Capital Gains. The difference between the purchase and sale price of capital assets net of brokers' fees and other costs. Capital gains are generally taxable upon sale (or "realization"). If realized after a year or longer, capital gains are taxed at a lower rate than earned income. Net losses (losses in excess of gains) of up to $3,000 per year may be deducted against other income; losses above that amount may be carried over and deducted from future gains.
Capitation. Fixed per patient payments made in advance each month to health plans or providers in return for delivering necessary healthcare services. This payment method (versus fee-for-service) is used by governments, insurers, and managed care organizations to control health care costs.
Carve Out. Social Security reform proposal that would direct a certain portion of the existing payroll tax into individual accounts.
Cash Assistance. Means-tested benefits issued as cash, checks, or their electronic equivalents, rather than in kind (as, say, housing or medical assistance). The term is most often used for aid under TANF but also applies to SSI, General Assistance, and other programs.
Cash Balance Plans. A type of hybrid pension plan in which employers regularly set aside a given portion of salary for each employee and credit interest on these contributions.
Cash Income. A broad income concept used for distribution tables similar to the measures used by the Joint Committee on Taxation and Treasury's Office of Tax Analysis. Cash income is AGI minus taxable state and local tax refunds, plus total deductions from AGI (IRA deductions, student loan interest deduction, alimony paid, one-half of self employment tax, moving expenses, penalty on early withdrawal of savings, self-employed health insurance deduction and medical savings account deduction, Keogh and self-employed SEP and SIMPLE plans), non-taxable pension income, tax-exempt interest, non-taxable social security benefits, cash transfers, worker's compensation, employer's contribution to tax deferred retirement savings plans, employer's share of payroll taxes, and corporate tax liability.
Charitable Choice. Provision under PRWORA that enables religiously affiliated organizations to compete for government contracts (or accept government vouchers) on an equal basis with secular service providers, without giving up the religious character of the faith-based programs. (See PRWORA.)
Charter School. Public schools that are freed from many of the rules and regulations that apply to regular public schools in exchange for accountability, as specified in their "charter." The legislation establishing charter schools varies from state to state, as does the chartering authority (state, school district, university).
Child Care and Development Block Grant. Federal program that funds state child care subsidy programs that support low-income families.
Child Credit. A tax credit of $1,000 per qualifying child (in 2003). The credit is partially refundable for filers with earnings over a threshold ($10,500 in 2003), which is indexed for inflation. The refundable portion is limited to 10 percent of earnings above the threshold (15 percent starting in 2005).
Child Support. Payments noncustodial parents are required by law to make toward the cost of raising their children. State governments, with federal supervision and financial assistance, are collecting child support ever more aggressively, particularly for children who participate in TANF or other means-tested programs.
Child Welfare Services. State and federal programs initiatives to support and preserve stable families, protect children from abuse and neglect, and place children in foster care and adoption.
CHIP. (See State Children's Health Insurance Program)
Circuit-breakers. Devices that provide relief for an individual's property tax obligation on the basis of a person's age, income level, or disability.
Cluster Analysis. A way of applying a set of variables or characteristics to a set of cases to get groupings of similar cases. (Example of grouping: housing values.)
COLA (Cost-of-Living Adjustment). An increment to retirement benefits enabling them to keep pace with inflation; Social Security and Supplementary Security Income benefits increase each year by the change in the Consumer Price Index.
Community Development Corporation. A corporation established to promote economic growth and provide financial support for community development.
Community Rating Systems. Regulations, mandated in roughly a dozen states, that require health insurance premiums in the individual insurance market to be the same, regardless of the person's age or health status.
Community Reinvestment Act. A law that encourages banks to provide capital for low-income housing projects.
Comparative Effectiveness Research. Comparative effectiveness research compares health care treatments and strategies to identify which options work best. Research into comparative effectiveness can help providers make more informed choices and control costs by weeding out waste and inefficiencies in medical care. Funds for comparative effectiveness research are included in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.
Consumer Price Index. A measure of the change over time in the prices, inclusive of sales and excise taxes, paid by urban households for a representative market basket of consumer goods and services.
Consumption Tax. Tax on goods or services, more often levied by states and local governments (as sales taxes) than the federal government. Some propose to replace the individual income tax with a broad-based consumption tax such as a value added tax or a consumed income tax.
Corporate Income Tax. A tax levied on corporate profits. A corporation's taxable income is its total income minus allowable expenses and capital depreciation.
Cost-Benefit Analysis. (Compare Cost-Effectiveness Analysis.) Comparison of the costs and benefits of a project or program, which can be used to determine whether the benefits exceed the costs and which project or program maximizes net benefits.
Cost-Effectiveness Analysis. (Compare Cost-Benefit Analysis.) An analytic technique used to compare the cost and effectiveness of a project or program and thus to choose the most effective method for achieving a certain result (a.k.a. Program Analysis).
Counter-Cyclical Policy. Fiscal (or monetary) policy that moves counter to economic cycles, such as tax cuts (or interest rate cuts) in time of recession. Traditionally, fiscal incentives have been associated with the macroeconomic theories of John Maynard Keynes.
Crowd Out. A reduction in private insurance coverage caused by the expansion of public health coverage.
Current Population Survey. Monthly survey of roughly 50,000 households conducted by the Bureau of Labor Statistics; primary source on labor force characteristics of the U.S. population; official source of the U.S. unemployment rate and poverty estimates.
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