Summary. The Civilian Health and Medical Program of the Department of Veterans Affairs (CHAMPVA) was established by the Veterans Health Care Expansion Act of 1973 (P.L. 93-82). CHAMPVA is primarily a…
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Introduction. The 1996 welfare reform law (P.L. 104-193) was the culmination of decades of efforts to revamp how needy families with children were assisted. In particular, the welfare reform debates focused…
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In 2016, the United States had an estimated population of 318 million individuals. Most of those individuals had private health insurance or received health care services under a federal program (such as Medicare or Medicaid). About 8.6 % of the U.S. population was uninsured (Table 1).
Individuals (including those who were uninsured), health insurers, and federal and state governments spent approximately $3. 2 trillion on various types of health consumption expenditures (HCE) in 2016, which accounted for 17.1 % of the nation’s gross domestic product.
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Summary. Sequestration is the automatic reduction (i.e., cancellation) of certain federal spending, generally by a uniform percentage. The sequester is a budget enforcement tool that was established by Congress in the…
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Attempts by the federal government to estimate the number of people who are homeless have only taken place on a regular basis for a little more than a decade. Prior…
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The Affordable Care Act (ACA, P.L. 111-148, as amended), enacted in 2010, appropriated billions of dollars of mandatory funds to support two programs that focus on expanding access to primary…
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Summary. High rates of obesity and chronic diseases have prompted various federal, state, and local nutrition labeling initiatives. The 1990 Nutrition Labeling and Education Act (P.L. 101-535) required nutrition labeling of…
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Background and Provisions. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA; P.L. 111-148, as amended by P.L. 111-152) contains a number of tax provisions that serve different purposes. Some of the…
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Summary. This report offers an overview of actions taken by Congress and the President to provide FY2018 appropriations for accounts funded by the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and…
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Summary. Deoxyribonucleic acid, or DNA, is the fundamental building block for an individual’s entire genetic makeup. DNA is a powerful tool for law enforcement investigations because each person’s DNA is different…
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