Over the past two decades, policymakers and analysts have advanced a variety of proposals for converting Medicare to a premium support system as a way to reduce federal spending. Under such a system, beneficiaries would choose health insurance from a list of competing plans and the federal government would share the cost of their premiums. A report from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) updates the agency’s work on the topic, presents new estimates of the budgetary effects of those options, and examines the reasons for changes in the estimates.
The report can be obtained at https://www.cbo.gov/system/files/115th-congress-2017-2018/reports/53077-premiumsupport.pdf.