Additional Information on the Budgetary Effects of Proposals to Establish the Community Living Assis
Today CBO released a letter providing additional information on the budgetary effects of proposals to establish the Community Living Assistance Services and Supports (CLASS) Program, a new federal program for long-term care insurance. H.R. 3962, the Affordable Health Care for America Act, as passed by the House of Representatives, and the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act proposed by Senator Reid contain similar proposals that would establish a voluntary program for such insurance. The major difference between the two proposals is in the population eligible to enroll: H.

The Costs of Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions
The consumption of fossil fuels and deforestation are producing increasingly large quantities of greenhouse gases, particularly carbon dioxide (CO2). Most experts expect that the accumulation of such gases in the atmosphere will result in a variety of environmental changes over time Although the magnitude and consequences of such developments are highly uncertain, researchers generally conclude that a continued increase in atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases would have serious and costly effects. Reducing emissions, through a cap-and-trade program or regulations for example, would impose a burden on the economy by lessening the use of fossil fuels and alterin

Further Analysis of the Effects of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act
In response to many questions we have received, CBO has released several additional pieces of analysis of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act: Subsidies and payments at different income levels Distribution of individual mandate penalties Effect on the Hospital Insurance (HI) trust fund

Revised Estimate for H.R. 3962, the Affordable Health Care for America Act
CBO has just released a revised estimate of the net budgetary impact of H.R. 3962, the Affordable Health Care for America Act, the health care reform bill that was passed by the House of Representatives on November 7. The revised estimate corrects a mistake that CBO made in its earlier assessment of a provision that would establish the Community Living Assistance Services and Supports (CLASS) program, a federal insurance program for long-term care.  In the previous estimate, which was transmitted on November 6, CBO and the staff of the Joint Committee on Taxatio

Changes in Medicare’s Payments to Physicians
CBO just released a letter responding to questions from Congressman Ryan about H.R. 3961, the Medicare Physicians Payment Reform Act of 2009, which is scheduled to be considered by the House of Representatives today. Congressman Ryan inquired about the total budgetary impact of enacting that bill, which would increase the rates Medicare pays to physicians, along with H.R. 3962, the Affordable Health Care for America Act, the broad health care reform bill passed by the House of Representatives a few weeks ago. H.R. 3961 would change payment rates and restructure the sustainable growth rate (SGR), the formula that determines the u