Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security Financial Projectiosn
February 4, 2010 7:51 AM Subscribe
Google-fu, Government Style: Where can I get the income statements of the federal government's Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security programs?
I need to build a historical trend & future projection of income and expenses for Medicare, Medicaid, and ocial security. My searching has been failing me miserably so far.
Essentially, I need two numbers by year, for Medicaid, Medicare, and Social Security:
a) How much money came in (through income tax withholding)
b) How much money went out (disbursements for benefits)
I need to build a historical trend & future projection of income and expenses for Medicare, Medicaid, and ocial security. My searching has been failing me miserably so far.
Essentially, I need two numbers by year, for Medicaid, Medicare, and Social Security:
a) How much money came in (through income tax withholding)
b) How much money went out (disbursements for benefits)
Only Medicare and Social Security (but not Medicaid) have what you could call "income" in the form of a dedicated payroll tax. Medicaid is jointly funded by states and the federal government (the percentage of each Medicaid dollar spent that states have to pay for is called the FMAP, and ranges from 50% in high-income states to less than 24% in low-income states). Medicaid funding on the both the state and federal level comes out of general funds, not a dedicated revenue stream and/or trust fund as is the case for Medicare and Social Security.
For Medicare & Social Security, how far back do you need to go? If it's only 10 years or so, there's a pretty decent summary of Social Security and Medicare program income here, broken out by program and by where the tax revenue originated (employer-paid, employee-paid, or self-employment tax). If you need to go further back for revenue info, you'll probably have to look at each year's trust fund report individually. The benefits paid out by year and by program can be found here, all the way back to 1942.
posted by iminurmefi at 8:39 AM on February 4, 2010 [1 favorite]
For Medicare & Social Security, how far back do you need to go? If it's only 10 years or so, there's a pretty decent summary of Social Security and Medicare program income here, broken out by program and by where the tax revenue originated (employer-paid, employee-paid, or self-employment tax). If you need to go further back for revenue info, you'll probably have to look at each year's trust fund report individually. The benefits paid out by year and by program can be found here, all the way back to 1942.
posted by iminurmefi at 8:39 AM on February 4, 2010 [1 favorite]
And just to give you a bit more info than you maybe need, but which you should probably be aware of if you're looking at this data: while people refer to "Medicare" or "Social Security" as single programs, they're really a collection of different programs operated by the same agency. "Social Security" is really two programs, Old Age and Survivors Insurance (this is what people are usually thinking of when they talk about "social security") and also Disability Insurance, which provides payments to workers of all ages who become completely and totally disabled. Often the financing for the two is considered together, although the trust funds for each are technically separate. If you are, for instance, using this data to investigate the amount of tax revenue spent on elderly people, you'd want to make sure you're not lumping in the disability insurance numbers with the old age and survivor's insurance.
Similarly, "Medicare" is actually three programs (well, four, but the last one is small enough that you can ignore it): Part A, or hospital insurance; Part B, or supplementary insurance (this covers all non-inpatient non-pharmaceutical medical bills, e.g. visits to the doctor); and Part D, or prescription drug insurance. Everybody who qualifies for Medicare automatically receives Part A, and these benefits are paid for by the dedicated payroll tax, as is the case for Social Security. Part A (often referred to as "HI") has a trust fund that is currently running a deficit, just like Social Security. On the other hand, enrollment into Part B and Part D (referred to as "SMI") is voluntary--although virtually everyone who is eligible does enroll--and are at least in theory covered through the monthly premiums paid by those who receive benefits. The premiums don't cover the whole cost--only about 25%, actually--because the federal government heavily subsidizes both programs. However the 75% of program costs that the federal government does pick up comes out of general revenue (as happens for Medicaid), not a dedicated payroll tax (as happens for Medicare Part A and for Social Security).
posted by iminurmefi at 9:03 AM on February 4, 2010 [1 favorite]
Similarly, "Medicare" is actually three programs (well, four, but the last one is small enough that you can ignore it): Part A, or hospital insurance; Part B, or supplementary insurance (this covers all non-inpatient non-pharmaceutical medical bills, e.g. visits to the doctor); and Part D, or prescription drug insurance. Everybody who qualifies for Medicare automatically receives Part A, and these benefits are paid for by the dedicated payroll tax, as is the case for Social Security. Part A (often referred to as "HI") has a trust fund that is currently running a deficit, just like Social Security. On the other hand, enrollment into Part B and Part D (referred to as "SMI") is voluntary--although virtually everyone who is eligible does enroll--and are at least in theory covered through the monthly premiums paid by those who receive benefits. The premiums don't cover the whole cost--only about 25%, actually--because the federal government heavily subsidizes both programs. However the 75% of program costs that the federal government does pick up comes out of general revenue (as happens for Medicaid), not a dedicated payroll tax (as happens for Medicare Part A and for Social Security).
posted by iminurmefi at 9:03 AM on February 4, 2010 [1 favorite]
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Specifically, within each budget, HHS breaks down the budget for CMS (Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services). 2007 numbers are here.
SSA budgets are here. They also don't go back too far, but I would imagine they are publicly available much farther back. Most of the numbers you want should be in here. For example, a quick look at the 2011 Key Tables PDF shows 2009 actual outlays and 2010/2011 estimates by program.
Hope that helps.
posted by jckll at 8:38 AM on February 4, 2010