Minnesota: Individual State Report - State Level Field Network Study of the Implementation of the Affordable Care Act

This report is part of a series of 21 state and regional studies examining the rollout of the ACA. The national network -- with 36 states and 61 researchers -- is led by the Rockefeller Institute of Government, the public policy research arm of the State University of New York, the Brookings Institution, and the Fels Institute of Government at the University of Pennsylvania.By the end of the second enrollment period in 2015, MNsure (the insurance marketplace) reported that more than 300,000 individuals had enrolled in health insurance coverage through the marketplace since its launch. Eighty percent of this new coverage is due to growth in public program enrollment, with the remaining coverage due to QHP (qualified health plans) enrollment. Between September 30, 2013, and May 1, 2014, the number of uninsured Minnesotans fell by 180,500 -- a reduction of 40.6 percent. Minnesotans saved $30 million on their insurance premiums through tax credits in 2014.While the increase in health insurance coverage was driven particularly by an increase in the number of Minnesotans enrolled in public health insurance programs, enrollment in private health insurance plans has also increased. As MNsure moves forward, it is important to maintain a strong private QHP market, as those premiums significantly contribute to the marketplace's revenues

Summer Movement Patterns of Bottlenose Dolphins in a Texas Bay

Radiotracking of 10 bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus), from 9 July 1992 to 13 Sep. 1992, was conducted in Matagorda Bay, Texas. The mean range size was 140 km2 (SD = 90.7). Males and females had similar range sizes, though males visited the extremities of their ranges more frequently. Several generalities were observed: (1) dolphins were capable of traversing their range in several hours; (2) dolphins traveled widely on some days, whereas on other days, movement was very confined, within 1-2 km2; (3) dolphins tended to spend about 1-4 d in a particular portion of their range; (4) movement tended to be more confined at night than during daytime; and (5) dolphins tended to visit the extremes of their ranges only in the daytime. Individually, dolphins showed preferences for geographic regions within the bay; ranges overlapped strongly for some dolphins, yet only at range boundaries for others. Photoidentification surveys between May 1992 and June 1993 indicate that some individuals probably reside in Matagorda Bay for one or more years, whereas other individuals do not and can be found in other Texas bays. Limited ranging within the bay system and a lack of movement offshore may indicate that some of the dolphins are susceptible to localized anthropogenic and naturally occurring toxins. Examples of movement between bays, though few in the present data set, indicate that on the Texas coast, within-bay dolphin populations are probably not truly isolated

The influence of poverty on children's school experiences : pupils' perspectives

This study examined the potential influence of policies and practices on the ability of children from low-income families to participate fully in the school day. Pupils from six schools participated in 71 focus groups and revealed a range of barriers affecting their school experience: transport costs and limited support; clothing costs, stigma and enforcement of school dress codes; material barriers to learning at school and home; concerns about free school meals; missing out on school trips, clubs and events. Findings on school uniform were an important catalyst towards a recent policy change in Scotland in increasing the school clothing grant

Reliability and Test Environment of the SCAN-A with Children Ages 12-15

The SCAN-A is a widely utilized auditory processing screening tool for use with adolescents and adults 12-to-50 years of age. The SCAN-A consists of four subtests: Filtered Words, Auditory Figure-Ground, Competing Words, and Competing Sentences, and takes about 20 minutes to administer. Other versions of this screening tool exist (e.g., SCAN and SCAN-C) that are standardized for use with children under 12 years of age. However, previous reports indicate that test-retest reliability is poor and test environment affects performance by young children. In this study, the effect of test environment (sound attenuating booth versus quiet room) and test-retest reliability for the 12-to-15 year old age group was investigated. Thirty participants, ages 12-to-15 years old, who were normally developing, were tested using the SCAN-A four times, twice in both a quiet room and a sound attenuating booth, with testing in both environments conducted one month apart. A high false-positive rate (43% of participants) was found for the first administration of the SCAN-A, with fewer participants identified with possible APD with subsequent test administrations. Results revealed a significant main effect of test administration time, and no significant main effect of test environment or significant interaction, for the Filtered Words, Auditory Figure-Ground, Competing Words, and Total Test standard score. No significant main effects or interaction was found for the Competing Sentences subtest. This investigation demonstrates that the SCAN-A has low specificity, a high false-positive rate, and poor test-retest reliability

Collaborative Action in Informal Social Networks of Wildfire Managers in Northwestern Wyoming

Wildfire is a cross-boundary, collective action issue. Previous research has demonstrated the importance of collaborative relationships in wildfire for purposes such as increasing capacity, trading information, and facilitating landscape-scale mitigation projects. However, a stakeholder\u27s location in social networks, as well as personal factors, may impact their collaboration. Furthermore, stakeholders must prioritize their own organizational goals and responsibilities, which may differ from those of their collaborators. I used interview and survey methods to investigate these questions in the context of wildfire management professionals in northwestern Wyoming. For the interviews, I selected 12 individuals with high betweenness centrality who were involved in wildfire management in different organizations and locations throughout the study area. I used semi-structured interviews and asked participants to describe how they use collaboration to accomplish both collective and organizational goals for wildfire management. I found that managers\u27 answers to this question could be divided into four themes: (1) Deciding when collaboration is and isn\u27t the right tool, (2) Utilizing jurisdictional and organizational differences, (3) Finding or designing multi-benefit projects, and (4) Choosing collaborators and building relationships. For the survey, I used chain referral sampling and asked about managers\u27 participation in 8 collaborative actions, as well as their scope and focus of work, their gender, their role in wildfire management, who they worked with most frequently. I then modeled managers\u27 participation in the collaborative actions using betweenness centrality, gender, focus, scale, and role as predictors. I found that higher betweenness centrality, a focus on wildfire, and working at the scale of multiple communities or jurisdictions all increased collaboration. Holding the self-identified roles of coordinating across jurisdictions or interests, engaging with landowners, providing leadership or authority, and responding to emergencies also increased collaboration. When all of the variables were combined in a single model, I found that working at the multiple community or jurisdiction scale and holding engaging, coordinating, or responding roles had the most significant impact on collaborative action in a combined model. I found that managers who identified as women had lower collaborative scores, possibly as a result of gender bias in the natural resource and wildfire fields. I also found that men were much more likely to nominate other men in the chain referral portion of the survey, suggesting that gender bias may influence research using this method

Navigating Through U.S.-China Policy: An Investigation of China National Off-Shore Oil Corporation\u27s Proposed Acquisition of Unocal Corporation and How Domestic Politics Plays a Role in Balancing U.S. Trade Policy with National Security Policy

When Chinese National Offshore Oil Corporation, Ltd. ( CNOOC) attempted to buy American-owned Unocal Corporation, it unleashed a perfect storm in Washington. Members of Congress immediately called upon President Bush to invoke his Exon-Florio authority to prevent the transaction. After the president claimed action would be premature, Congress quickly coalesced to block the deal. The Chinese expressed surprise at the political backlash and ultimately CNOOC was forced to withdraw its bid. The purpose of this study is to explain the fervor that arose over CNOOC\u27s proposed acquisition of Unocal. The study builds upon the theoretical approach of new institutionalism which emerged in response to the shortcomings of theories that diminished the importance of political values and collective choice in foreign policy making. Since institutionalism emphasizes the significance of history and assumes the infusion of societal values over time, the study applies historical research methodology to the case study. Sources of data include the U.S. Constitution, statutes, judicial opinions, congressional hearings and reports, White House papers, administrative rules, and published biographies. Secondary sources include the media, journals, and think-tank publications. The study examines how the president and Congress rely upon formal rules for making policy, and how these rules reinforce the status quo and create obstacles for change. Over the years, the president has acquired greater foreign policy making authority which has upset the balance of power between the two decision-making bodies. Since policy making is incremental, members of Congress have needed to be resourceful in devising informal mechanisms for change. One such mechanism is politicization of an event to raise public awareness, elevate an issue to the top of the policy agenda, and build coalitions essential to passing legislation. The research finds that competition between the president and Congress over foreign and national security policy authority is played out in Washington and is reflected in policy outcomes. In the Unocal acquisition case, politicization allowed members of Congress to advance their agenda to tighten up the president\u27s process for reviewing foreign acquisitions and to give Congress greater oversight authority. This study is important and timely because China has become a major player in the global economy and is driving the global search for new and reliable sources of energy. As China extends its reach, competition with the U.S. and other major energy importers will increase. Although competition is considered essential for a healthy capitalist economy, other factors influence whether competition will have a positive or negative impact on competitors. One of these factors is the perception of how China\u27s emergence in the global economy will affect U.S. national security. The future of U.S.-China relations will depend upon the ability of our political institutions to achieve balance and compromise in energy, foreign trade, and national security policies

The Role of Migrant Care Workers in Ageing Societies: Report on Research Findings in the U.K., Ireland, Canada and the U.S.

Migrants play an increasingly significant role in caring for the elderly due to a growing number of older people and declining domestic labour supplies, according to this report in the IOM Migration Research Series. It examines the demand for migrant care workers; compares the experiences of migrants, employers and older people; and presents recommendations for addressing the increasing significance of elder care and its implications for migrant labour