In its August economic update, the Congressional Budget Office found that Medicare and Medicaid costs are increasing about 2.5 percentage points faster per year than the national gross domestic product and are a principle reason for CBO's gloomy long-term economic forecasts. If current trends hold, the report predicted Medicare and Medicaid spending would rise from 4.6 percent of the GDP in 2007 to about 20 percent by 2050. For more information, please visit http://www.cbo.gov/ftpdocs/85xx/doc8565/08-23-Update07.pdf.