Newswire Archives
In 2017, the government financed roughly $100 billion in student loans and provided about $30 billion in grants and $30 billion in tax preferences. A report from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) examines the impact of such aid and a number of approaches to changing it.
The report can be obtained at https://www.cbo.gov/system/files/115th-congress-2017-2018/reports/53736-postsecondarystudentaid.pdf.
Universal health coverage (UHC) aims to provide health security and universal access to essential care services without financial hardship to individuals, families and communities. A report from the Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) describes the current situation with regard to UHC and global quality of care, and outlines the steps governments, health services and their workers, together with citizens and patients need to urgently take.
The report can be obtained at https://read.oecd-ilibrary.org/social-issues-migration-health/delivering-quality-health-services-a-global-imperative_9789264300309-en#page11.
The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) provides health care to individuals who are geographically isolated and economically or medically vulnerable. One of the five bureaus is the health workforce. A new fact sheet from the Congressional Research Office (CRS) focuses on the agency’s funding.
The fact sheet can be obtained at https://fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R45245.pdf.
The Trump administration will encourage the nation’s school superintendents and college presidents to adopt race-blind admissions standards, abandoning an Obama administration policy that called on universities to consider race as a factor in diversifying their campuses, Trump administration officials said. Last November, Attorney General Jeff Sessions asked the Justice Department to re-evaluate past policies that he believed pushed the department to act beyond what the law, the Constitution and the Supreme Court had required, Devin M. O’Malley, a Justice Department spokesman said. As part of that process, the Justice Department rescinded seven policy guidances from the Education Department’s civil rights division on Tuesday.
The full New York Times article may be accessed here.
Approximately one in five Medicare beneficiaries has serious physical or cognitive limitations that require personal care services and supports, but only low-income beneficiaries eligible for Medicaid can obtain them. A Commonwealth Fund report explores important considerations in offering home- and community-based services by examining Maryland's experience with Community First Choice.
The report can be obtained at https://www.commonwealthfund.org/sites/default/files/2018-06/Davis_designing_medicare_help_home_maryland_CFC_ib_v3.pdf.
The Senate Appropriations Committee on June 28, 2018 voted 30-1 to approve legislation that would provide $179.3 billion in discretionary funding for the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education in fiscal year 2019. The bill would provide $90.1 billion for HHS, with specific increases that include $2 billion more for the National Institutes of Health and $579 million more for the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.
A video of the committee hearing can be obtained at https://www.appropriations.senate.gov/hearings/full-committee-markup-of-the-defense-and-labor-h-appropriations-bills-for-fy2019.
The Medicaid program helped provide health care to an estimated 73 million individuals in fiscal 2017 at a cost of about $596 billion. A report from the Government Accountability Office [GAO] focuses on the major risks to the integrity of Medicaid. Efforts needed to strengthen oversight include: expansion of a national Medicaid data system that will allow comparisons across states, a national anti-fraud strategy, and greater collaboration between state and federal auditors.
The report can be obtained at https://www.gao.gov/assets/700/692821.pdf.
The Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee today held the first in a series of hearings on how to reduce health care costs, which will examine administrative costs and waste, how to improve transparency, private sector solutions, and other issues. Witnesses included representatives from the Department of Health Policy at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Harvard Global Health Institute, Health Care Cost Institute, and Georgetown University Law Center.
Witness testimony can be obtained at https://www.help.senate.gov/hearings/how-to-reduce-health-care-costs-understanding-the-cost-of-health-care-in-america.
Prior research shows that default rates vary by institution sector and by race/ethnicity. Black, non-Hispanic entrants, and for-profit entrants experience default at much higher rates than other students. A new report examines whether these disparities in default rates can be explained by other factors, what happens after a default, and whether it also varies by race or institution sector.
The report can be obtained at https://www.brookings.edu/research/what-accounts-for-gaps-in-student-loan-default-and-what-happens-after/
The Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission (MACPAC) released its June 2018 Report to Congress, which focuses on the high cost of prescription drugs, the opioid epidemic, and implications for the growing trend of delivering long-term services and supports (LTSS) through managed care.
The report can be obtained at https://www.macpac.gov/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/June-2018-Report-to-Congress-on-Medicaid-and-CHIP.pdf
A new report from the White House recommends structural realignment of the executive branch, including renaming the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as the Department of Health and Public Welfare. Other changes call for moving three HHS research entities – the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, and the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research – to the National Institutes of Health.
The report can be obtained at https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Government-Reform-and-Reorg-Plan.pdf.
Regardingthe benefits of virtual care, physicians and health care consumers agree that technology could improve access and increase convenience. But, according to a new survey by Deloitte, the findings show that consumers’ interest in virtual care outpaces physician adoption.
An infographic can be obtained at https://www2.deloitte.com/insights/us/en/multimedia/infographics/virtual-health-care-survey-infographic.html?id=us:2em:3na:4di4630:5awa:6di:062118&sfid=0033000001OcSbrAAF
Enrollment in ACA insurance marketplaces was expected to decline in 2018, compared to 2017. Yet, 15 states actually saw higher enrollment while others did experience declines). To understand why these dual trends emerged, the Urban Institute interviewed state officials, insurers, and other key players in five states (Rhode Island, Washington, New York, West Virginia, Louisiana).
The results of the interviews can be obtained at https://www.urban.org/sites/default/files/publication/98650/marketplace2018_2001877.pdf.
The Interprofessional Education Collaborative (IPEC) is holding its 15th faculty development institute focused on Advancing & Sustaining Your Program for Collaborative Practice on October 3-5, 2018 at the Sheraton Crescent Hotel in Phoenix, AZ. Faculty teams are invited to come together for dedicated time to advance actionable plans for implementing projects that further interprofessional curricula, clinical training and population health experiences, and student assessment.
The agenda and registration link may be accessed here.
The U.S. Department of Education is preparing to take a “deep dive” into accreditation, Diane Auer Jones, a special adviser to Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, said Tuesday. Jones said that current regulations are hampering colleges’ efforts to offer non-degree-level credentials. The department announced earlier this year that it is planning to amend federal rules related to accrediting agencies and accreditation procedures through negotiated rule making. Notice of the public hearings for this process will come out in the Federal Register this summer, said Jones. “We take these public hearings very seriously, and we want you to come to these hearings with ideas,” she said.
The full Inside Higher Ed article may be accessed here.
In an effort to understand how higher education leaders plan to use analytics and what is preventing them from implementing enterprise analytics programs, a survey was conducted of 200 presidents, provosts, CFOs, and CIO/CTOs from four-year, two-year, public and private institutions.
Survey results can be obtained at https://www.ellucian.com/White-Papers/What-will-it-take-to-build-an-analytics-driven-campus-Ovum/.
U.S. News & World Report, the global authority in rankings and civic journalism, in collaboration with the Aetna Foundation, the independent charitable and philanthropic arm of Aetna, announced the inaugural Healthiest Communities rankings. The new report evaluated nearly 3,000 communities nationwide across 10 categories, from education and population health to infrastructure and economy.
The rankings can be obtained at https://www.usnews.com/news/healthiest-communities.
A case before the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas about the individual mandate could open the door to ending the ACA. An analysis from the Urban Institute shows that if the entire law were eliminated, the number of uninsured individuals would increase by 17.1 million, or 50 percent, in 2019.
The report can be obtained at https://www.urban.org/sites/default/files/publication/98634/aca-remains-critical_2001873_1.pdf.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced it will not update its overall hospital quality star ratings on Hospital Compare in July. CMS decided to postpone the ratings update to allow time for additional analysis of the impact of changes to some measures on the star ratings and to address concerns of affected parties. CMS will seek feedback from a multi-disciplinary technical expert panel, a provider leadership work group, and a public comment period.
The Great Recession of 2007 to 2009 influenced significant changes in American postsecondary education, according to a new report by the U.S. Census Bureau. The number of students enrolled in college in the United States increased from 2.4 million in 1955 to 19.1 million in 2015. From 2006 to 2011, total college enrollment grew by 3 million, contributing to the overall growth of postsecondary enrollment during the Great Recession period.
The report can be obtained at https://www.census.gov/library/publications/2018/demo/p20-580.html?eml=gd&utm_medium=email&utm_source=govdelivery.
