Federal Statistics

The exclusion of employer-sponsored health insurance premiums and medical benefits reduced federal tax revenues by $268 billion in 2011 alone-by far the largest federal tax expenditure. Moreover, the exclusion disproportionately subsidizes those with higher incomes. In this brief, we provide estimates of the revenue potential and distributional consequences of limiting the exclusion from income and payroll taxes at the 75th percentile of 2013 premiums, indexing by GDP. The policy would produce $264.0 billion in new tax revenues over the coming decade while preserving 93 percent of the tax subsidies available under the current policy.

This report presents data on changes in Medicaid's enrollment and spending between federal fiscal year 2007 and federal fiscal year 2011, a period which includes the worst economic downturn in the United States since the Great Depression of the 1930s. The paper also examines what factors drove Medicaid spending over the period, and concludes that overall spending growth from 2007 to 2011 was driven largely by the enrollment growth that resulted from many people losing jobs and income during the recession. However, on a per enrollee basis, Medicaid spending has grown more slowly than other sectors of the health system.

Following the introduction of a question on health insurance coverage in 2008, the American Community Survey (ACS) has increasingly been used as a source for state-level health insurance estimates. This reflects a number of key advantages of the ACS, including a survey design that supports state representative estimates for all states and the large size of its sample. As a result, the ACS yields relatively precise state-level estimates of annual health insurance coverage. This paper explores the feasibility of expanding the value of the ACS for tracking health insurance coverage by generating subannual estimates.

By 2010, Medicaid and CHIP covered 36 percent of all children and over half of all Hispanic and black children. Generally, the Hispanic, black, and white children served by Medicaid and CHIP appear to have high levels of access to care. However, black and Hispanic children with Medicaid/CHIP coverage may have more problems accessing care, relative to their white counterparts, in two areas: specialty and mental health care. While overall levels of care are similar, the magnitude of difference in specialty care requires further study to explore both the causes and the potential implications of these patterns.

By 2010, Medicaid and CHIP covered 36 percent of all children and over half of all Hispanic and black children. Generally, the Hispanic, black, and white children served by Medicaid and CHIP appear to have high levels of access to care. However, black and Hispanic children with Medicaid/CHIP coverage may have more problems accessing care, relative to their white counterparts, in two areas: specialty and mental health care. While overall levels of care are similar, the magnitude of difference in specialty care requires further study to explore both the causes and the potential implications of these patterns.

In 2010, Medicaid and CHIP covered over a third of all children in the U.S., over a fifth of white children, and more than half of all Hispanic and black children. Full implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) will lead to increased coverage for these children. This fact sheet summarizes analysis which reveals racial and ethnic variation in residential patterns and health status for children in these programs. Children covered by Medicaid and CHIP in these three groups live in different areas of the country, which can lead to variations in future changes to children’s access to care due to state differences in ACA implementation.

In 2010, Medicaid and CHIP covered over a third of all children in the U.S., over a fifth of white children, and more than half of all Hispanic and black children. Full implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) will lead to increased coverage for these children. This paper summarizes analysis which reveals racial and ethnic variation in residential patterns and health status for children in these programs. Children covered by Medicaid and CHIP in these three groups live in different areas of the country, which can lead to variations in future changes to children's access to care due to state differences in ACA implementation.

Growth in the size of the federal prison population over the past decade is largely driven by increases in time served, and particularly by longer lengths of stay for drug offenders. This research report, which examines changes in the federal Bureau of Prison's population from 1998 to 2010, also notes that a higher conviction rate in drug cases and heightened enforcement of immigration and weapon offenses contribute to prison population growth. This growth was moderated by reductions in the rate at which sentenced offenders were admitted to prison and modest declines in the federal prosecution rate. Report findings were based on a statistical decomposition analysis using data from the Bureau of Justice Statistics' Federal Justice Statistics Program.