Budget Matters Blog

Category: Health Care


Supreme Court Upholds Much of the Affordable Care Act

Today the Supreme Court upheld nearly all provisions of the Affordable Care Act, the health care reform legislation also referred to as Obamacare. The most controversial part of the law — the individual mandate requiring all Americans to purchase health insurance — was upheld. One part of the law was struck down.


Any Day Now: Supreme Court Decision on Health Care

The Supreme Court is expected to announce any day now its ruling on the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act, the 2010 health care reform legislation. The central question of the case is whether Congress has the authority to require Americans to purchase health insurance.


Updated Data: State Children's Health Insurance Program Enrollments

State Children's Health Insurance Program enrollments are now current through fiscal year 2010.


The Pentagon Battles Health Care Costs

As the Pentagon scrambles to find ways to save money, the Defense Department has included in its fiscal year 2013 budget request a political bombshell – increasing beneficiary contributions to its healthcare programs.The Defense Department’s healthcare network – known as TRICARE – provides a range of benefit plans to active ...


You Ask, We Answer: How Is Medicare Funded?

Last week we received numerous questions about how Medicare is funded. The questions were brought on by the launch of Tax Day and confusion over why Social Security and Medicare showed up in charts on how your income taxes were spent in 2011.  As many of you pointed out, there ...


Updated Data: Medicare Enrollments and High School Dropouts

We've updated two of our indicators to reflect the latest available published data: Medicare Enrollment: updated through 2010 High School Dropouts: updated through the 2008-2009 school year

Coloradans Pay Hefty Taxes, Reap Considerable Benefits

Colorado residents will caucus today to decide their pick for the Republican nominee for president. Choosing a presidential candidate in part means caucus-goers will consider how they want the government to spend their federal tax dollars. National Priorities Project took a look at how much Colorado residents currently pay in ...


Data Story: Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP)

This data story compares the health insurance coverage rate of children under 18 and adults in the 18 to 64-year-old category.


Updated Data: Health Insurance Coverage

Health insurance coverage data has been updated. The Children's Health Insurance and People's Health Insurance datasets are now current through 2010.


Updated Data: 38 Expenditures

38 datasets have been updated to reflect yesterday's release of the FY 2010 Consolidated Federal Funds Report, which tracks federal government expenditures or obligations.