Medicaid: Recent Trends in Beneficiaries and Spending

This report discusses medicaid and recent trend is beneficiaries and spending

Federal Spending for Older Americans

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 FY2005 spending for Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid alone is $713 billion. Spending for retired federal employees and military personnel and for veterans is also significant, and smaller programs add to the total as well. In addition, tax expenditures might be taken into account to obtain a more complete budget picture