Cost Of Benefits For Seniors Limits Ability Of Federal Government To Provide Health Insurance For Children, Report Finds

The federal government's spending on children's programs, including health care and education, is limited by the growing proportion of the budget spent on older U.S. residents, according to a study released Thursday by the Urban Institute, USA Today reports. The report examined federal spending since 1960 and found that among more than 100 federal programs for children, the share of domestic spending and tax breaks they received declined from 20.1% in 1960 to 15.4% in 2007. Without a shift in policy, that share will drop to 13.1% by 2017, while the spending percentage of the gross domestic product for children's programs will drop from 2.6% in 2007 to 2.1% in 2017, the report projected. The percentage of the GDP spent on adults receiving Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid will grow from 7.6% in 2007 to 9.5% in 2017.

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