Offers preliminary enrollment and degree data for colleges and universities for the 2011-12 academic year and cost data for the current year.  From the National Center for Education Statistics

Discusses how federal authorities have tried to establish accurate measures for housing costs over the years.  From the Bureau of Labor Statistics

Provides information on the number and percentage of civilian workers in the private and public sectors who were employed at firms where employer-sponsored health insurance was available and the number and percentage who were enrolled.  Also covers average premiums for single, plus-one, and family coverage.  From the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality

Agency press release which describes what information has been made available about hospital charges and other measures introduced to restrain price increases in health care services. From the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services

Interactive database which compares hospital charges for the top 100 most frequently performed services and reveals vast differences between nearby hospitals.  From the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services

Discusses the controversy over the Chained Consumer Price Index, identifies key indexing elements in major federal entitlement programs under current law, and presents the information in a summary table.

From the Congressional Research Service, posted by the Federation of American Scientists

Reports that consumer expenditures increased for the first time in 3 years.  Also covers breakdowns of expenditures by spending category such as food, transportation, and housing.  From the Bureau of Labor Statistics

Provides an overview of 30-day, all-payer, all-cause readmissions to U.S. hospitals for a range of inpatient procedures in 2010, a matter of increasing importance in quality and cost of care considerations.  From the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality

Provides an overview of 30-day, all-payer, all-cause readmissions to U.S. hospitals for a range of conditions in 2010, a matter of increasing importance in quality and cost of care considerations.  From the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality

This report provides an overview of the changing residential mortgage market, focusing on trends in housing prices, homeownership, mortgage characteristics, and financing.  It also examines legislation and regulations designed to promote the efficient functioning of the mortgage market.  From the Congressional Research Service, posted by the Federation of American Scientists

Describes what the board is, how and why it was created by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, and how it works to control the growth of Medicare costs per beneficiary.  From the Congressional Research Service, posted by the Federation of American Scientists

Expresses concern about the affordability of postsecondary education in Virginia and asks college/university leaders to hold tuition and fee increases to rate of inflation.  From the Office of the Governor

Looks at four measures of rental market conditions and their changes between2009 and 2011: housing costs, housing cost burdens, rental vacancy rates, and renter share of total households.  From the Census Bureau

Analyzes strategies used to reduce prescription drug costs by such characteristics as age, health insurance status, and poverty status.  Strategies used included taking pills at slower rate than prescribed, asking for cheaper drugs, purchasing drugs from another country, or using alternative therapies.     From the National Center for Health Statistics

Discusses how to plan for college expenses before enrolling and how to finance higher education.  From the Bureau of Labor Statistics

Presents information and statistics on reducing health care costs by reducing the number of hospital admissions with high quality primary and preventive care.  Identifies health conditions which saw decreases in hospital admission rates between 2005 and 2010.  From the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality

Reports that the median household debt in the U.S. has increased from $50,971 to 2000 to $70,000 in 2011.  Offers further information on household debt by age, and composition of the debt.  From the Bureau of the Census

Examines the spending patterns of the population aged 55 and over.  From the Social Security Administration

Statistics on trends in tuition and required fees, cost of attendance, and net price (after deducting the value of scholarships and grants) at the nation’s colleges and universities.  From the National Center for Education Statistics

Summarizes some average food prices over the last century and identifies trends.  From the Bureau of Labor Statistics

The projections cover agricultural commodities, trade, and indicators of the sector such as farm income and food prices.  From the Economic Research Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture

Compares costs of employee health insurance coverage for state and local governments in different regions of the country.  Finds highest costs in New England area.  From the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality

Hospital inpatient stays accounted for 31% of total healthcare spending in 2010 and the average expenditure was $13,000.  From the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality

Reports that 87% of workers had employer-offered health insurance and that public sector premiums ran higher than private sector premiums,  but  employee contributions in the public sector were lower than those in the private sector.   From the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality

Presents estimates of health care expenses by type of service and distributions by payment sources.  In 2010 a total of $1.263 trillion was paid for health care for all types of medical care services.  The mean expense per person was $4,839 and private health insurance paid for 40.1% of total expenses.  From the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality

Finds in 2009 there were twice as many emergency department visits and hospital stays for influenza compared to 2008.  Also compares cost of stays.  From the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality

Reports that the average hospital stay in the U.S. in 2010 cost $9,700.  Also covers the most expensive conditions, trends for costs in hospital stays since 1997, and the share of costs absorbed by Medicare and Medicaid.   From the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality

Discusses reasons for the U.S. health disadvantage—that Americans have been dying at younger ages than people in almost all other high-income countries, even though the U.S. spends more per person on health care.  From the Institute of Medicine of the National Research Council

http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R42880.pdf

Provides background on factors contributing to changes in physician practice, including physician supply, operating costs, sources of revenue, and government incentives.  Also examines different types of integration, legal effects of affiliation, and implications for consumers and federal policy.  From the Congressional Research Service, posted by the Federation of American Scientists

In the wake of growing concerns about the cost and affordability of higher education, this report discusses the current state of higher education, the substantial evidence that higher education attainment results in higher earnings, the importance of education for intergenerational mobility, and the role that financial aid plays in mitigating the cost of higher education.  From the Treasury and Education Departments