In Any Language: Improving the Quality and Availability of Language Services in Hospitals

Showcases initiatives and interventions implemented in ten hospitals participating in RWJF's Speaking Together initiative to measure and enhance language services delivery. Discusses factors for success, strategies for improvement, and lessons learned

The Tradeoff Between Mortgage Prepayments and Tax-Deferred Retirement Savings

We show that a significant number of households can perform a tax arbitrage by cutting back on their additional mortgage payments and increasing their contributions to tax-deferred accounts (TDA). Using data from the Survey of Consumer Finances, we show that about 38% of U.S. households that are accelerating their mortgage payments instead of saving in tax-deferred accounts are making the wrong choice. For these households, reallocating their savings can yield a mean benefit of 11 to 17 cents per dollar, depending on the choice of investment assets in the TDA. In the aggregate, these mis-allocated savings are costing U.S. households as much as 1.5 billion dollars per year. Finally, we show empirically that this inefficient behavior is unlikely to be driven by liquidity considerations and that self-reported debt aversion and risk aversion variables explain to some extent the preference for paying off debt obligations early and hence the propensity to forgo our proposed tax arbitrage.

Reaching for the Stars: Quality Ratings of Medicare Advantage Plans, 2011

Outlines the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services' quality ratings of Medicare Advantage plans, including locations and types of highly rated plans, and a proposed demonstration to modify the quality-based payments authorized by the reform law

Quality Ratings of Medicare Advantage Plans: Key Changes in the Health Reform Law and 2010 Enrollment Data

Examines performance measures used to set plans' quality ratings, 2010 healthcare reform provisions for bonus payments to plans with high ratings, plan enrollment by rating, and ratings by plan type, analyzed by state and county. Considers implications

Medicare Advantage Plan Star Ratings and Bonus Payments in 2012

Estimates total Medicare spending on and distribution of quality ratings-based bonus payments for Medicare Advantage plans in 2012 by company, tax status, state and county and in relation to cuts in plan payments under federal health reform

The tradeoff between mortgage prepayments and tax-deferred retirement savings

We show that a significant number of households can perform a tax arbitrage by cutting back on their additional mortgage payments and increasing their contributions to tax- deferred accounts (TDA). Using data from the Survey of Consumer Finances, we show that about 38% of U.S. households that are accelerating their mortgage payments instead of saving in tax-deferred accounts are making the wrong choice. For these households, reallocating their savings can yield a mean benefit of 11 to 17 cents per dollar, depending on the choice of investment assets in the TDA. ; In the aggregate, these misallocated savings are costing U.S. households as much as 1.5 billion dollars per year. Finally, we show empirically that this inefficient behavior is unlikely to be driven by liquidity considerations or other constraints, and that self-reported debt aversion and risk aversion variables explain to some extent the preference for paying off debt obligations early and hence the propensity to forgo our proposed tax arbitrage.Mortgage loans ; Retirement income ; Taxation

Talking With Patients: How Hospitals Use Bilingual Clinicians and Staff to Care for Patients With Language Needs

Presents survey findings on bilingual clinicians, staff, interpreters, and volunteers providing language services; training and assessment; hospital policies; and their impact. Recommends explicit policies, robust assessments, and proactive approaches

Exploring Climate Framework Laws and The Future of Climate Action

Every country in the world now has at least one law or policy to address climate change; these laws vary widely in type, scope, and ambition. Although scholarship on the many types and levels of effectiveness of enacted climate legislation is still growing, legal experts are taking note of a recent trend in the adoption of formal climate legislation that is economy-wide or cross-sectoral in scope, sets out both a broad and long-term direction for climate policy, and ensures some measure of accountability for the executive branch. In the absence of a commonly agreed definition, this article will loosely define criteria for these “climate framework laws.” This article identifies several countries that have adopted climate framework laws of this type: The United Kingdom, Mexico, New Zealand, and Denmark. These countries form a small case set from which to compare elements. From existing scholarship, this article draws on what lessons can be learned from their implementation. Whether the law is new or two decades old, each faces particular challenges and shortcomings. Climate framework laws create new risks but also incur a number of benefits that may be unique to them. This article examines the relationship between climate framework laws and the Paris Agreement, as well as implications for climate litigation. Finally, the article touches on the future of climate framework laws in other countries

A model of efficiency and trading opportunities in financial markets

Thesis (M.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mathematics, 1996.Includes bibliographical references (leaves 40-42).by Chunyan Jennifer Huang.M.S