Posted on January - 25 - 2012
In the past two decades, Medicare’s administrators have conducted demonstrations to test two broad approaches to enhancing the quality of health care and improving the efficiency of health care delivery in Medicare’s fee-for-service program. Disease management and care coordination demonstrations have sought to improve the quality of care of beneficiaries with chronic illnesses and those whose health care is expected to be particularly costly. Value-based payment demonstrations have given health care providers financial incentives to improve the quality and efficiency of care rather than payments based strictly on the volume and intensity of services delivered.
In an issue brief released today, CBO reviewed the outcomes of 10 major demonstrations—6 in the first category and 4 in the second—that have been evaluated by independent researchers. CBO fin
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Posted on January - 14 - 2012
I will not be available to answer your questions again until Tuesday January 3, 2012.
Until then, I want to thank you for all your questions and for reading this blog. I am looking forward to providing you with answers to federal income tax questions during 2012.
Posted on January - 04 - 2012
Do you ever feel like you’re in over your head when it comes to credit card debt? There can be many reasons consumers like you get into serious debt, and it isn’t always as simple as someone being irresponsible. There can be underlying issues that you need to address if you really want to turn things around and become debt-free.
To give you some examples, here are three reasons your credit card debt might have gotten out of control, and what you can do about each of them.
1. You don’t track your spending.
Going into debt doesn’t mean every purchase you make is a bad one. In some cases, people don’t even realise how much they’re spending on certain things (like dinners out) because they don’t track that spending. They have no budget, so they have nothing to compare each month’s spending to. And if you don’
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Posted on December - 31 - 2011
The federal government’s finances are pretty complicated and not always easy to understand, and most of CBO’s reports about the budget outlook are fairly lengthy and detailed. In fact, one of the questions we’re most frequently asked is how much the government spends and takes in each year. For those who are not very familiar with the budget, finding the answer is sometimes harder than it should be.
CBO’s newest infographic—that is, information presented in a graphic form—describes some key elements of the federal budget, including a breakdown of its major components and a visual history of the budget and federal debt over the past 40 years. This graphical budget primer is more accessible than some of our longer reports, and we’re hopeful that it will make the federal budget easier to understand.
Today’s infographic is the latest installment in our ongoing effort to present more budgetary information in a graphic form. Thi
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