Congressional Research Service Reports - 113 Matching Results
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- Housing for the Elderly: Legislation in the 106th Congress
- This report
- Topics in Aging: Income and Poverty Among Older Americans in 2004
- Older Americans are an economically diverse group. In 2004, the median income of individuals age 65 and over was $15,199, but incomes varied widely around this average. Twenty-eight percent of Americans 65 or older had incomes of less than $10,000 in 2004, while 10% had incomes of $50,000 or more. As Congress considers reforms to Social Security and the laws governing pensions and retirement savings plans, it may be helpful to consider how changes to one income source would affect each of the others, and thus the total income of older Americans
- Benefits for the Aged and the Federal Budget: Short- and Long-Term Projections
- As the 108th Congress addresses short-term budget decisions, it may also want to consider the long-run impacts of those decisions and the major shifts in budget composition that are underway. Congress may be pressed to add new benefits in response to population aging, such as improved support for long-term care and broader Medicare drug coverage.
- Older Americans Act: FY2015 Appropriations Overview
- This report discusses Older Americans Act (OAA) funding. It begins with an overview of OAA's FY2015 funding and provides a detailed breakdown of current-year funding for each of the act's programs and activities. The report then reviews OAA's funding history since FY2001. Next, it summarizes FY2015 legislative activity with respect to OAA appropriations. It concludes with a discussion of FY2015 funding decisions for selected OAA programs.
- Older Americans Act: 105th Congress Issues
- No Description Available.
- Older Americans Act: Disaster Assistance for Older Persons After Hurricane Katrina
- The devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina is having significant negative effects on older persons with physical and mental disabilities. Persons who are socially isolated and dependent upon informal caregivers and social service programs to assist them live independently have immediate and long-term needs. The Administration on Aging (AoA) has allocated $750,000 in disaster relief funds available through the Older Americans Act to Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi (divided equally among the three states). Congress may consider whether additional actions are necessary to assist state and area agencies on aging in their efforts to assist the frail elderly in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.
- Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation: A Fact Sheet
- The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) is a federal government agency established in 1974 by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) (P.L. 93- 406). It was created to protect the pensions of participants and beneficiaries covered by private sector, defined benefit (DB) plans. These pension plans provide a specified monthly benefit at retirement, usually either a percent of salary or a flat dollar amount multiplied by years of service. Defined contribution plans, such as §401(k) plans, are not insured. The PBGC is chaired by the Secretary of Labor, with the Secretaries of Treasury and Commerce serving as board members.
- Medicare Primer
- This report provides a general overview of the Medicare program including descriptions of the program's history, eligibility criteria, covered services, provider payment systems, and program administration and financing.
- Federal Spending for Older Americans
- This report discusses the share of the federal budget devoted to older Americans, which is growing. The federal government currently spends more than one-third of its budget on benefits and programs for older Americans. For people age 65 and over, estimated FY2007 spending for Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid alone is $833 billion. Spending for retired federal employees and military personnel and for veterans is also significant, and smaller programs add to the total as well. Tax expenditures might also be taken into account to obtain a more complete budget picture.
- Medicare Structural Reform: Background and Options
- THis report provides a brief overview of major issues underlying the debate about possible structural reforms or improvements to the current Medicare system. Medicare is a nationwide health insurance program for the aged and certain disabled persons.
- Medicare Advantage
- This report is an overview of the Medicare Advantage (MA) program, an alternative way for Medicare beneficiaries to receive covered benefits, and includes legislative history and analysis of recent trends.
- Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC): A Fact Sheet
- The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) is a federal government agency established in 1974 by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA; P.L. 93-406). It was created to protect the pensions of participants and beneficiaries covered by private sector, defined benefit (DB) plans. The PBGC is chaired by the Secretary of Labor, with the Secretaries of the Treasury and Commerce serving as board members. In the 112th Congress, an amendment offered by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to S. 1813, Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century (MAP-21), contains provisions that would address the use of excess defined benefit pension plan assets and the interest rates that defined benefit plans use to value plan liabilities.
- Medicare Payment Policies
- No Description Available.
- Medicare: Private Contracts
- This report discusses private contracting for medicare,which is the term used to describe situations where a physician and a patient agree not to submit a claim for a service which would otherwise be covered and paid for by Medicare.
- Medicare: Part B Premium Penalty
- No Description Available.
- Medicare: Financing the Part A Hospital Insurance Program
- No Description Available.
- Medicaid: Eligibility for the Aged and Disabled
- No Description Available.
- Missing Adults: Background, Federal Programs, and Issues for Congress
- The first section of this report discusses demographics and record keeping of missing adults and unidentified remains, as well as some of the factors that may contribute to the disappearance of adults. This section also discusses federally-funded databases that are used to track data on missing adults and unidentified individuals. The second section of the report describes the federal programs and initiatives to assist in locating missing adults, including funding data where applicable. Finally, the third section discusses issues about the federal role in missing adult cases.
- Overview of the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003
- This report examines the the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003, which creates a prescription drug benefit for Medicare beneficiaries and establishes a new Medicare Advantage program to replace the current Medicare+Choice program.
- Missing Adults: Background, Federal Programs, and Issues for Congress
- The first section of this report discusses demographics and record keeping of missing adults and unidentified remains, as well as some of the factors that may contribute to the disappearance of adults. This section also discusses federally funded databases that are used to track data on missing adults and unidentified individuals. The second section of the report describes the federal programs and initiatives to assist in locating missing adults, including funding data where applicable. Finally, the third section discusses issues about the federal role in missing adult cases.
- Missing Adults: Background, Federal Programs, and Issues for Congress
- The first section of this report discusses demographics and record keeping of missing adults and unidentified remains, and some of the factors that may contribute to the disappearance of adults. This section also discusses federally funded databases that are used to track data on missing adults and unidentified individuals. The second section of the report describes the federal programs and initiatives to assist in locating missing adults, including funding data for FY2002 through FY2008, where applicable.
- Converting Retirement Savings into Income: Annuities and Periodic Withdrawals
- To a worker contemplating retirement, there is perhaps no more important question than "How long will my money last?" Congress has a strong interest in the income security of older Americans because much of their income is either provided directly from public programs like Social Security, or in the case of pensions and retirement accounts, is subsidized through tax deductions and deferrals. This report looks at strategies to help deal with the following risks: longevity, investment, inflation, and unexpected events.
- Older Americans Act: Programs and Funding
- Report on the programs and funding for social and nutrition services for older persons, including a list of the programs, grants, elder rights, and more.
- Overview of the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003
- No Description Available.
- Older Americans Act: 106th Congress Legislation
- This report provides brief legislative background for Older Americans Act programs expired at the end of FY1995. The report discusses issues with re-authorization and 106th Congress proposals.
- Income of Americans Aged 65 and Older, 1968 to 2008
- This report presents data collected by the Census Bureau in the Current Population Survey from 1969 through 2009 about the employment status and the sources and amounts of income received by people aged 65 and older.
- Pension Sponsorship and Participation: Summary of Recent Trends
- This report discusses trends that will affect the economic well-being of future retirees.
- Pension Sponsorship and Participation: Summary of Recent Trends
- This report discusses trends that will affect the economic well-being of future retirees.
- Older Workers: Employment and Retirement Trends
- No Description Available.
- Older Workers: Employment and Retirement Trends
- No Description Available.
- Medicare Beneficiary Access to Care: The Effects of New Prospective Payment Systems on Outpatient Hospital Care, Home Health Care, and Skilled Nursing Facility Care
- This report discusses the Balanced Budget Act of 1997 (BBA 97), which required that prospective payment systems replace retrospective cost-based reimbursement systems for Medicare beneficiaries receiving care in hospital outpatient departments, from home health care agencies, and in skilled nursing facilities.
- Pension Sponsorship and Participation: Summary of Recent Trends
- According to the Census Bureau’s Current Population Survey (CPS), the number of private-sector workers between the ages of 25 and 64 whose employer sponsored a retirement plan fell from 53.1 million in 2004 to 52.5 million in 2005. The number of workers who participated in an employer-sponsored retirement plan fell from 43.3 million in 2004 to 43.1 million in 2005. The percentage of 25 to 64- year-old workers in the private sector who participated in an employer-sponsored retirement plan declined from 46.3% in 2004 to 45.0% in 2005.
- Medicare Home Health Benefit Primer: Benefit Basics and Issues
- This report describes home health eligibility criteria, home health services, characteristics of Medicare beneficiaries who use home health services, and home health providers. Further, this report describes in detail the Medicare home health prospective payment system (HH PPS), provides an overview of Medicare home health payments, and discusses issues for Congress related to the Medicare home health benefit.
- Medicare Prescription Drug Proposals: Estimates of Aged Beneficiaries Who Fall Below Income Criteria, by State
- This report discusses bills related to Medicare benefits, which include additional assistance for low-income beneficiaries. The assistance would have been in the form of reduced, subsidized or eliminated premiums, deductibles and other cost-sharing. Proposals in the 108th Congress will probably also include some of these features for low-income beneficiaries.
- Older Displaced Workers in the Context of an Aging and Slowly Growing Population
- This report analyzes the labor market experiences of those older workers who have involuntarily lost long-held jobs for reasons unrelated to their own performance (e.g., veteran factory workers at plants closed because of import competition, experienced information technology workers whose jobs have been outsourced to workers in other countries, and mid-level managers in positions eliminated through corporate restructuring). It examines current policies targeted at the reemployment of older displaced workers which, if successful, might lengthen their stay in the workforce.
- Medicare Home Health Benefit Primer: Benefit Basics and Issues
- This report describes home health eligibility criteria, home health services, characteristics of Medicare beneficiaries who use home health services, and home health providers. Further, this report describes in detail the Medicare home health prospective payment system (HH PPS), provides an overview of Medicare home health payments, and discusses issues for Congress related to the Medicare home health benefit.
- Converting Retirement Savings into Income: Annuities and Periodic Withdrawals
- To a worker contemplating retirement, there is perhaps no more important question than "How long will my money last?" Congress has a strong interest in the income security of older Americans because much of their income is either provided directly from public programs like Social Security, or in the case of pensions and retirement accounts, is subsidized through tax deductions and deferrals. This report discusses risks involved with retirement fund disbursement and strategies for dealing with such risks.
- Medicare's Hospice Benefit
- This report discusses Medicare's hospice benefit, which was provides care that specializes in the relief of the pain and symptoms associated with a terminal illness and the provision of supportive and counseling services to patients and their families during the final stages of a patient's illness and death.
- Trends in Medicare Spending: Fact Sheet
- No Description Available.
- Medicare's Skilled Nursing Facility Benefit
- No Description Available.
- H.R. 6500, The Thrift Savings Plan Enhancement Act of 2008
- This report describes the various aspects of the Thrift Savings Plan Enhancement Act of 2008.
- Major Provisions of the Medicare Modernization and Prescription Drug Act of 2002, H.R. 4954, as Passed by the House
- No Description Available.
- Medicare: Financing the Part A Hospital Insurance Program
- This report discusses Medicare, which consists of two distinct parts — Part A (Hospital Insurance (HI)) and Part B (Supplementary Medical Insurance (SMI)). Part A is financed primarily through payroll taxes levied on current workers and their employers. Income from these taxes is credited to the HI trust fund. Part B is financed through a combination of monthly premiums paid by current enrollees and general revenues. Income from these sources is credited to the SMI trust fund.
- Medicare Expansion: President Clinton's Proposals to Allow Coverage Before Age 65
- This report discusses medicare expansion; President Clinton's proposal to allow people ages 62 through 64 to buy into Medicare if they do not have access to employer-sponsored or federal health insurance.
- Prescription Drug Coverage Under Medicaid
- Medicaid is a joint federal-state entitlement program that pays for medical services on behalf of certain groups of low-income persons. It is the third largest social program in the federal budget, exceeded only by Social Security and Medicare and is typically the second largest spending item for states. This report discusses prescription drug policies under the program.
- Regulating Private Pensions: A Brief Summary of ERISA
- This report briefly discusses the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA), and how it protects the interests of participants and beneficiaries in private-sector employee benefit plans. ERISA covers a number of fringe benefits provided by employers, but most of its provisions deal with pension plans. Pension plans sponsored by the federal, state, and local governments, or by churches generally are exempt from ERISA.
- Increases in Tricare Costs: Background and Options for Congress
- This report discusses budgetary matters for the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD), specifically regarding past instances of debate regarding the Tricare system. The dollar amounts allocated to health care in the budget of the DOD have more than doubled since FY2001, growing from about $17 billion to over $44.8 billion in FY2009.
- Medicare Endorsed Prescription Drug Discount Card Program
- No Description Available.
- Beneficiary Information and Decision Supports for the Medicare-Endorsed Prescription Drug Discount Card
- On December 8, 2003 the President signed into law the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement and Modernization Act of 2003 (MMA, P.L. 108-173). This legislation establishes a Medicare prescription drug benefit, effective January 1, 2006. In the interim, the legislation requires the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to establish a temporary program of Medicare-endorsed prescription drug discount cards. This report discusses the objectives and benefits of this legislation.
- Military Technicians: The Issue of Mandatory Retirement for Non-Dual-Status Technicians
- This report describes the mandatory retirement provisions for certain “non-dual-status” military technicians contained in the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2000 (P.L. 106-65), discusses the stated rationale behind the policy, and quantifies the impact it will likely have on individual technicians.