May 29, 2025
How Non-disabled Medicaid Recipients Without Children Spend Their Time
The reconciliation bill passed by the United States House of Representatives imposes community engagement requirements for childless non-disabled Medicaid recipients age 19–64, starting in 2027. The requirement can be met by spending 80 hours in at least some months either working, going to school, participating in a work program, or doing community service. In a…
May 28, 2025
An Evaluation of Approaches to Cut and Reform SNAP
House Republicans narrowly passed their version of President Trump’s “big, beautiful bill” last week, and the legislation contains major changes to SNAP, including expanded work requirements, reduced federal and state exemptions and shifting more of the costs to states. Changes are likely as the Senate takes up the bill, and Kevin Corinth, senior fellow and deputy…
May 27, 2025
The Surprising Role of Large Developers in Solving the Housing Crunch
Against the odds—and conventional wisdom—the nation’s largest home builders have engineered a dramatic shift toward serving first-time homebuyers (FTBs). New data from the AEI Housing Center show that in 2024, 51.2% of all new construction sales by the top 20 builders went to FTBs, up significantly from just 38.6% in 2014. This shift has occurred…
May 22, 2025
Course Correction: Rebuilding The Federal Student Loan System After Biden’s Mismanagement
Key Points Introduction Thirty-five million federal student loan borrowers went back into repayment in October 2024 after the government had suspended their student loan payments, in effect, for four and a half years. Already, delinquencies have shot up, and a wave of loan defaults looms. Borrowers will feel the pain—but so will the federal budget…
May 20, 2025
The share of Medicaid recipients in compliance with the House bill’s community engagement requirement
Last week, the House Committee on Energy and Commerce approved several changes to Medicaid as part of the reconciliation bill. One major change is the imposition of community engagement requirements for non-disabled working age adults without dependent children. This change would take effect in January 2029, although some House members have argued for moving up…
May 19, 2025
The Case for Shifting More Welfare Costs to States
As part of Congressional Republicans’ drive to craft “one big beautiful bill” reflecting Donald Trump’s tax and spending agenda, the House Agriculture committee on May 14 approved several proposals that would reduce federal spending by shifting some current federal welfare costs to states. At the same time, dissatisfied conservative members have called for more federal…
May 18, 2025
Saved by Medicaid: New Evidence on Health Insurance and Mortality from the Universe of Low-Income Adults
Abstract We examine the causal effect of health insurance on mortality using the universe of low-income adults, a dataset of 37 million individuals identified by linking the 2010 Census to administrative tax data. Our methodology leverages state-level variation in the timing and adoption of Medicaid expansions under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and earlier waivers…
May 15, 2025
The Pandemic Is Over. It’s Time for Schools to Get the Message.
More than five years after the covid-19 pandemic began, the havoc it wreaked on American students and schools is alarmingly clear by nearly every measure. But there is one glaring exception: high school graduation rates. Even as test scores cratered, public school enrollments plummeted, and chronic absenteeism — the percentage of students missing at least one-tenth of the school…
May 14, 2025
An Evaluation of Cost-Saving Reforms to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program
Abstract Congress is considering ways to reduce spending on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) by $230 billion over 10 years. Reforms will likely include one or more of the following cost-saving elements: reducing the maximum SNAP benefit, reducing deductions, expanding work requirements, and ending broad-based categorical eligibility. I analyze each of these reforms, focusing on the…
May 14, 2025
Libraries Are Doing the Work—Let’s Fund Them Accordingly
Over the past few years, I’ve had the privilege of visiting libraries of all sizes—from quiet rural branches to vibrant urban hubs. Each one tells a story—not just through the books on its shelves, but through the people it brings together. Whether through informal social gatherings, intergenerational conversations, or access to essential services, libraries are…