Coverage Rates Stabilize for Children’s Health Insurance: State Policy Change May Be Needed to Address Remaining Children Without Insurance

This brief uses data from the American Community Survey to estimate children’s health insurance coverage from 2008–2013 across the United States as well as by region, place type, and type of coverage. Author Michael Staley reports that decreases in rates of private insurance coverage among children were offset by increases in rates of coverage by public insurance in 2013, keeping national coverage stable at 92.9 percent. Rates rose in the West, continuing a trend since 2008. However, at 91 percent, rates among children there are still lower than in the Northeast and Midwest, where rates have stabilized above 94 percent. In addition, children in rural places are less likely to have insurance than children in central cities or suburbs. Staley concludes that state-level policy changes that are aimed at increasing the number of insured children may be the most effective at increasing the overall number of children insured nationally

After Years of Decline, Private Health Insurance Rates Among Children Grew in 2014

In this fact sheet, author Michael Staley reports that rates of private health insurance coverage for children increased between 2013 and 2014 for the first time since 2008, the first year in which the American Community Survey collected data on health insurance. Between 2008 and 2014 (the most recent data), rates of children’s coverage grew nearly 4 percentage points; to 94 percent. Growth in public insurance, such as Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), was largely responsible for these gains (up 10.8 percentage points since 2008), while rates of private insurance coverage fell concurrently (down 5.6 percentage points)

More Than 95 Percent of U.S. Children Had Health Insurance in 2015

In this brief, author Michael Staley examines rates of children’s health insurance across the United States, by region and by place type, breaking down rates by private and public coverage. He reports that over 95 percent of all U.S. children under age 18 were covered by some form of health insurance in 2015—the highest share since the American Community Survey began measuring insurance rates in 2008. Rates of coverage increased between 2014 and 2015 in all four U.S. regions, and the greatest growth occurred in the South and West. Growth in public insurance—Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program— remained a major driver of increases in children’s coverage: over 375,000 more children were covered in 2015 than in the previous year. For the second consecutive year, however, rates of private health insurance coverage increased among children: in 2015, approximately 150,000 more children were covered by private insurance than in the previous year. The author concludes that any future attempts to reform health insurance ought to be scrutinized for their impact on children’s health insurance

Innovation, Diffusion and the Distribution of Income in a Malthusian Economy

Between 5000 BCE and 1800, the population of the world grew 120-fold despite constraints on the total amount of land available for production. This paper develops a model linking population growth to increasing productivity driven by random innovation and diffusion. People are endowed with a set of skills obtained from their parents or neighbours, but those skills are imperfectly applied during their lifetimes. The resulting variation in productivity leads to a distribution of income and to a process of diffusion whereby high-income activities spread at the expense of low-income activities. An analytic formula is derived for the steady-state distribution of income. The model predicts that the rate of growth of population approaches an asymptotic limit, whereupon there are no scale effects. The model also predicts that if the rate of diffusion of knowledge is increased, the growth rate will increase.Selection; Malthusian; Diffusion; Innovation

Is it worth it? Patient and public views on the impact of their involvement in health research and its assessment : a UK-based qualitative interview study

Funded by National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Oxford Biomedical Research Centre Oxford University Hospitals NHS Trust University of Oxford Applied Health Research and Care OxfordPeer reviewedPublisher PD

Telegram from Bud Staley, Chairman of the NYNEX Corporation, to Geraldine Ferraro

Telegram from Bud Staley, Chairman of the Board of NYNEX, to Geraldine Ferraro. Includes standard response letter from Ferraro and data entry sheet.https://ir.lawnet.fordham.edu/vice_presidential_campaign_correspondence_1984_new_york/1251/thumbnail.jp

Computer‐supported experiential learning (Phase One ‐ staff development)

The Computer‐Supported Experiential Learning Project has been established to promote the use of communication and information technologies for teaching and learning within a vocational university. Phase 1 has concentrated upon raising awareness and actively involving academic staff in experiencing these technologies. The project is curriculum‐led, and considers how technology can be applied appropriately to an established curriculum model which links theory and practice (Kolb, 1984). All academic staff were invited to take part by logging onto the university intranet, accessing information about teaching and learning, trying out ideas and emailing their online mentors with their plans and reflections. In addition, all staff could take part in discussion forums concerning a range of issues. The participation of academic staff is reported; which staff registered as having visited the site, which staff actively used the information to experiment with their teaching, and which staff took part in public online discussions. Barriers which limited participation are also reported The outcome of Phase 1 has been to encourage over 40 academic staff to embed the use of learning technologies in their own course modules in Phase 2 with continued support from the Learning Methods Unit

Plants at the Pump: Reviewing Biofuels' Impacts and Policy Recommendations

Illustrates the need for standards and regulations to ensure that biofuels actually reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Calls for technology-neutral policies, sustainability benefits calculations, certification programs, and rethinking urban design