Topic: Medicare

Featured

Opinion 5 steps to bipartisan cuts in Medicare – and the deficit

Medicare is the single greatest contributor to long-term deficits. If Democrats and Republicans cooperate on waste-cutting ideas – many of which are backed by President Obama – both parties stand to gain. Here are five ways Congress should act.

All Content

Tax VOX Obamacare delay: Will it encourage cheating?

Critics of Obamacare say the IRS will not be able to stop people from being dishonest when they file their income tax returns. Gleckman argues otherwise.
Focus 'Exponential' progress in prosthetics helps ease tough path for amputees

People who lost arms or legs in the Boston Marathon bombings – and in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars – are among some 2 million Americans coping with limb loss. Emerging technologies and expanded peer support programs are helping.
Another credit-rating downgrade for US? Less than 1 in 3 risk, says S&P. (+video)

Federal deficits are falling faster than expected, leading S&P to upgrade its economic outlook for the US. That's good news for the country's credit rating.
Social Security and Medicare: time running out to fix them, trustees say

The Social Security trust funds are on track to go bankrupt in 2033, with payroll taxes only paying for about three-quarters of benefits The Medicare trust funds will deplete even sooner.
Why federal budget deficit is falling faster than CBO expected

The federal budget deficit will shrink this year to $642 billion, the nonpartisan CBO said in a new estimate Tuesday. Just three months ago, it was forecasting a deficit of $845 billion.
Tax VOX Health cost growth slows. Time to rethink budget debate?

If future medical costs continue to grow at their current low rate the federal budget will be in much better shape than most analysts thought, Gleckman writes. The slowdown in health spending growth is sure to drive the fiscal debate in some important and perhaps unexpected ways.
GOP senators boycott vote on McCarthy for EPA

Frustrated by what they call a lack of transparency from the EPA, all eight Republican senators on the Environment and Public Works committee boycotted a scheduled vote on Obama nominee Gina McCarthy to head the EPA.
New report reveals stunning disparities in health-care costs

A joint replacement at one Los Angeles hospital costs $297,000; at another, 12 miles away, it's $84,000 – a gap that health-care experts say could help consumers, armed with such information, play a role in driving costs down.
Immigration reform: How much will it cost US taxpayers?

The conservative Heritage Foundation says that immigration reform will cost $5 trillion over 50 years. But some conservatives are firing back, saying the study doesn't look at all the variables.
USA Update Obama's 'try anything' bid to woo GOP moves from dinner to golf course

President Obama hit the golf course Monday with two Republican senators in an effort to build support for his second-term agenda. He has also had several dinners with GOP lawmakers.
Girding for a federal budget battle royale, parties wrangle over rules

With Capitol Hill bracing for a battle over financial policy this summer, the focus now is on rules for the committee that will seek to reconcile House and Senate versions of the federal budget.
Decoder Wire George W. Bush poll numbers up. Does America miss him yet?

George W. Bush left office with a 23 percent approval rating, but now, as his presidential library is about to open in Dallas, he's back up to 47 percent. But he's got a way to catch Bill Clinton.
Will flight delays stir up ire against sequester?

Rolling flight delays blamed on automatic government spending cuts imposed in March snarled some of the nation's busiest airports, testing how Americans will gauge Washington's sequester solution to spending and debt issues.
Immigration reform bill may hang on economic effect of legalizing millions

Friday's testimony at first Senate hearing on the bipartisan immigration reform bill presented economic pros and cons of legalizing some 11 million people. A chief concern is wage suppression for low-skill Americans.
Finished 2012 taxes? Plan for '13.

Before you close the books on 2012, spend a few minutes thinking about taxes for 2013. High-income taxpayers in particular will have to plan to ease tax bite.
Sen. Marco Rubio to Jay-Z: Get your facts straight on Cuba (+video)

Immigration reform pushed by the bipartisan 'Gang of Eight' hits the Senate this week. Sen. Marco Rubio is a key player, and he was all over the news shows Sunday talking about that.
Obama budget 'compromise?' No way, says the GOP (+video)

In the Republican radio address Saturday, Rep. Jackie Walorski (R) of Indiana called President Obama's proposed budget for 2014 'a blank check for more spending and more debt.'
Paul Ryan and Chris Van Hollen: the fiscal bellwethers

The two House members – longtime ideological foes – will play a central role in bringing their respective party members along if Congress is ever to cut a grand fiscal deal.
How liberal anger at Obama budget helps the president, Democrats

The president's budget, with its cost-saving measures in Social Security and Medicare, has infuriated the left. That positions Obama more to the center and could help him achieve other goals – and save some Democratic seats in 2014.
Monitor Breakfast GOP's Rep. Dave Camp envisions inclusive path to a fiscal 'bargain'

Dave Camp, House Ways and Means Committee chairman, said Thursday that involving more members of Congress in budgeting and deficit-cutting could yield, if not a 'grand bargain,' at least a modest deal.
Robert Reich Obama budget: Why entitlement cuts are a 'grand bargain' we don't need

President Obama's willingness to negotiate on Social Security – which Democrats have protected from Republican assaults for almost eighty years – doesn’t bode well, Reich writes.
Obama budget: Is it 'austere'?

President Barack Obama's 2014 budget includes increases in spending for setting up health exchanges, increasing scrutiny for food safety, and gun violence and Alzheimer's disease research. It includes cuts to Medicare, such as reducing subsidies for wealthier people and diminishing the pay rate for physicians.
Obama budget changes Social Security: Are Republicans on board?

President Obama proposed changes to entitlements including Social Security in his new budget, prompting hopes of a 'grand bargain.' Republicans mixed qualified approval with skepticism.
Energy Voices Obama budget boosts 'green energy,' but no olive branch to GOP

President Obama's budget calls for increased investing in clean-energy technology and the ending of tax preferences for the oil and gas industry. The 2014 budget proposal is in line with the president's 'all-of-the-above' energy policy, but does little to reach across the aisle.
Obama’s budget gambit: Return of the 'grand bargain'?

President Obama is for the first time proposing a budget that includes changes to Social Security and Medicare. This infuriates the left but could open the door to compromise with Republicans.