Commonwealth Fund: Does the Congressional Budget Office Underestimate Savings from Reform? A Review of the Historical Record -  "CBO rules require substantial evidence that a cost-saving initiative has historically achieved savings. Hence, when few historical antecedents exist ”be they demonstrations or natural experiments ”CBO is likely to score an initiative as yielding no savings. In other words, 'don't know' becomes 'zero,'" writes the author of this issue brief that looks at how CBO scores compared to overall savings in reform measures historically. The author compares the CBO projection of "the prospective payment system for hospitals in the 1980s, the Balanced Budget Act of the 1990s, and the Medicare Modernization Act of 2003," to the actual impact and concludes the CBO "substantially underestimated savings from these reform measures" (Gabel, 1/20).

AARP Public Policy Institute: Resource Tests and Eligibility for Federal Assistance Programs: Effects of Current Rules and Options for Change - "Resource tests (also called asset tests) disqualify many individuals and families whose income would otherwise make them eligible for federal assistance," writes the author of this report that examines how adjustments to resource tests could affect the numbers of people who qualify for such programs as Medicare Savings Programs (MSPs), and the Medicare Part D Low-Income Subsidy (LIS) Program. Some possible changes could include "higher resource limits and different rules for treating specific kinds of assets," such as excluding retirement savings or the cash value of life insurance (Merlis, Jan. 2010).

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