Tackling out-of-pocket health care costs: a discussion paper

Growing out-of-pocket health care costs are creating barriers to essential care for many Australians and arguably leading to increased hospital costs. Over time they will undermine the universality of Medicare and widen health disparities in our community. Despite this, the Abbott Government is intent on increasing Australians\u27 individual health care costs, claiming variously that the health care budget is unsustainable, price signals are needed to reduce GP visits, budget deficits must be addressed and increased funding is needed for medical research. Regardless of the validity of the Government\u27s claims, it is clear that we need to improve the way in which we manage out-of-pocket costs within our health care system. The current financing mechansims and safety-net arrangements are inadequate to ensure that growing numbers of Australians with long-term medical conditions can manage their health care costs and afford the services they need. Given the compexity of Australia\u27s health care system, with funding and service delivery responsibilities split between different levels of government and the public and private sectors, this is a wicked problem to solve. There is no silver bullet and effective solutions are unlikely to be found through simple \u27add-ons\u27 to the currentfunding system. Effective solutions are likely to be multi-faceted and will require a potent mix of evidence, ideology, consultation and leadership to be successful. To kick-start the necesary analyses, debates and policy formulations, we have developed a discussion paper on out-of-pocket costs, focusing on Medicare-funded services. The paper sets out the parameters of the problem and canvasses some promising areas where solutions may be found. Our purpose is not to dictate future policy directions but to present the current evidence and to galvanise thought, expertise and engagement to address this issue of faireness and equity

The Beacon Community Centers Middle School Initiative: Final Report on Implementation and Youth Experience in the Initiative

The report evaluates New York City's Beacon Middle School Initiative, which was launched to increase services to middle-grades youth through programs in academics, life skills, career awareness, civic engagement, physical health, and arts and culture. The report describes youth characteristics and participation, program features, connections to school and communities, youth reports of their experiences, and relationships between program characteristics and youth outcomes

Market Transformation for Value-Retention Processes as a Strategy for Circular Economy

There is increasing global interest in the application of circular economy as a tool for enabling the decoupling of economic growth from environmental degradation. Despite this growing interest, there is a lack of in-depth insight about the quantified potential benefits that value-retention processes (VRPs) – direct reuse, repair, refurbishment and remanufacturing – can contribute to circular economy and improved resource efficiency. In this assessment, product-level production impacts are bridged with economy-level insights about market, regulatory, technological and infrastructure conditions, to demonstrate and quantify the essential role of value-retention processes within circular economies. Three representative products were selected from each of three industrial sectors known to engage in VRPs (Industrial digital printers, vehicle parts, and heavy-duty and off-road equipment), and select environmental and economic impacts were assessed at the material- and product-levels. Results indicate that, where appropriately employed, the adoption of VRPs can lead to significant reduction of negative environmental impact and positive economic opportunity at the product- and process-levels. Further, these insights were assessed in the context of diverse sample industrial economies around the world (Brazil, China, Germany, and United States of America) to better understand the significance of varied systemic conditions and barriers to VRPs in the realization of circular economy objectives. In aggregate, this work highlights the need for policy-makers and decision-makers to incorporate systems-perspectives and integrated environmental and technology policy approaches into their circular economy strategies. Industry must embrace a product-system design approach that considers both forward- and reverse-logistics, as well as a new value-proposition based in maximized customer utility, multiple product service lives, and results-oriented business models. In parallel, governments of both industrialized and non-industrialized economies must look for opportunities to further enable, enhance, optimize, and improve the efficiency of accepted value-retention practices if they are to optimize their potential for value-retention and the pursuit of circular economy

Curricular Inquiry: A Survey Of Writing Pedagogy Practicum Instructors

The practicum course, a required course for many new college writing instructors, is a vital site for identifying what are considered best practices in the teaching of college composition, but also for critiquing, revising, and reevaluating those practices. My dissertation contributes to the conversation about how Graduate Teaching Assistants (GTAs) learn to teach college composition, and how what they learn in teaching practicum courses impacts graduate education in Rhetoric and Composition. My dissertation study focuses on the perspectives of instructors who design practica courses that prepare college writing instructors to teach first-year composition at their institutions. GTAs in Writing Studies, Rhetoric and Composition, and English Departments have already been the research subjects of numerous dissertations and publications, but the instructors themselves are not often the research focus

Evaluation of the Beacon Community Centers Middle School Initiative: Report on the First Year

Evaluates the first year of an initiative to provide structured after-school and summer programs for fifth- through eighth-graders. Examines the centers' adaptation to the new focus, enrollment and participation levels, and implementation of core goals

TACKLING OUT-OF-POCKET HEALTH CARE COSTS

The issue of growing out-of-pocket (OOP) costs and their impact on the ability of Australians to access needed health care is undermining the universality of Medicare, widening health inequalities and arguably leading to increased hospital costs