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The Great Government Transfer-mation

beebee
edited October 13 in Other Investing
Interesting article on how many more of us rely on government transfers.

https://eig.org/great-transfermation/

pdf version:

Great-Transfermation.pdf

@Derf, I agree to transfer this thread to "Other Investing" as long as you & I agree to invest a little of our Government transfers.;)
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Comments

  • Very interesting @bee. Thanks for posting it up.
  • That's an eye-opener.
  • Economic Innovation Group. EIG.
  • an expansive and better designed immigration policy,
    I'll vote for this, but it's to late as I see it !
    I can't wait for more replies.
    Maybe needs to me moved ?
  • Just speaking for my own state, the counties shown has collecting the most in government transfers are also the ones with the most ardent 45 supporters despite facts and data suggesting that they will be the same ones hurt most by his intended policy's and intentions. I suspect that's true across the nation.
  • +1.

    ...And I would call this nothing more than a glitch, but in my State, the "hover" feature does not work on the map, for our Maui County. Kauai, yes. Honolulu, yes. Hawaii County ("The Big Island",) yes.
  • edited October 13
    @Mark sadly +1
  • @bee I'm not sure I like the wording, "government transfers." I take it as a gift from the gov., which most of it isn't. VA Benny's all earned as is my SS monthly check.

    Now I'm wondering if I'm reading this the correct way ?

    Thanks for moving
  • Really interesting data and info. Thanks much, @bee.
  • beebee
    edited October 14
    Derf said:

    @bee I'm not sure I like the wording, "government transfers." I take it as a gift from the gov., which most of it isn't. VA Benny's all earned as is my SS monthly check.

    It's a very interesting topic and can appear convoluted. Couldn't an argument be made that we (the public) transfer more of our money to the government than we did years ago?

    Take the lottery for example. I see this as both public/government transfer. Wish I was on the winning end of the these transfers.

    Taxes are public transfers to the government that hopefully become government transfers to build bridges and roads, fund public safety and education, arm the military. Let's not forget the government transfers that pay for a growing number of government salaries.

    Others:

    SS= runs partially on (earned income) public transfer - it needs to balance out with future public transfers = or > government transfer to SS recipients.

    Medicare = Pooled Public transfers "in" by way of premium payments...shared payment out by way of government payments and public co-payments for medical services.

    Medicaid = Appears a one way Government Transfer out, but there must be a public funding source for medicaid, right?

    How does Medicaid financing work?

    Medicaid financing is shared by states and the federal government with a guarantee to states for federal matching payments with no pre-set limit. The percentage of costs paid by the federal government varies for specific services and types of enrollees and depending on whether the costs are for medical care or program administration.

    The federal share of spending for services used by people eligible through traditional Medicaid, which includes individuals who are eligible as children, low-income parents, because of disability, or because of age (65+), is determined by a formula set in statute. The formula is designed so that the federal government pays a larger share of program costs in states with lower average per capita income. The resulting “federal medical assistance percentage” or “FMAP” varies by state and ranged from 50 percent to 78 percent for FFY 2023 (Figure 5).

    States can use provider taxes and IGTs (intergovernmental transfers) to help finance the state share of Medicaid. States have some flexibility to use funding from local governments or revenue collected from provider taxes and fees to help finance the state share of Medicaid within certain limits and rules. Provider taxes are an integral source of Medicaid financing, comprising approximately 17% of the nonfederal share of total Medicaid payments in SFY 2018 according to the Government Accountability Office (GAO). All states (except Alaska) have at least one provider tax in place and many states have more than three (Figure 8). The most common provider taxes are on nursing facilities (46 states) and hospitals (44 states). As of July 1, 2022, 32 states including DC also reported at least one provider tax that is above 5.5% of net patient revenues, which is close to the maximum federal safe harbor or allowable threshold of 6%. Federal action to lower that threshold or eliminate provider taxes, as has been proposed in the past, would therefore have financial implications for many states.

    The most common Medicaid provider taxes in place in FY 2022 were taxes on nursing facilities (46 states), followed by taxes on hospitals (44 states), intermediate care facilities for individuals with intellectual disabilities (33 states), and MCOs7 (18 states).

    https://kff.org/report-section/medicaid-budget-survey-for-state-fiscal-years-2022-and-2023-provider-rates-and-taxes/
    Bottom line, we pay more today in public transfers to local, county, state, and federal governments so they can orchestrate these transfers out.

    I might imagine that years ago a larger proportion of these transfers and services happened between the public and private organizations - churches, non-profits and philanthropy.

    IMHO we have grown governments along with the growth of these government transfers.

    Maybe its time to review the role of government regarding both sides of these transfers.
  • All very good points @bee
  • @bee +1 Let me add , it seems to me that the list of taxes continues grow !!
  • Derf said:

    @bee +1 Let me add , it seems to me that the list of taxes continues grow !!

    Yup, and the invention of "user fees" where there were none.
  • @Crash That's what I'm talking about ! Crash , do you have a wheel tax ?
  • Derf said:

    @Crash That's what I'm talking about ! Crash , do you have a wheel tax ?

    What on earth??? Wheel tax. Seriously? Is that supposed to correspond with how much you pay on the toll road? Sounds nuts. As you know, we have no toll roads here.
    But my wife takes the car, and I can use the busses unlimited for almost nothing.
  • I have spent my entire tax paying life in states that constantly send far more money to DC then we get in return and ones that show up here as having minimal transfer income.

    It is galling to have folks whose communities already receive massive transfer payments, mostly in Red states, demand more money for infrastructure repair, hurricane relief etc, when they refuse to tax themselves to pay for it.

    A factor not mentioned in the article but featured in a very well done piece in the Guardian
    https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/oct/17/indiana-medical-debt-parkview-hospital

    is how our government, both federal and state has allowed and enabled large health care institutions, both profit and non profit, to game the system, develop monopoly control over pricing and dramatically increase their profits and force citizens to pay the bill.

    The article looks at a Large non-profit hospital system in Ft Wayne Indiana, a locale for low cost of living and stable economy, but because this system controls almost all of the health care Ft Wayne has some of the highest health care costs in the country.

    Yet one political party continues to demand less regulation. When our government is payer of last resort, we all suffer when these regulations are gamed and bypassed to enrich a few at the top.
  • edited October 18
    There is always makers and takers in personal life and at society level. Many of those guys / States making noise about the huge deficits, immigrants, etc. are not necessarily worried about the future of the country (they already think they are a different country) but worried about their freebies decreasing / stopping - it is about keeping their gravy train secure.

    It is easier to work / help with / cure capabilities but you can not cure a sense of entitlement.

    For the fiscal year ended Sept 30, federal Govt ran a deficit of $1.98T ($900B of which was net interest expense). The deficit was the third largest after 2020 and 2021.

    We need to get the deficits (in excess of inflation) under control.
  • edited October 18
  • edited October 18
    @Crash,

    Making me do more work?!

    Your article says, "Net of interest earned on the government’s investments, the total was a record $882 billion." Consistent with the rounded $900B in my post.

    "off-topic" forum? May be share a link so I can check it out.
  • BaluBalu said:

    @Crash,

    Making me do more work?!

    Your article says, "Net of interest earned on the government’s investments, the total was a record $882 billion." Consistent with the rounded $900B in my post.

    "off-topic" forum? May be share a link so I can check it out.

    Hello. Did I mis-read yours? I posted my own link with just the headline in mind:
    "...interest on debt surpasses trillion-dollar mark."

  • no worries.

    BTW, what is "Off-topic" forum?
  • edited October 18
    BaluBalu said:

    no worries.

    BTW, what is "Off-topic" forum?

    That's the place to argue about the thickness of your auntie's moustache or the price of bacon in Macon. Or whether Arianna Grande does great musical impersonations. (She DOES!).;)
  • edited October 18
    Got it. There is only ONE forum, MFO, which has a few pre-designated "CATEGORIES" under which threads / discussions can be started and had. Off-Topic is one of the CATEGORIES (see the left margin of this page), not a separate forum.
  • edited October 19
    Things posted on MFO Off Topic don't show up on the MFO Discussions feed. So, it's like a sub-forum whose contents are seen only there by clicking on Off Topic, or, here is the direct link,
    https://www.mutualfundobserver.com/discuss/categories/off-topic

    Posts in only the following 4 categories show up in MFO Discussions feed: Fund Discussions, MFO Premium, Other Investing, Technical Questions.

    On the left panel, there are also 2 categories: The Bullpen and The OT Bullpen, but these seem administrative categories where posts with less board interest/activity get moved. I don't see a way to post directly on these 2 forums.
  • edited October 19
    "Posts in only the following 4 categories show up in MFO Discussions feed: Fund Discussions, MFO Premium, Other Investing, Technical Questions."

    I like it this way - not putting the Off-topic threads into the general feed. If I am itching to entertain myself, I can always go to the Off-Topic category but I will not inadvertently get involved in the Off-topic conversation just by staying in MFO Discussion feed. Whoever designed the feed, gets my thank you.
  • Whoever designed the feed, gets my thank you.

    It wasn't always walled-off, the way it is now. Chip and David are responsible. They responded to specific requests and made it so. We could not do what we are doing here, without them.:)
  • "Whoever designed the feed, gets my thank you."

    @BaluBalu... Yes sir- before the Off-Topic section was isolated as it presently is David and I had a number of conferences which resulted in the present configuration. I think that it's a decent arrangement as it allows OT without sticking it under the nose of those who prefer not to see it.

    This is why the conduct of the two most frequent offenders (and we all know who they are) is so egregious.
  • Thank you, David, Chip, and Old Joe.
  • Maybe, the next improvement would allow the OP AND others to change the category - sort of community moderation. Some posters go for the max visibility and don't care for an isolated category.
  • edited 3:16AM
    "I think that it's a decent arrangement as it allows OT without sticking it under the nose of those who prefer not to see it."

    I wholeheartedly agree!
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