“A new analysis from Avalere finds that a majority of prescription drugs covered by standalone Medicare Part D plans (PDPs) are subject to coinsurance, rather than copayments, in 2016. Coinsurance is when a beneficiary pays a percentage of the cost of the drug, rather than a fixed dollar amount, or copayment. Coinsurance often leads to… Continue Reading
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Monthly Archives: March 2016
World Happiness Report Update 2016
“The World Happiness Report is a landmark survey of the state of global happiness. The first report was published in 2012, the second in 2013, and the third in 2015. The World Happiness Report 2016 Update, which ranks 156 countries by their happiness levels, was released today in Rome in advance of UN World Happiness Day, March 20th. Leading experts across… Continue Reading
Detailed data set on nominal residential property price
Via Bank for International Settlements – Updated 18 March 2016 – “The detailed data set of nominal residential property prices consists of around 300 series from 58 countries, collected from national central banks. The data set is updated monthly. Our data Property price statistics – monthly, quarterly and yearly data included, as well as documentation (xlsx,… Continue Reading
Illegal migration to EU rises for routes both well-worn and less-traveled
Pew Factank – “The number of illegal entries into Europe by migrants hit a high point last year, and as their numbers increased, a picture emerged of the land and sea routes many migrants are taking to get there. In 2015, more than 1.8 million people crossed the European Union’s borders illegally, according to Frontex,… Continue Reading
Poverty and Child Health in the United States
Pediatrics – April 2016 From the American Academy of Pediatrics Policy Statement – Poverty and Child Health in the United States – Council on Community Pediatrics. [emphasis added] “Almost half of young children in the United States live in poverty or near poverty. The American Academy of Pediatrics is committed to reducing and ultimately eliminating… Continue Reading
An Economic Evaluation of PulseNet
A Network for Foodborne Disease Surveillance Robert L. Scharff, PhD, JD, John Besser, PhD, Donald J. Sharp, MD, Timothy F. Jones, MD, Gerner-Smidt Peter, DMS, MD, Craig W. Hedberg, PhD. American Journal of Preventive Medicine. “The PulseNet surveillance system is a molecular subtyping network of public health and food regulatory agency laboratories designed to identify… Continue Reading
Controversy over free journal access database keeps Sci-Hub in legal and research spotlight
Follow up on previous posting – Database of 48 million pirated research papers is focus of litigious revolt against paywalls – see Sci-Hub: research piracy and the public good – The release of millions of journal papers online reflects impatience with an outdated publishing model, says John Willinsky: “The old economy is the impetus behind… Continue Reading
OECD – Trends Shaping Education 2016
“Did you ever wonder if education has a role to play in stemming the obesity epidemic sweeping across all OECD countries? Or what the impact of increasing urbanisation might be on our schools, families, and communities? Or whether new technologies really are fundamentally changing the way our children think and learn? Trends Shaping Education examines… Continue Reading
Assessing the Federal Trade Commission’s Privacy Assessments
Hoofnagle, Chris Jay, Assessing the Federal Trade Commission’s Privacy Assessments (2016). Chris Jay Hoofnagle, Assessing the Federal Trade Commission’s Privacy Assessments, 14(2) IEEE Security & Privacy 58–64 (Mar/Apr. 2016). Available for download at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2707163 “Consumer protection regulators worldwide share basic problems: the companies that regulators police are so powerful and rich that fines do… Continue Reading
Pew – 5 facts about Twitter at age 10
Pew Research Center – ” The very first Twitter message was sent on March 21, 2006. The microblogging platform was then known as twttr – the vowels came later, after the founders bought the twitter.com domain name. It spent its first few months as an internal messaging system for Odeo, the company that developed it,… Continue Reading
FBI and NHTSA issue warning – Motor Vehicles Increasingly Vulnerable to Remote Exploits
PSA – “Modern motor vehicles often include new connected vehicle technologies that aim to provide benefits such as added safety features, improved fuel economy, and greater overall convenience. Aftermarket devices are also providing consumers with new features to monitor the status of their vehicles. However, with this increased connectivity, it is important that consumers and… Continue Reading
ProPublica Campaign Finance API
Derek Willis – ProPublica – “An API, or Application Programming Interface, is a language that two programs can use to communicate and trade data. Programmers can use it to access data from a website or Internet service more easily. We’re assuming responsibility of an API that was previously published by The New York Times. If… Continue Reading
