Poverty

Under two recent state proposals to waive federal Medicaid and Affordable Care Act rules, Georgia would spend at least as much to extend coverage to about 400,000 fewer people than if it adopted the ACA’s Medicaid expansion. And one waiver would likely cut, rather than increase, coverage.

Puerto Rico needs a comprehensive economic package that centers around powerful tools such as the Earned Income Tax Credit, one of the nation’s most effective anti-poverty programs.

As Massachusetts lawmakers seek to raise revenue to make needed investments in roads, bridges, and public transit, they should abandon plans that rely solely on regressive gas tax and user fee increases in favor of those that also ensure that corporations pay their share to fund these public resources — which, after all, enable corporations to get their products to market and their employees to work.

High-income, and especially high-wealth, tax filers enjoy many generous tax benefits that can dramatically lower their tax bills, our new report explains. Eliminating or limiting these preferences would make the tax code more progressive and help offset income inequality. It also would raise significant revenue that could fund key priorities and better enable policymakers to address the nation’s fiscal challenges.

Policymakers who seek to raise more revenue from the nation’s wealthiest individuals could, for instance, strengthen the estate tax, raise the top personal income tax rate, end preferential treatment of capital gains and dividends, or impose new taxes on very wealthy households, our new report explains.

Reform is needed.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Department of State (DOS) have proposed radical changes in immigration rules related to “public charge” determinations.

When making a purchase at your local big box store, you might assume that the item’s manufacturer will owe tax to your state on its profit from the sale. But there’s a pretty good chance it won’t. And, maybe just as important, you have no way to find out.

SNAP (food stamps) is an effective program that helps millions of Americans put food on the table, but there’s room to build upon its successes, as we write in a special issue of the American Journal of Public Health that’s focused on SNAP.

As we describe in our essay:

Facing Trump Administration pressure to make their Medicaid eligibility determinations more accurate, states are conducting more income checks, increasing paperwork, and ending coverage when their mail to enrollees is

This week at CBPP, we focused on health, housing, the federal budget and taxes, state budgets and taxes, food assistance, and the economy.

As Veterans Day approaches, hundreds of thousands of veterans struggle to keep a roof over their heads. Some 38,000 veterans were homeless on a single night in January 2018, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) estimates. Moreover, 666,000 veterans lived in low-income households that paid more than half of their income for rent and utilities in 2017, Census data show.

President Trump billed a recent executive order as “protecting and improving Medicare for our nation’s seniors” and “enhancing [its] fiscal sustainability,” but it would actually do the opposite.

Thank you for the opportunity to testify. I am Peggy Bailey, Vice President for Housing Policy at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. The Center is an independent, nonprofit policy institute that conducts research and analysis on a range of federal and state policy issues affecting low- and moderate-income families. The Center’s housing work focuses on increasing access and improving the effectiveness of federal low-income rental assistance programs.

Health coverage gains continued to drive down uncompensated care costs through 2016, according to the latest data from the Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission. Such costs have fallen significantly since the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) major coverage expansions took effect, as we’ve reported.

Since the start of the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) Medicaid expansion to low-income adults, evidence has poured in that the expansion is helping enrollees access and afford care. But as more time passes, researchers can also examine how expansion is affecting other health and financial outcomes. New research finds the policy is delivering on its promise to improve both financial security and health – including by saving lives.

• Alaska
• Alabama
• Arkansas

The bill could drive harmful budget cuts and unsound economic policy.

This week at CBPP, we focused on health, federal tax, food assistance, and the economy.