Medicare, Medicaid, & Social Security

Research

Welfare Block Grants as a Guide for Medicaid Reform Daniel Sutter \| Mar 21, 2013 Driven by the need to reform unsustainable entitlement programs, policymakers today are looking to the successful example of welfare reform—specifically, to its block grants to states. To inform this discussion, a new Mercatus Center at George Mason University study by Daniel Sutter reviews arguments in the debate over block grants versus matching grants for joint federal-state programs, examines the effects of shifting control of welfare programs to the states, and considers how the lessons from welfare reform can inform the current debate about Medicaid block grants.	The Affordable Care Act's Optional Medicaid Expansion: Considerations Facing State Governments Charles Blahous \| Mar 05, 2013 In the wake of a 2012 Supreme Court ruling, states face complex decisions concerning whether to expand Medicaid coverage to the full extent envisioned in the Affordable Care Act (ACA, commonly referred to as Obamacare). With the federal government no longer able to coerce expansion, states must base their decisions on value judgments that incorporate each state’s unique budgetary circumstances, the needs of its uninsured population, and the incentives established by interactions among the ACA’s provisions.
The Economic Situation, March 2013 Bruce Yandle \| Mar 01, 2013 There was only one lane open as I made my trip to Atlanta; the other three were blocked with those unhappy yellow and black make-believe barrels used by the highway folks. Traffic flow was constrained by efforts to repair potholes and broken pavement. We in the slow lane had little choice in the matter. Instead of 70, we were slowed to 20 miles per hour. We had to accept our fate, or find another route at the next exit.	Medicaid Reform and Emergency Room Visits: Evidence from West Virginia's Medicaid Redesign Tami Gurley-Calvez \| Dec 18, 2012 Federal and state governments are under increasing pressure to limit Medicaid spending without negative health consequences. We examine a unique policy effort in West Virginia aimed at reducing spending and improving health through personal responsibility and preventive care. These efforts show promise for reducing emergency-room (ER) visits among those who chose the personal-responsibility plan but had the unintended consequence, at least in the short run, of increasing visits for those who defaulted into the plan with reduced benefits.
Understanding Social Security Benefit Adequacy: Myths and Realities of Social Security Replacement Rates Charles Blahous \| Nov 15, 2012 In a new Mercatus Center study, Charles Blahous, senior research fellow and public trustee for Social Security, reviews the most misunderstood aspects of the current Social Security replacement rate formula, looks at the effects it creates, and discusses potential reforms.	Limiting Social Security's Drag on Economic Growth Charles Blahous, Jason J. Fichtner \| Nov 01, 2012 A new Mercatus Center at George Mason University study finds that pro-economic growth entitlement reform must not only rein in unsustainable cost growth, but also remove the barriers to labor force participation and disincentives to personal savings currently embedded in the largest entitlement programs generally, and the Social Security program in particular.

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Testimony & Comments

Wasteful Spending Does Not Stop at Earmarks and Overpayments

Veronique de Rugy | Feb 17, 2011

Veronique de Rugy testified before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform about wasteful government spending.

Research Summaries & Toolkits

The FY 2014 Budget Proposals

Veronique de Rugy, Jason J. Fichtner, Charles Blahous, Matthew Mitchell | Mar 15, 2013

Despite years without a federal budget, trillion-dollar deficits, and ad hoc, crisis-driven fiscal and economic policies that failed to deal with the looming entitlement crisis, leaders on both sides in Washington are now touting seemingly miraculous progress toward a “fix” to our budgetary woes.

Mercatus Center Policy Guide

| Aug 03, 2012

The Mercatus Center at George Mason University is pleased to provide you with our new policy guide. The guide is designed to provide easily accessible economic information that might prove useful in pre- paring for hearings or town hall meetings, drafting speeches or policy papers, and generally educating the public regarding spending, taxes, regulation, financial markets, and technology policy.

Assessing the President's FY2013 Budget Proposal

| Feb 13, 2012

This policy brief takes a look at the president's FY2013 budget proposal and emphasizes the need for fundamental reform in the areas of spending, taxes, and the budget process.

Expert Commentary

Expanding Medicaid: The Conflicting Incentives Facing States e21 By Charles Blahous \| Mar 05, 2013 Recent decisions by individual states concerning the Affordable Care Act (ACA)’s now-optional Medicaid expansion have been much in the news of late. Today the Mercatus Center is publishing my comprehensive study of the conflicting incentives facing states as they make their choices about expansion.	Bowles-Simpson 2.0 Won't Be Enough Washington Examiner By Veronique de Rugy \| Feb 22, 2013 Recent Congressional Budget Office projections show that the deficit will be roughly $1 trillion and the debt will reach 77 percent by 2023. And these calculations rely on rosy assumptions that won't materialize, even though the worst is still to come. It means that even if Simpson and Bowles get their way, much bolder reforms would be needed to fix our long-term debt problem.
Are We Underestimating the Social Security Shortfall? e21 By Charles Blahous \| Feb 14, 2013 While I yield to no one in being concerned about Social Security’s financial future, I do not find additional reasons for concern in the recent Times op-ed.	Ten Things the Latest CBO Report Tells Us About Federal Finances e21 By Charles Blahous \| Feb 07, 2013 Earlier this week the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released its updated outlook for the federal budget. Here are ten lessons it teaches us about the troubled state of federal finances.
Nips and Tucks and Big Budget Cuts The New York Times By Tyler Cowen \| Feb 02, 2013 Unless lawmakers act by March 1, the budget sequestration process will start cutting government spending automatically — reductions that would amount to $1.2 trillion by 2021. Congress and the White House agreed in 2011 to the sequestration, and many people see it as a kind of political gimmick.	Give Up Tax Breaks For Retirement Savers? MarketWatch By Jason J. Fichtner \| Feb 01, 2013 Now the U.S. finds itself over $16 trillion in debt and has run deficits of over $1 trillion in each of the last four years . The tax increases as a resultof the fiscal cliff end game won't provide much additional revenue to balance the budget. Further, by punting the sequestration a few months down the road, failing to control borrowing by suspending the debt ceiling, and delaying passing a full-year budget for fiscal-year 2013, Congress has yet to make any of the hard choices necessary to solve our nation's fiscal problems and reduce the deficit.

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Charts

Social Security Running a Permanent Cash-flow Deficit

Spending on Social Security is now at untenable levels, as this chart, using annual data from the Social Security Administration (SSA) 2012 Trustees Report, illustrates.

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Experts

Charles Blahous

Charles Blahous is a senior research fellow at the Mercatus Center and public trustee for Medicare and Social Security. His primary research interests include retirement security, with an emphasis on Social Security and employer-provided defined benefit pensions, as well as federal fiscal policy, entitlements, demographic change, economic stimulus, financial market regulation, and health care reform.

Veronique de Rugy

Veronique de Rugy is a senior research fellow at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University. Her primary research interests include the federal budget, homeland security, taxation, tax competition, and financial privacy issues.

Jason J. Fichtner

Jason J. Fichtner is a senior research fellow at the Mercatus Center. His primary research interests include Social Security, federal tax policy, federal budget policy, retirement security, and policy proposals to increase saving and investment.

Matthew Mitchell

Matthew Mitchell is a senior research fellow at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University and the lead scholar on the Project for the Study of American Capitalism. His primary research interests include economic freedom and economic growth, public choice economics, and the economics of government-granted privileges to businesses.

David M. Primo

David M. Primo is a senior scholar at the Mercatus Center and an associate professor of political science and business administration at the University of Rochester. His current research focuses on the value of legislative “pork” for reelection, the politics of judicial appointments, and the connection between formal models and data analysis.

Videos

Optional Medicaid Expansion: Considerations Facing the States

Charles Blahous | May 14, 2013

Keith Hall Discusses Youth Unemployment on Fox News

Keith Hall | April 11, 2013

Podcasts

Daniel Sutter Discusses Welfare Block Grants as a Model for Medicaid Reform on Inside State and Local Policy

Daniel Sutter | March 25, 2013

Dr. Daniel Sutter discusses his recent Mercatus working paper, “Welfare Block Grants as a Guide for Medicaid Reform.”

Download the MP3

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Recent Events

Behind the Numbers: Understanding the President's FY 2013 Budget Submission to Congress

Please join the Mercatus Center’s Capitol Hill Campus and Senior Research Fellow Jason Fichtner for a discussion on President Obama's FY 2013 budget submission to Congress.

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Books

The 4% Solution

Charles Blahous, Jason J. Fichtner | Jul 02, 2012

The 4% Solution offers clear ideas on ways to revive America’s economy by removing government constraints and encouraging saving, investment and job creation.

Welfare Block Grants as a Guide for Medicaid Reform Daniel Sutter \| Mar 21, 2013 Driven by the need to reform unsustainable entitlement programs, policymakers today are looking to the successful example of welfare reform—specifically, to its block grants to states. To inform this discussion, a new Mercatus Center at George Mason University study by Daniel Sutter reviews arguments in the debate over block grants versus matching grants for joint federal-state programs, examines the effects of shifting control of welfare programs to the states, and considers how the lessons from welfare reform can inform the current debate about Medicaid block grants.	The Affordable Care Act's Optional Medicaid Expansion: Considerations Facing State Governments Charles Blahous \| Mar 05, 2013 In the wake of a 2012 Supreme Court ruling, states face complex decisions concerning whether to expand Medicaid coverage to the full extent envisioned in the Affordable Care Act (ACA, commonly referred to as Obamacare). With the federal government no longer able to coerce expansion, states must base their decisions on value judgments that incorporate each state’s unique budgetary circumstances, the needs of its uninsured population, and the incentives established by interactions among the ACA’s provisions.
The Economic Situation, March 2013 Bruce Yandle \| Mar 01, 2013 There was only one lane open as I made my trip to Atlanta; the other three were blocked with those unhappy yellow and black make-believe barrels used by the highway folks. Traffic flow was constrained by efforts to repair potholes and broken pavement. We in the slow lane had little choice in the matter. Instead of 70, we were slowed to 20 miles per hour. We had to accept our fate, or find another route at the next exit.	Medicaid Reform and Emergency Room Visits: Evidence from West Virginia's Medicaid Redesign Tami Gurley-Calvez \| Dec 18, 2012 Federal and state governments are under increasing pressure to limit Medicaid spending without negative health consequences. We examine a unique policy effort in West Virginia aimed at reducing spending and improving health through personal responsibility and preventive care. These efforts show promise for reducing emergency-room (ER) visits among those who chose the personal-responsibility plan but had the unintended consequence, at least in the short run, of increasing visits for those who defaulted into the plan with reduced benefits.
Understanding Social Security Benefit Adequacy: Myths and Realities of Social Security Replacement Rates Charles Blahous \| Nov 15, 2012 In a new Mercatus Center study, Charles Blahous, senior research fellow and public trustee for Social Security, reviews the most misunderstood aspects of the current Social Security replacement rate formula, looks at the effects it creates, and discusses potential reforms.	Limiting Social Security's Drag on Economic Growth Charles Blahous, Jason J. Fichtner \| Nov 01, 2012 A new Mercatus Center at George Mason University study finds that pro-economic growth entitlement reform must not only rein in unsustainable cost growth, but also remove the barriers to labor force participation and disincentives to personal savings currently embedded in the largest entitlement programs generally, and the Social Security program in particular.

Expanding Medicaid: The Conflicting Incentives Facing States e21 By Charles Blahous \| Mar 05, 2013 Recent decisions by individual states concerning the Affordable Care Act (ACA)’s now-optional Medicaid expansion have been much in the news of late. Today the Mercatus Center is publishing my comprehensive study of the conflicting incentives facing states as they make their choices about expansion.	Bowles-Simpson 2.0 Won't Be Enough Washington Examiner By Veronique de Rugy \| Feb 22, 2013 Recent Congressional Budget Office projections show that the deficit will be roughly $1 trillion and the debt will reach 77 percent by 2023. And these calculations rely on rosy assumptions that won't materialize, even though the worst is still to come. It means that even if Simpson and Bowles get their way, much bolder reforms would be needed to fix our long-term debt problem.
Are We Underestimating the Social Security Shortfall? e21 By Charles Blahous \| Feb 14, 2013 While I yield to no one in being concerned about Social Security’s financial future, I do not find additional reasons for concern in the recent Times op-ed.	Ten Things the Latest CBO Report Tells Us About Federal Finances e21 By Charles Blahous \| Feb 07, 2013 Earlier this week the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released its updated outlook for the federal budget. Here are ten lessons it teaches us about the troubled state of federal finances.
Nips and Tucks and Big Budget Cuts The New York Times By Tyler Cowen \| Feb 02, 2013 Unless lawmakers act by March 1, the budget sequestration process will start cutting government spending automatically — reductions that would amount to $1.2 trillion by 2021. Congress and the White House agreed in 2011 to the sequestration, and many people see it as a kind of political gimmick.	Give Up Tax Breaks For Retirement Savers? MarketWatch By Jason J. Fichtner \| Feb 01, 2013 Now the U.S. finds itself over $16 trillion in debt and has run deficits of over $1 trillion in each of the last four years . The tax increases as a resultof the fiscal cliff end game won't provide much additional revenue to balance the budget. Further, by punting the sequestration a few months down the road, failing to control borrowing by suspending the debt ceiling, and delaying passing a full-year budget for fiscal-year 2013, Congress has yet to make any of the hard choices necessary to solve our nation's fiscal problems and reduce the deficit.

Medicare, Medicaid, & Social Security