Two New Reports from the Congressional Research Service

The Congressional Research Service (CRS) has issued two new reports that would be helfpul in our classes.  The first, Introduction to Public Housing by Maggie McCarty was released on January 3, 2014. According to the introduction to the report:

This report is meant to serve as an introduction to the federal public housing program. It provides information on the history of the program, how it is administered and funded, and the characteristics of public housing properties and the households they serve. While it introduces current policy issues, a full analysis of those issues and discussion of current legislation is not included in this report.

The second, Medicaid: An Overview, was released January 10, 2014 and written by Alison Mitchell, Evelyne P. Baumrucker and Elicia J. Herz.  This report:

describes the basic elements of Medicaid, focusing on who is eligible, what services are covered, how enrollees share in the cost of care, how the program is financed, and how providers are paid. The report also explains waivers, program integrity activities, and the dual-eligible population. In addition, the report describes the following selected issues: the ACA Medicaid expansion, the impact of the ACA health insurance annual fee on Medicaid, and the ACA maintenance of effort (MOE) with respect to Medicaid eligibility.