The event will feature a presentation from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) on their baseline projections for health care programs, including updated estimates of Medicare Part D spending following the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) and the expected impact of the reforms included in the One Big Beautiful Bill (OBBB). After the CBO presentation, Paragon President Brian Blase will moderate a discussion with CBO Director Phillip Swagel and CBO policy experts.
Lunch will be provided.
As research by the Paragon Health Institute and the Economic Policy Innovation Center (EPIC) shows, America’s large and growing budget deficits are driven by two factors: health care programs and interest payments on the national debt. Because health care programs are the biggest driver of rising deficits and debt, Congress must focus on sensible reforms that sustain these programs for those in need without increasing the tax burden on hard-working Americans. The consequences of proceeding with the status quo are severe: rising inflation, interest rates, oppressive future tax increases, and large benefit reductions.
Please feel free to share this invitation with any congressional staffer who may be interested in attending.
About the panelists:
Phill Swagel, Ph.D., has been the Director of the Congressional Budget Office since 2019. From 2006 to 2009, Dr. Swagel was Assistant Secretary for Economic Policy at the Treasury Department. He has also served as chief of staff and senior economist at the Council of Economic Advisers in the White House and as an economist at the Federal Reserve Board and the International Monetary Fund.
Brian C. Blase, Ph.D., is the President of Paragon Health Institute. Blase was formerly a Special Assistant to the President for Economic Policy at the White House’s National Economic Council (NEC) from 2017 to 2019 and worked as a congressional committee staffer from 2011 to 2015.
Sean Dunbar is the chief of CBO’s Low-Income Health Programs and Prescription Drugs Cost Estimates Unit. He oversees cost estimates relating to Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program, and federal public health programs.
Sarah Masi is a senior adviser in CBO’s Budget Analysis Division. Among other responsibilities, she oversees cost estimates relating to the Affordable Care Act.
Sarah Sajewski is the chief of CBO’s Medicare Cost Estimate Unit. She oversees cost estimates relating to Medicare.
