craig Jennings, 11:00:13 AM



The Budget and Economic Outlook: Fiscal Years 2008 to 2018

The CBO has released its outlook for the budget for 2008 through 2012.

Under an assumption that current laws and policies do not change, CBO projects that the budget deficit will rise to 1.5 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2008 from 1.2 percent in 2007.

CBO: The Budget and Economic Outlook: Fiscal Years 2008 to 2018



Posted by Craig Jennings, 09:57:52 AM



Wednesday, January 16, 2008

CBPP: States Facing Budget Crunch

The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities released an analysis yesterday forecasting that as least 21 states will face budget shortfalls due to reduction in sales tax collections and other tax revenues in the next fiscal year. This isn't good news, as state budgets are far less flexible than the federal budget and usually are legally prohibited from running a deficit. From the report's introduction:

The bursting of the housing bubble has reduced state sales tax revenue collections from sales of furniture, appliances, construction materials, and the like. Weakening consumption of other products has also cut into sales tax revenues. Property tax revenues have also been affected, and local governments will be looking to states to help address the squeeze on local and education budgets. And if the employment situation continues to deteriorate, income tax revenues will weaken and there will be further downward pressure on sales tax revenues as consumers become reluctant or unable to spend.

The vast majority of states cannot simply run a deficit or borrow to cover their operating expenditures. As a result, states have three primary actions they can take during a fiscal crisis: they can draw down available reserves, they can cut expenditures, or they can raise taxes. States already have begun drawing down reserves; the remaining reserves are not sufficient to allow states to weather a significant downturn or recession. The other alternatives — spending cuts and tax increases — can further slow a state's economy during a downturn and contribute to the further slowing of the national economy, as well.

CBPP: 14 States Face Total Budget Shortfall of at Least $29 Billion in 2009; 12 Others Expect Budget Problems





Posted by Adam Hughes, 07:03:38 PM



Friday, January 11, 2008

Contact Us!

Questions, comments, suggestions, and glad tidings can now be directed to the BudgetBlog inbox at:

(In an effort to prevent spam, our contact address appears as an image and without a link to the address.)

Posted by Craig Jennings, 11:49:37 AM




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