1996 Green Book

1996 Green Book BACKGROUND MATERIAL AND DATA ON PROGRAMS WITHIN THE JURISDICTION OF THE COMMITTEE ON WAYS AND MEANS, U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

104th Congress WMCP:

COMMITTEE PRINT

2d Session 104-14

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COMMITTEE ON WAYS AND MEANS

U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

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1996 GREEN BOOK

BACKGROUND MATERIAL AND DATA ON PROGRAMS WITHIN THE JURISDICTION OF THE COMMITTEE ON WAYS AND MEANS

BILL ARCHER, Texas, Chairman

Phillip D. Moseley, Chief of Staff

NOVEMBER 4, 1996

This document was prepared by the majority staff of the Committee on Ways and Means and is issued under the authority of Chairman Bill Archer. This document has not been reviewed or officially approved by the Members of the Committee.

LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL

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U.S. House of Representatives,

Committee on Ways and Means,

Washington, DC,

October 31, 1996.

Hon. Bill Archer,

Chairman, Committee on Ways and Means,

House of Representatives, Washington, DC.
 

Dear Chairman Archer:

Since 1981, the Committee on Ways and Means has published the Green Book, which presents background material and statistical data on the major entitlement programs and other activities within the Committee's jurisdiction. Information on major social programs outside the Committee's jurisdiction is also included.

Since its inception 15 years ago, the Green Book has become a valuable resource for Members of the Committee, other Members of Congress, analysts in the various legislative agencies, officials in the executive departments that administer children's programs, scholars who study these programs, and citizens interested in government social programs.

On behalf of all those who worked on this, the 15th edition, I am pleased to transmit to you and other Members of the Committee on Ways and Means the 1996 Green Book.

The Committee staff who worked on the 1996 Green Book wish to call to your attention, and to the attention of Green Book users, the superb help we have received from many individuals and organizations. These include:

The Congressional Research Service of the Library of Congress:

David Koitz, Coordinator

Jennifer O'Sullivan, Coordinator (Health Programs)

The Congressional Budget Office:

Murray Ross, Coordinator

The Census Bureau of the Department of Commerce:

Chuck Nelson, Coordinator

The Department of Health and Human Services:

Wendell Primus, Coordinator

The Department of Labor:

Richard Hobbie, Coordinator

The Social Security Administration:

Webster Phillips, Coordinator with Judy Chesser and Carl Durham.

The Physician Payment Review Commission:

David Colby, Coordinator

The Prospective Payment Assessment Commission:

Stuart Gutterman, Coordinator

Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation:

Joseph Grant, Coordinator with Michael Rae.

The Joint Committee on Taxation:

Kenneth J. Kies, Coordinator

Railroad Retirement Board Staff

Many members of the Committee's majority staff made major contributions to the preparation and publication of this document. Ron Haskins, Staff Director of the Subcommittee on Human Resources, assisted by Matt Weidinger and Cassie Statuto Bevan of the Subcommittee staff, edited the 1996 Green Book. Scot Smith, also a member of the Subcommittee staff, coordinated our contacts with all the Federal agencies and prepared or supervised preparation of all the tables. Margaret Pratt of the Subcommittee staff, along with Suzanne Kayne, Queenie Long, and Linda Swift of the Government Printing Office, prepared the many versions of the individual chapters and appendixes. Other staff members who assisted with individual chapters or appendixes included: Thelma J. Askey, Darren Bearson, Scott Brenner, James D. Clark, Crissie Curtis, Pete Davila, Angela Ellard, Mary Anne Gee, Richard Gelles, Elise Gemeinhardt, Allison Giles, Timothy L. Hanford, John Harrington, Kim Hildred, Charles N. (Chip) Kahn III, Kacki Keith, Chris Mann, David Manns, William (Mac) McKenney, Kathy Means, Norah H. Moseley, Valerie Nixon, Chris Smith, Donna Steele Flynn, and Stephen Whitaker.

Any suggestions about the organization, content, or presentation of material in this edition of the Green Book are welcome and will be considered in the preparation of subsequent editions.

Sincerely,

Phillip D. Moseley,

Chief of Staff.

P R E F A C E

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After 13 previous editions, the Green Book has become a standard reference source on American social policy. It is widely used by Members of Congress and their staffs, program analysts in Congressional agencies, members of the media, scholars, and citizens interested in the Nation's social policy.

This edition of the Green Book follows the basic pattern of previous editions. Thus, the volume is divided into two major sections, Program Descriptions and Appendixes. In the first section, separate chapters are devoted to the major programs under jurisdiction of the Committee on Ways and Means: Social Security, Railroad Retirement, Medicare, Supplemental Security Income, Unemployment Compensation, Railroad Unemployment Compensation, Trade Adjustment Assistance, Aid to Families with Dependent Children, Child Support Enforcement, child care, the Title XX Social Services Block Grant, child protection, social programs in the territories, tax provisions that confer social benefits, the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, and a final chapter that summarizes major social programs that are not under jurisdiction of the Committee (including food stamps, Medicaid, housing, school lunch and breakfast, the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children, the Job Training Partnership Act, Head Start, low- income home energy assistance, veterans benefits, and workers' compensation).

The appendixes include information directly related to the programs under Committee jurisdiction, including but not limited to, health care of the elderly, health care expenditures, Medicare reimbursement of hospitals and physicians, employment and unemployment, earnings, family demographics, poverty, benefits available to noncitizens, and Federal spending.

This year's Green Book contains several new features. Perhaps the most important is a greatly expanded index. Due to publication deadlines, information from the appendixes is not

included in the index. This edition also includes an outline of contents at the beginning of each section to provide readers with a preview of material contained in the section and a summary of the section's organization. Several of the sections, including those on Social Security, Aid to Families with Dependent Children, Child Support Enforcement, child care, and child protection have been extensively revised and rewritten. The section on Social Security contains the information presented in three separate chapters in previous editions. In addition, new appendixes on social spending and benefits available to noncitizens have been added.

With a few exceptions, this edition does not reflect changes in law enacted by the second session of the 104th Congress. As this edition of the Green Book neared completion, Congress passed Public Law 104-193, the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996. This legislation, signed into law on August 22, 1996 by President Clinton, contains major changes in the Aid to Families with Dependent Children Program, child care programs, the Supplemental Security Income Program, Title XX, and several other programs described in the Green Book. Rather than revising this year's edition to reflect all the program changes made by the new law and thereby delaying production, the original program descriptions were left intact and a detailed summary of the new law was added (see appendix L). The next edition of the Green Book will include descriptions of changes made by the new law in each of the relevant program sections.

C O N T E N T S

PROGRAM DESCRIPTIONS

Section 1. Social Security: The Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance (OASDI) Programs

Section 2. Railroad Retirement System

Section 3. Medicare

Section 4. Supplemental Security Income (SSI)

Section 5. Unemployment Compensation

Section 6. Railroad Unemployment Compensation System

Section 7. Trade Adjustment Assistance

Section 8. Aid to Families with Dependent Children and Related Programs (Title IV-A)

Section 9. Child Support Enforcement Program

Section 10. Child Care

Section 11. Title XX Social Services Block Grant Program

Section 12. Child Protection, Foster Care, and Adoption Assistance

Section 13. Federal Social Welfare Programs in Outlying Areas

Section 14. Tax Provisions Related to Retirement, Health, Poverty, Employment, Disability and Other Social Issues

Section 15. The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation

Section 16. Other Programs

A P P E N D I X E S

Appendix A. Data on the Elderly

Appendix B. Health Status, Insurance, and Expenditures of the Elderly, and Background Data on Long-Term Care

Appendix C. National and International Health Care Expenditures and Health Insurance Coverage

Appendix D. Medicare Reimbursement to Hospitals

Appendix E. Medicare Reimbursement to Physicians

Appendix F. Data on Employment, Earnings, and Unemployment

Appendix G. Data on Families

Appendix H. Data on Poverty

Appendix I. Budget Tables

Appendix J. Noncitizens

Appendix K. Spending for Income-Tested Benefits, Fiscal Years

1968-94

Appendix L. Summary of Welfare Reforms Made by Public Law 104-193, the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act and Associated Legislation