Effects of welfare reform and the state children’s health insurance program on medicaid and total health expenditures

Medicaid expenditures account for a sizeable proportion of U.S. GDP - $360.3 billion in 2009 or 2.55 percent of GDP. Despite this, the Affordable Care Act of 2010 (i.e. the new Obama healthcare initiative) further expands eligibility criteria for the Medicaid program. However, there is little literature on the effect on healthcare spending from earlier expansions of Medicaid such as the introduction of the SCHIP program. Moreover, the effect of welfare reform (i.e. Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996) on Medicaid spending has received little attention. Using panel data from all 50 U.S. states for the period 1990-2004, we find that adding one person to the SCHIP rolls in a state that has established an SCHIP program in Medicaid raises real Medicaid spending about$4,100. However, we find evidence that additional SCHIP enrollments also affect non-Medicaid health spending. Thus, the total costs of insuring these patients are significantly higher (about $7,700). For states that have established Medicaid-combined programs, adding one person to the SCHIP rolls raises real healthcare spending about$1,800 after two years. Finally, we find that welfare reform reduced annual Medicaid expenditures by about $1.2 billion and total healthcare spending by about$2.5 billion.Healthcare costs; Medicaid; SCHIP; Welfare Reform

Open Space Purchases, House Prices, and the Tax Base

This paper examines the effect of public acquisitions of open space on house prices and the municipal tax base. While a series of studies show that open space acquisitions raise values of nearby properties, no research to date appears to focus upon the effect of open space acquisitions upon local tax base. Existing studies focus on the effect of open space acreage on house prices. We examine the effect of open space expenditures on house prices at the municipal level. We find that a one-dollar increase in open space expenditures per housing unit is associated with average house prices that are about $13 higher and with a tax base that is about$15 lower per acre. Open space expenditures per housing unit also show a consistent positive effect on the percentage change in house prices over the period 1995-2000. However, we find no statistically significant effect from open space expenditures on the percentage change in the tax base over the period 1995-2000. Local funding (rather than state funding) for open space has a smaller impact on house prices but the effect is significant only in some specifications. Despite the negative effect of open space purchases on the tax base, we find that higher open space expenditures are associated with lower tax rates. In addition, we find that while higher tax rates are associated with a lower tax base, a larger tax base does depress tax rates. The percentage change in the general property tax rate over the period 1995-2000 shows a significant negative effect on the percentage change in the tax base per acre over the period.Open Space, Tax Base, Municipality, Tax Rate

Accuracy of Three Dimensional Solid Finite Elements

The results of a study to determine the accuracy of the three dimensional solid elements available in NASTRAN for predicting displacements is presented. Of particular interest in the study is determining how to effectively use solid elements in analyzing thick optical mirrors, as might exist in a large telescope. Surface deformations due to thermal and gravity loading can be significant contributors to the determination of the overall optical quality of a telescope. The study investigates most of the solid elements currently available in either COSMIC or MSC NASTRAN. Error bounds as a function of mesh refinement and element aspect ratios are addressed. It is shown that the MSC solid elements are, in general, more accurate than their COSMIC NASTRAN counterparts due to the specialized numerical integration used. In addition, the MSC elements appear to be more economical to use on the DEC VAX 11/780 computer

The effect of Walmart on the tax base: evidence from New Jersey

This paper measures the impact of 30 Walmart openings on the municipal tax base using panel data for New Jersey municipalities from 1998-2007. We consider the impact of the new Walmart on the home municipality as well as the nearest adjacent municipality in the year the outlet opens as well as the two subsequent years. Because Walmart may exert differing effects on residential and non-residential values, we undertake separate analyses of the impact of Walmart on the residential and non-residential tax bases. We find that a new Walmart has a significant positive impact on the growth in the tax base in host municipalities the second year that it is open, but not in years one and three. In addition, the impact of the Walmart on the growth in the tax base depends on the size of the municipality. In the average-sized municipality, the real equalized tax base growth rate rises only about 0.35 percentage points in the second year. This effect is primarily the result of Walmart’s impact on residential values in the host municipality. By contrast, a new Walmart causes a modest but consistently negative effect on growth of the tax base in the adjacent municipality across all three years that we are able to measure. In the average sized municipality for our sample, the real equalized tax base growth rate falls rate falls 0.065, 0.081, and 0.096 percentage points, respectively. This effect occurs primarily through the Walmart’s impact on growth of non-residential values. The cumulative effect of this reduction in growth in the adjacent municipality is roughly two thirds of the increase in growth experienced by the home municipality.Tax Base, Walmart, Retailing, Big Box

The Pecos Valley of New Mexico.

19 pages (20 pdf pages) ; 23cmA land promotional discussing lands surrounding the ATSF Railway line in eastern New Mexico along the Pecos River. Representative images and a map are included

Improved isoparametric solid and membrane elements

Improvements that were made to the COSMIC NASTRAN elements CIHEX1 and QDMEM1 are described. These elements are isoparametric representations of solid and membrane elastic behavior. Recent papers by the authors have shown the official COSMIC versions of these elements to be inferior to those available in the MacNeal-Schwendler Corporation (MSC) version of NASTRAN in that they are overly stiff for some loadings. Modifications were made to these elements which reduce the order of integration for shear terms and, for the eight-mode solid element, add additional strain functions. The resulting element formulations give behavior similar to that of the MSC elements. The changes made in the element formulations are discussed and results of test problems are compared with results from the official COSMIC elements and with the MSC elements

Regenesis

IN TH E beginning the earth was formed. It was without precise shape, and light flooded its surface; and the Spirit of Change moved over the land..

Implementation Projects in a Computing Theory Course

Most computer science programs expose students to theoretical aspects of computing, such as discrete mathematics, algorithms, and theory of computation. This paper presents the integration of an implementation project in a theory of computation course, so that students get a chance to grapple with the details of a transformation and/or abstract model in addition to preparing a project and demonstration to help fellow students review topics from the course. Examples of student projects include a deterministic finite automata simulator, determining if the languages of two DFAs are equal, converting a grammar to a pushdown automaton, and creating a regular expression engine. Seventeen of 25 respondents agreed or strongly agreed that the project was a valuable learning experience; six were neutral and one strongly disagreed. Student project topics were reviewed against final exam questions for corresponding language classes. While there was no statistically significant difference between groups on exam questions, the overall averages on exam questions demonstrate student mastery of the material

Micah Vandegrift Keynote - Open to Change: Possibilities and Probabilities

The grand challenges of our day are being met with grand visions for the future. An opportunity sits at the intersection of climate change, open science, and community engagement. This talk speaks to what is distinctive about that opportunity in 2022, especially in light of the fresh directions in U.S. research policy, and offers a case study in what that might look like. Mr. Vandegrift speaks from experience and his recent research, and provides attendees with a foundation and a forecast