http://www.cms.hhs.gov/physicianfeesched/downloads/CMS-1403-P.pdf

Latest annual proposed revisions to the 2009 physician fee schedule under Part B of the Medicare Health Insurance Program. From the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services

http://www.cms.hhs.gov/CFCsAndCoPs/Downloads/CMS3844F.pdf

Final rule which describes the conditions of participation that hospices must meet to participate in the Medicare and Medicaid programs. The final rule focuses on the care delivered to patients and their families by hospices and the outcome of that care. Includes explicit language on patient rights. From the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services

http://www.cbo.gov/ftpdocs/93xx/doc9316/05-29-SourcesHealthCostGrowth_Brief.pdf

Predicts that health care costs per beneficiary will grow more quickly than per capita GDP and that health care cost growth will be a larger factor in increased Medicare/Medicaid spending than the number of beneficiaries to be covered. From the Congressional Budget Office.

http://www.cbo.gov/ftpdocs/92xx/doc9216/LongtermBudget_Letter-to-Ryan.pdf

Analyzes potential economic effects of allowing federal debt to continue to climb, or to slow the growth of deficits and eliminate them over the next several decades, or to use higher income tax rates alone to finance the expected spending increases in Social Security and Medicare. From the Congressional Budget Office.

http://www.census.gov/prod/2008pubs/p70-116.pdf

Reports that the participation rate of mothers with a recent birth in government assistance programs moved upward in 2004 from what it had been in 2001. Also reports on the fertility and socioeconomic characteristics of mothers involved in at least one of six government assistance programs, such as Food Stamps, Medicaid, and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) in 2004. From the Census Bureau.

http://www.ssa.gov/policy/docs/statcomps/supplement/2007/

Latest program descriptions and statistics for Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, Supplemental Security Income, Unemployment Insurance, Disability and more. A major resource for information on the social insurance and welfare programs of the U.S. From the Social Security Administration.

http://www.cbo.gov/ftpdocs/91xx/doc9104/04-17-LifeExpectancy_Brief.pdf

Examines how life expectancy in America is becoming more unequal according to income and education factors, how this pattern of life expectancy compares to other countries, and the implications for social security and medicare. From the Congressional Budget Office

http://www.cms.hhs.gov/ReportsTrustFunds/downloads/tr2008.pdf

Full title is 2008 Annual Report of the Boards of Trustees of the Federal Hospital Insurance and Federal Supplementary Medical Insurance Trust Funds. Reports that the hospital insurance portion of Medicare is not adequately financed and that assets are expected to decline to $96 billion by 2017. Warns that federal general revenues are becoming a substantial share of total financing for Medicare. From the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

http://www.cbo.gov/ftpdocs/89xx/doc8972/02-15-GeogHealth.pdf

Examines differences in health care spending by region, the reasons for those differences, and the implications for evaluating the efficiency of the health care system. Also compares geographic variation in health care spending in Canada and the United Kingdom. From the Congressional Budget Office.

http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d0866.pdf

28% of all Medicare spending in 1999 was used to provide care for beneficiaries in their last year of life. This study examines the features of end-of-life care programs in Arizona, Florida, Oregon and Wisconsin and describes the major challenges for such programs. From the Government Accountability Office.

http://www.cms.hhs.gov/NationalHealthExpendData/01_Overview.asp

Reports that health care expenditures grew by 6.7% in 2006, the slowest rate of growth since 1999, but a growth rate that exceeded economic growth and the general inflation rate. Health care spending totaled $2.1 trillion or $7,026 per person. From the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.