CBO Report Reveals Dire Economic Outlook for 2023, Highlighting Need to Protect Medicaid and Other Safety Net Programs

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has released its updated 10-year Budget and Economic Outlook, and the news is not good. According to the nonpartisan organization, the unemployment rate could jump to 5.1% this year from its January level of 3.4%, the lowest in more than a half century. This would mean hundreds of thousands of people who are currently employed would lose their jobs.

The CBO report also outlined expectations for high interest rates and inflation, though these are expected to ease. In response to the report, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) made clear that Democrats won’t accept cuts to Medicaid, the government health insurance program for low-income Americans, amid the ongoing standoff with Republicans over the nation’s borrowing limit.

“We don’t think any cuts on Medicaid, just like cuts on Medicare and Social Security, should be attached to debt ceiling brinksmanship,” Schumer told HuffPost at a Wednesday press conference on Capitol Hill.

Medicaid, which provides health care to over 80 million people, has not been in the spotlight as much lately as other critical safety net programs like Social Security and Medicare. However, the CBO report is a reminder of the importance of Medicaid and the need to protect it from cuts.

The CBO report paints a bleak picture of the U.S. economy in 2021, with unemployment expected to reach its highest level since September 2021. The report serves as a reminder of the need for Congress to take action to protect the most vulnerable in society and to ensure that the economic recovery is equitable and sustainable.