MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency
Lower budget deficits over the next decade forecasted in the US
However as the baby-boom generation retires deficits will begin to rise says the Congressional Budget Office US budget deficits over the next decade will be 286 billion less than previously estimated, the Congressional Budget Office said on Tuesday, attributing much of the decline to lower estimates of subsidy costs under President Barack Obama's health insurance reform law.
The non-partisan CBO, in revisions to its annual budget estimates, said the fiscal 2014 deficit would fall to 492 billion from 514 billion estimated in February. The forecasts assume no changes to current tax and spending laws.
The agency attributed the current year's decline to technical revisions to the way it estimates spending on discretionary programs. But from fiscal 2015 onwards, it estimates a 186 billion decline in outlays for health insurance subsidies under the Affordable Care Act, commonly known as Obamacare.
This reflects a lower projection of premiums charged for health care plans offered through government-run exchanges, CBO said, based on an updated analysis of plans now being offered.
Overall, the budget referee agency now projects cumulative 10-year deficits at 7.62 trillion compared to its previous forecast of 7.9 trillion.
In addition to the lower health insurance subsidy costs, CBO also estimated a 98 billion 10-year reduction in Medicare outlays due to lower spending on prescription drugs and hospital insurance. Medicaid, the health care program for the poor, would see a 29 billion reduction, CBO said.
But the CBO left intact its previous economic projections, which envision rising deficits after 2015 as more of the massive “baby boom” generation retires or drops out of the workforce. Deficits will reach a low point of 469 billion, or 2.6% of U.S. economic output, in 2015, then gradually start to rise, topping 1 trillion again in 2023 and 2024.
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Read all commentsHardly an improvement.
Apr 16th, 2014 - 05:19 am 0Time to bite the bullet and reform and raise some taxes that are way too low. You cannot continually live beyond your means.
I'm so glad we have debt and deficit adverse governments.
http://en.mercopress.com/2014/04/16/lower-budget-deficits-over-the-next-decade-forecasted-in-the-us#comment320859: You must be joking. Rather than having a debt adverse government the UK has had a debt friendly government for some time. As a result the UK debt, as a ratio of GDP, is one of the highest in the world. It is far worse than the US debt. In fact the only American countries that have a comparable debt to the UK are Canada, British Honduras (Belize) and French Guyana. All European colonies you will note.
Apr 16th, 2014 - 02:39 pm 0What you British need to do is arrange to have a government like those of low debt American countries such as Chile, Peru, Columbia, Venezuela, Bolivia, Argentina or Paraguay. But I doubt that this will happen since the British have not been able to change your government for centuries.
That last paragraph is funny. Perhaps the UK and USA can do that and default also like them.
Apr 16th, 2014 - 04:16 pm 0Commenting for this story is now closed.
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