Off the Charts Blog | Center on Budget and Policy Priorities

This week on Off the Charts, we focused on health policy, the federal budget and taxes, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly food stamps), and state budgets and taxes.

• On health policy, Sarah Lueck reiterated that fears of widespread “rate shock” resulting from health reform are unfounded and explained how federal subsidies will help low- and moderate-income people afford health coverage.  Paul Van de Water pointed out that the Congressional Budget Office’s (CBO) revised Medicare and Medicaid spending projections provide further evidence that the programs are not in crisis.  Edwin Park noted that CBO’s latest Medicare estimates show that health reform will not cripple the Medicare Advantage program.  Shelby Gonzales explained that health reform’s “navigator” program, which is designed to help people apply for and enroll in coverage, has roots in other successful programs.

• On the federal budget and taxes, Robert Greenstein explained why critics of President Obama’s proposal to cap the tax subsidy for tax deductions, such as the charitable giving deduction, are missing several key points.  Chuck Marr reiterated the risks of a territorial tax system in light of recent questions surrounding Apple’s tax strategy.  Chye-Ching Huang listed three reasons why eliminating the corporate income tax would be terrible policy.

• On SNAP, Robert Greenstein explained why an amendment adopted this week during debate on the Senate farm bill would increase hardship and will likely have racially discriminatory effects.

• On state budgets and taxes, Erica Williams discussed why North Carolina lawmakers are charting the wrong course for their state, while Michael Leachman praised Minnesota’s tax plan as a recipe for future growth.

In other news, we updated our backgrounder on the number of weeks of unemployment benefits available in each state.

A variety of news outlets featured CBPP’s work and experts recently.  Here are some highlights:

GOP Food Stamps Proposal Would Discriminate Against African-Americans
Mother Jones
May 23, 2013

There Was a Time When Ending Hunger Was a National Goal for Republicans and Democrats
New York Times, Editorial
May 21, 2013

House Committee OKs massive cuts to food stamps in farm bill
MSNBC, All In with Chris Hayes
May 17, 2013

Congressman Justifies Huge Food Stamp Cuts:  Recipients Are ‘Dependency Class’
Think Progress
May 16, 2013

This week on Off the Charts, we focused on SNAP (formerly food stamps), health reform, housing policy, the federal budget and taxes, and state budgets and taxes.

• On SNAP, Stacy Dean explained that the farm bill that the House Agriculture Committee approved this week would force nearly 2 million low-income people off the program.  Dottie Rosenbaum noted, in the last in our “Facts on SNAP” series, that SNAP responded as designed to the recession and will shrink as the economy improves.  And Chad Stone pointed out that SNAP enrollment remains high because the jobs market remains abnormally weak.

• On health reform, Shannon Spillane listed some of its accomplishments to date.  Judy Solomon explained why the coming cuts to hospitals that serve many low-income and uninsured patients reinforce the importance of health reform’s Medicaid expansion.

• On housing policy, Will Fischer pointed out that a new tax credit to help low-income renters afford housing would be a valuable complement to the existing Low-Income Housing Tax Credit.

• On the federal budget and taxes, Chye-Ching Huang rebutted recent criticisms of estimates of how tax proposals would affect different income groups.

• On state budgets and taxes, Erica Williams emphasized that North Carolina should reinstate its Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC).

In other news, we released a paper on the SNAP cuts in the House Agriculture Committee farm bill and updated our backgrounder on the number of weeks of unemployment benefits available in each state.

A variety of news outlets featured CBPP’s work and experts recently.  Here are some highlights:

Renters Face a Housing Squeeze
Bloomberg Businessweek
May 17, 2013

The Facts About Food Stamps Conservatives Don’t Want You to Hear
US News & World Report
May 16, 2013

House Agriculture Committee Approves Farm Bill
New York Times, The Caucus
May 16, 2013

Are Health Care Costs Healing Themselves?
National Journal
May 15, 2013

Hospitals could lose $500M in federal money to pay for uninsured in 2014
Associated Press
May 13, 2013

This week on Off the Charts, we focused on the federal budget and taxes, SNAP (formerly food stamps), health reform, the economy, and state budgets and taxes.

• On the federal budget and taxes, Kathy Ruffing warned that the House-passed “debt prioritization” measure is simply default by another name.  Chye-Ching Huang laid out key issues in reforming international tax rules and explained that a new study from Treasury Department analysts highlights the risks of corporate tax reform.  And, in advance of Mother’s Day, Arloc Sherman noted the benefits of the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and Child Tax Credit (CTC) for mothers and children.

• On SNAP, a series of posts from Stacy Dean and Dottie Rosenbaum explained that the program helps vulnerable people, showed that it encourages and rewards work, and highlighted its strong record of efficiency.

• On health reform, we excerpted Paul Van de Water’s congressional testimony on the law’s tax on insurance providers.  Edwin Park explained why changes promoted by health reform opponents would undermine the law’s Medicaid expansion.  Jesse Cross-Call noted, in advance of Mother’s Day, that state policymakers could better support all women by taking advantage of the Medicaid expansion.

• On the economy, we highlighted a New York Times op-ed by Jared Bernstein on why full employment should be a central policy goal.  Chad Stone reflected on the relationship between U.S. debt and economic growth in light of errors found in the influential paper by economists Carmen Reinhart and Kenneth Rogoff.

• On state budgets and taxes, we highlighted a radio interview in which Michael Mazerov made the case for the Senate-passed bill requiring all large Internet retailers to charge any applicable sales taxes.

In other news, we released Paul Van de Water’s testimony on health reform’s insurance provider tax and a fact sheet on how many lower-income working mothers in each state receive the EITC and CTC.  We also updated our state-by-state fact sheets on who benefits from SNAP and updated our backgrounder on Medicaid.

In testimony today before a House Small Business subcommittee hearing, CBPP Senior Fellow Paul Van de Water explained how the health insurance tax — a fee on health insurance providers that is part of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) — will help to pay for extending health coverage to 27 million people and allow reform to move forward in a fiscally responsible way.  Here’s an excerpt:

The law specifies how much the fee is to raise each year; this total is apportioned among providers based on their share of the U.S. health insurance business. Over the 2014-2023 period, the fee will raise about $116 billion. . .

As with any excise tax, supply and demand will determine how the tax’s burden is ultimately split between providers and purchasers.  Insurers have recently turned in strong financial results and thus are well positioned to bear some of the tax. But a portion of the tax is likely to be passed on to consumers.  The Joint Committee on Taxation estimates that premiums subject to the fee will be 2 to 2½ percent higher than they would otherwise be.

That is only part of the story, however.  Health reform also contains many provisions that will slow the growth of premiums.  The new health insurance exchanges will increase competition among plans and create economies of scale.  Standardization of benefits and the prohibition of medical underwriting will reduce administrative costs.  The individual mandate, as well as the subsidies to help people purchase coverage, will bring more relatively healthy workers into the insurance pool.  Premium increases of 10 percent or more are subject to state or federal review, and insurers must provide rebates to their customers if they spend less than 80 percent of premiums on medical care.  The ACA also includes a large number of initiatives to identify and implement more efficient ways of delivering medical services.

All things considered, CBO estimates that health reform will slightly reduce premiums for employer-sponsored health insurance in the near term.

Click here for the full testimony.

On the heels of the Senate’s 69-27 approval of the Marketplace Fairness Act, which would enable states and localities to require all large Internet retailers to charge applicable sales taxes on their interstate sales, CBPP Senior Fellow Michael Mazerov debated the issue with Newsweek’s Megan McArdle on WHYY’s “Radio Times.”  As he explained:

State and local sales taxes . . . are about 25 percent of all state and local taxes . . . and they’re just essential to paying for schools, health care, child care, and all the things we want.  So, as long as we’re going to have them, we need to make them fair — and this [bill] is an aspect of making them fairer.

Click here for the full interview.