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"Reforming Welfare and Rewarding Work: A Final Report on the Minnesota Family Investment Program" [.pdf]
Press Release:
http://www.mdrc.org/PressReleases/mfip-pr.htm
Summary Report:
http://www.mdrc.org/Reports2000/MFIP/MFIPSummary.htm#The Findings in Brief
Full Report [.pdf, 58 pages]:
http://www.mdrc.org/Reports2000/EWORK-RPOVERTY.pdf
Cited last week in a printed statement on welfare reform from President Clinton, this new report offers a comprehensive assessment of Minnesota's welfare reform program. The report was produced by The Manpower Demonstration Research Corporation (MDRC), a "nonprofit, nonpartisan social policy research organization." MDRC found that Minnesota's reform program brought substantial, far-ranging improvements to the lives of single parents who were long-term welfare recipients, including increases in employment, reduction in poverty, decreased levels of domestic abuse, and improvements in children's behavior and school performance. Unlike many welfare reform programs, Minnesota's is premised upon a commitment to support people while they work. This welfare-plus-work dimension was emphasized by the MDRC as crucial to the reform's successes. [DC]
[Back to Contents]The Condition of Education, 2000 -- NCES [.pdf, 6150K]
http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2000062
The US Department of Education's National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) has recently placed online the 2000 edition of the well-regarded Condition of Education (last reviewed in the June 11, 1999 Scout Report). This compendium of 65 indicators, selected by education studies professionals and based on data from various NCES studies, summarizes the health of education, monitors important developments, and describes trends in the major aspects of education. The weighty 340-page report is divided into six sections: Participation in Education, Learner Outcomes, Student Effort and Academic Progress, Quality of Elementary and Secondary Educational Environments, The Context of Postsecondary Education, and Societal Support for Learning. Two sets of supplemental tables, totalling over 100 pages, are also available. Users may download the publication in its entirety or by section in .pdf format. [MD]
[Back to Contents]HIV/AIDS: A threat to work, productivity, and development -- ILO [.pdf, 630K]
http://www.ilo.org/public/english/protection/trav/aids/pdf/aidse.pdf
This recently released report from the International Labour Organisation was created as a document for discussion at the Special High-Level Meeting on HIV/AIDS and the World of Work. An estimated 33 million people were living with HIV in 1999; two-thirds of these people were living in sub-Saharan Africa, and 5 million were infected with the virus in 1999. This study considers the ways in which HIV/AIDS has affected the global working world. Those infected with HIV/AIDS often have their rights to "non-discrimination, equal protection and equality before the law, to privacy, liberty of movement, work, equal access to education, housing, health care, social security, assistance and welfare [violated] on the sole basis of their known or presumed HIV/AIDS status." AIDS/HIV also affects economic development; in 2015, the work force population will be between 10 to 22 percent lower than it would be without HIV/AIDS. For some industries, such as food production and food security, this drop in the employment field will have crucial implications. This 54-page report is divided into three main sections. The first details the overarching issues of the epidemic, briefly touching on regional features, risk and vulnerability, and human rights implications. The second part considers the economic and social impact of HIV/AIDS, with emphasis on the work force, employees, and organizations. Finally the third major section examines the response to the epidemic by governments, international organizations, and employers. The report also contains a chapter on the ILO's response to HIV/AIDS. [EM]
[Back to Contents]"America's Child Care Crisis: A Crime Prevention Tragedy"
http://www.fightcrime.org/pdf/childcarereport.pdf [.pdf, 26 pages]
On April 28th, Hillary Clinton released the Department of Health and Human Services's report on child care in America. Prepared by an expert panel comprised of law enforcement officers, prosecutors, victims of violence, and youth violence experts, the report concludes that "children who receive quality child care early in life are less likely to have behavioral problems, commit crimes or inflict violence later in life." Among the key findings: at-risk children who attend quality educational child care and development programs are 50 percent less likely to have two or more arrests by age eighteen; low- and moderate-income working parents often cannot afford the costs of good quality child care -- "costs that exceed tuition at many public universities." Both the title and the First Lady's involvement suggest a political slant to the report. Nonetheless, it does present research and analysis crucial to any consideration of the growing problem of finding affordable quality care for children of working mothers and two-parent income households. [DC]
[Back to Contents]Domestic Violence Against Women and Girls -- UNICEF [.pdf, 22 pages]
http://www.unicef-icdc.org/pdf/domestic.pdf
This Website serves as a launch pad for the UNICEF report Domestic Violence Against Women and Girls released last week to coincide with the UN's special session on the progress of women's rights worldwide (see the June 9, 2000 Scout Report for a link to the main document of this session). According to the Domestic Violence report, "up to half of all women and girls in some countries have experienced physical violence at the hands of an intimate partner or family member." Even more disturbingly, "more than 60 million females are simply missing from population statistics -- killed by their own families deliberately or through neglect, simply because of their gender." Nonetheless, the report does not see the problem as unsolvable. Recommendations are offered concerning education and awareness-raising efforts as well as training law enforcement and judiciary officers to be more sensitized to the issue. [DC]
[Back to Contents]Holocaust Survivor Histories
Voice Vision: Holocaust Survivor Oral Histories [RealPlayer, .pdf]
http://holocaust.umd.umich.edu/
Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies [QuickTime]
http://www.library.yale.edu/testimonies/homepage.html
These two Websites feature print, audio, and video versions of oral histories given by survivors of the Nazi Holocaust of the Jews. Voice Vision, maintained by the University of Michigan-Dearborn's Mardigian Library, offers extensive audio and print selections from twelve survivors, a sampling taken from the 330 hours of audio and 60 hours of video tape from over 150 Holocaust survivors collected by Sid Bolkosky, Professor of History at the University of Michigan-Dearborn. (The library is also in the process of cataloging the whole collection, thus making it available in its entirety through interlibrary loans.) The second site, Fortunoff Video Archive, is housed at the Sterling Memorial Library at Yale. The Website provides information about the archive; a guide to research that takes users to the library's online catalog; links to information about edited video programs of testimonies available for loan to schools and community groups; and text, audio, and video excerpts from survivor and witness testimonies. The materials presented by these Websites would no doubt be of use to both researchers and educators. [DC]
[Back to Contents]Cybersoc.com
http://www.cybersoc.com/home.html
The brainchild of Robin Hamman a Visiting Lecturer at the University of Westminster's Hypermedia Research Centre, this Website bills itself as "an online resource for social scientists interested in the study of the internet, cyberspace, computer mediated communication, and online communities." The site offers issues of Cybersociology Magazine -- "an e-zine for those interested in the social-scientific research of Cyberspace and Life Online," as well as links to bibliographies and reviews of pertinent Websites and software. Also featured here are papers by Hamman, whose reports and columns about the Internet have been widely published in British newspapers and journals. Clearly the product of an informed enthusiast and his like-minded colleagues, this Website suggests in miniature the ways in which Internet culture and academia have begun to cross-pollinate, at least in the United Kingdom. [DC]
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Triumph of the Baroque: Architecture in Europe 1600-1750 -- NGA [RealPlayer]
http://www.nga.gov/exhibitions/2000/baroque/splash.htm
This substantial new Website from the National Gallery of Art is based on an exhibit at the National Gallery in Washington, DC that "brings together twenty-seven of the finest surviving Baroque architectural models made in Europe between 1600 and 1750." The site allows users to look at many of these models as well as sketches, floor plans, and photographs of surviving structures. Separate sections examine European Baroque Architecture's flowering in Rome, in the construction of royal palaces, churches and chapels, and private residences as well as in civic, commercial and military architecture. Informative textual and audio description accompany the images, providing the user with an excellent primer on this heady period in European architectural design. [DC]
[Back to Contents]Ancient Egypt -- The British Museum [Shockwave]
http://www.ancientegypt.co.uk/menu.html
Drawing on its superb collection of materials from archaeological excavations, the British Museum presents this extensive learning resource on Ancient Egypt. The site features texts, images, and interactive elements detailing Egyptian daily life, mythology, timekeeping, geography, architecture, governance, business, writing, and rituals of death. The material is clearly and simply written so that the site would be useful for primary school students, but it is informative and substantial enough to be of interest to college students and curious adults as well. Thoroughly hyperlinked and replete with images that can be enlarged for detailed perusal, the site goes beyond the typical teaser Websites so often posted by lesser museums. [DC]
[Back to Contents]The Latino Virtual Gallery [Java]
http://latino.si.edu/virtualgallery/
This new online gallery from the Smithsonian will feature exhibits that "approach Latino/a contributions to America's history, arts and culture from a Latino/a perspective." Three exhibitions will be presented each year. The first of these, a photographic exhibit entitled "Revealing Personal Identity: The Indigenous Vision of Manuel Carrillo," presents the strikingly composed photography of Manuel Carrillo supplemented by textual considerations of the issues of identity confronting Mexican-American people. The current exhibit is a joint project of the University of Texas at El Paso Library and the Smithsonian Center for Latino Initiatives, and was created by Magdalena Mieri and Melissa Carrillo. User note: the main exhibition page is designed for high-bandwidth connections and is "a Java-enhanced experience." However, functional versions of the exhibit are also provided for lower bandwidths and less powerful computers. [DC]
[Back to Contents]Gerrit Dou: Master Painter in the Age of Rembrandt -- NGA
http://www.nga.gov/exhibitions/2000/dou/splash.htm
This site accompanies the National Gallery of Art exhibition on Gerrit Dou running April 16-August 6, 2000. A seventeenth-century Dutch painter, Dou was "considered the founder of the Leiden school of fijnschilders (fine painters)." The site is divided into three sections: Paintings, Life and Times, and Resources. Life and Times is a good place for visitors unfamiliar with Dou to start, as it helps to place his work in context. The Paintings section focuses only on twelve works, but the presentation of these works is impressive and interesting. Each painting is accompanied by explanatory text that helps interpret the work and calls the viewer's attention to significant techniques, influences, and the like. Clicking on the Detail Images button below the painting allows viewers to enlarge certain sections for closer viewing, and these images are also accompanied by text often explaining symbolic meanings that may be lost to contemporary viewers (an open bird cage represents immorality, for example). All in all, a concise but worthwhile site. Visitors who want to learn more can check out the References section, which features both online and print resources on Dou and Dutch and Flemish painting in general. [TK]
[Back to Contents]Inequality.org
http://www.inequality.org/
Created and maintained by "a network of journalists, writers and researchers trying to look beyond conventional economics and its notions of prosperity and progress," this Website features news and analysis of the economic and cultural ramifications of the wide divide between the haves and the have-nots in America. The site offers both original articles and reprints from sources such as The Nation and The New Yorker. In addition, pertinent economic statistics and recent news stories are also provided. For those doing research or advocacy, a useful list of both online and print resources is available along with an extensive contact list of experts, including descriptions of their work with economic-inequality issues. While the site's agenda may appear obvious, readers should note that Inequality.org is hardly a hotbed of socialist thought. Its director and founder, James Lardner, writes about business, technology, and work for US News and World Report. Perhaps one does not have to have a political axe to grind to take note of the increasingly obvious. [DC]
[Back to Contents]Dunkirk Remembered
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/in_depth/uk/2000/dunkirk/default.stm/
In commemoration of the 60th anniversary of Dunkirk last week, the BBC posted a Website devoted to the lore and fact of this famous British retreat -- one that Winston Churchill and the rest of the English people managed to "rewrite" as a triumph of the British spirit over the German war machine. The site offers eleven feature stories that include interviews with veterans who were at Dunkirk, reports on recent observances, an analysis of the propaganda war that the British press mounted in the wake of the retreat, and descriptions of the conditions on the beachhead as soldiers waited for transport, sitting ducks for German artillery. A "slideshow" also presents a handful of photos from the operation. [DC]
[Back to Contents]Traditional Grammar: An Interactive Book
http://www.niu.edu/english/deh/grammarbook/title.html
Is traditional grammar dead? Donald Hardy, a professor of English at Northern Illinois University, doesn't think so. He recently posted this "e-grammar" on the Web to help teach users how to distinguish their nouns from their verbs, their nominative cases from their subjunctives, and their present perfect from their past. The descriptions are clear and concise, while quizzes at the end of each chapter as well as five practice exams allow readers to test their retention and keep track electronically of their score. (We were not convinced, however, that the typical exemplifications of the rules that are the core of each chapter truly constitute an "interactive" aspect of the text as the introduction claims.) [DC]
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Two Reports on Teen Risk-Taking: Data and Analysis from the Urban Institute [.pdf]
Teen Risk-Taking: A Statistical Portrait [.pdf, 2486K]
http://www.urban.org/family/TeenRiskTaking.pdf
Press Release:
http://www.urban.org/news/pressrel/pr000606.html
Highlights:
http://www.urban.org/family/TeenRiskTaking.html
"Changes in Risk-Taking among High School Students, 1991-1997: Evidence from the Youth Risk Behavior Surveys" [.pdf, 18 pages]
http://www.urban.org/family/at-risk/changes.pdf
Drawing on data from three major national surveys of teenagers's risk-taking behavior conducted by the US government and University-based social scientists, last week the Urban Institute released two reports assessing the levels of teenagers's involvement in one or more identified risk-taking behaviors. These behaviors include "regular alcohol use, binge drinking, regular tobacco use, marijuana use, other illegal drug use, fighting, weapon carrying, suicidal thoughts, suicide attempts, and risky sexual activity." The reports indicate that risk-taking behavior has actually declined overall among adolescents from 1990 to 1997. However, for one demographic group, Hispanics, the levels have almost doubled. The reports also analyze teenagers's participation in "desirable family, school, or community activities" and conclude that "many risk-taking teens earn good grades, go to church, play sports, or spend quality time with their parents," suggesting, according to the researchers, that a more complicated understanding of vulnerable teens is required than the typical good/bad stereotypes often circulated. The Urban Institute also released two policy papers, offering constructive suggestions for addressing adolescent behavior problems based on these reports. Readers can find them in the working papers section of this edition of the Scout Report for the Social Sciences.[DC]
[Back to Contents]National Survey Of Adolescents In The United States, 1995
Abstract:
http://www.icpsr.umich.edu/cgi-bin/ab.prl?file=2833
Data and Codebook [email address required, Gzip or .pdf]:
http://www.icpsr.umich.edu/cgi/archive.prl?path=ICPSR&num=2833
Last week, the Medical University of South Carolina, National Crime Victims Research and Treatment Center made available online data from the National Survey of Adolescents in the United States, 1995. "The goal of this study was to test specific hypotheses illustrating the relationships among serious victimization experiences, the mental health effects of victimization, substance abuse/use, and delinquent behavior in adolescents. The study assessed familial and nonfamilial types of violence." Adolescent respondents to the survey were asked a host of questions regarding their experience or witnessing of physical and emotional abuse and their levels of involvement with violent, self-abusive, and/or criminal behaviors. Background questions also probed for evidence of a "history of personal and family substance use and mental health issues, such as major depression, post-traumatic stress disorders, weight changes, sleeping disorders," and the like. Researchers interested in correlating various types of behavior problems among teens to prior incidents of victimization should find this data highly useful. The survey was funded by the Department of Justice. [DC]
[Back to Contents]National Statistics: the Official United Kingdom Statistics Site
http://www.statistics.gov.uk/
This newly revised and revamped Website results from changes mandated last fall by the British government to improve the quality, uniformity, and accessibility of United Kingdom government statistics. The Website's main feature organizes the vast body of government statistics around thirteen themes, such as crime and justice, education, the economy, health and care, population and migration, and so forth. Other features of the site include the latest headline information on data upon release; a section proffering a cross section of daily living-type data, StatBase (see the October 20, 1998 Scout Report for the Social Sciences); and DataBank, a subscriber service for economic data. Also provided here are direct links to birth, marriage, and death data; the UK census 2001; a "learning zone" for educational materials; and free, downloadable editions of Horizons, the National Statistics quarterly newsletter.
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(For links to additional current awareness on tables of contents, abstracts, preprints, new books, data, conferences, etc., visit the The Scout Report for Social Sciences Current Awareness Metapage: http://scout.cs.wisc.edu/report/socsci/metapage/)."Assessing the Assessment: The 1999 National Intelligence Estimate of the Ballistic Missile Threat"
http://cns.miis.edu/pubs/npr/circ71.htm
.pdf version (13 pages):
http://cns.miis.edu/pubs/npr/pdfs/circ71.pdf
Included in the Spring issue of the Center for Nonproliferation Studies's Nonproliferation Review, this online article summarizes and critiques the 1999 National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) of the nuclear threat to the US compiled by the National Intelligence Council. The author, Joseph Cirincione, Director of the Non-Proliferation Project at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, argues that the NIE overestimates the nuclear threat from developing nations and underestimates the threat from existing arsenals. According to the author, such conclusions, in combination with evidence gleaned from the NIE itself about the Anti-Ballistic Missile System's significant drawbacks, make the recent decision to go ahead with the ABS questionable at best. [DC]
[Back to Contents]Graefe, Deborah Roempke. "New Days, New Ways?: Modernization, Sexual Attitudes and Contraceptive Knowledge among Adolescent Women in a Traditional State in Mexico" (Population Research Institute Working Papers) [.pdf, 37 pages]
ftp://ftp.pop.psu.edu/papers/psu-pri/wp0006.pdfKnodel, John, and Napaporn Chayovan. "Sexual Activity among the Older Population in Thailand: Evidence from a Nationally Representative Survey." (Population Studies Center Research Report Research Report 00-445) [.pdf, 35 pages]
http://www.psc.isr.umich.edu/pubs/papers/rr00-445.pdfJonsson, Stefan Hrafn. "Changes in Employment Relations and Growth in Wage Inequality: Relative Distribution Analysis of the U.S. Wage Structure 1975-1997" (Population Research Institute Working Papers) [.pdf, 3185K]
ftp://ftp.pop.psu.edu/papers/psu-pri/wp0002.pdfPost, David. "Children's Work, Schooling, and Social Welfare in Comparative Perspective: Chile, Peru and Mexico Since the Eighties" (Population Research Institute Working Papers) [.pdf, 184 pages]
ftp://ftp.pop.psu.edu/papers/psu-pri/wp0003.pdfRobles-Vasquez, Hector and David G. Abler. "Education and Labor Force Participation by Mexican Children During Structural Adjustment: A Microeconomic Analysis" (Population Research Institute Working Papers) [.pdf, 29 pages]
ftp://ftp.pop.psu.edu/papers/psu-pri/wp0005.pdfSchmidt, Lucie and Purvi Sevak. "AFDC, SSI and Welfare Reform Aggressiveness: Caseload Reductions vs. Caseload Shifting." (Population Studies Center Research Report Research Report 00-444). [.pdf, 30 pages]
http://www.psc.isr.umich.edu/pubs/papers/rr00-444.pdfWachter, Kenneth W., John E. Knodel, and Mark VanLandingham. "AIDS and the Elderly of Thailand: Projecting Familial Impacts." (Population Studies Center Research Report 00-446) [.pdf, 29 pages]
http://www.psc.isr.umich.edu/pubs/papers/rr00-446.pdf
[Back to Contents]New Think Tank Policy Papers and Briefs
The Urban Institute:
Lindberg, Laura Duberstein, Scott Boggess, and Sean Williams. "Multiple Threats: The Co-Occurrence of Teen Health Risk Behaviors"
http://www.urban.org/family/at-risk/multiplethreats.htmlPorter, Laura and Laura Duberstein Lindberg. "Reaching Out to Multiple Risk Adolescents"
http://www.urban.org/family/at-risk/reachingout.htmlThe Commonwealth Fund:
Burger, Sarah Greene, Jeanie Kayser-Jones, and Julie Prince Bell. "Malnutrition And Dehydration In Nursing Homes: Key Issues In Prevention And Treatment" (National Citizens' Coalition for Nursing Home Reform) [.pdf, 49 pages]
http://www.cmwf.org/programs/elders/burger_mal_386.pdfQuinn, Kevin, Cathy Schoen, and Louisa Buatti. "On Their Own: Young Adults Living Without Health Insurance"
http://www.cmwf.org/programs/insurance/quinn_ya_391.aspKaplan, Sue A. et al. "Educating Medicaid Beneficiaries About Managed Care: Approaches In 13 Cities"
http://www.cmwf.org/programs/quality/kaplan_educat_fr_380.aspCenter for Defense Information:
Blair, Bruce. "Some Sensible Options for U.S. Missile Defense"
http://www.cdi.org/issues/proliferation/blairvonmoscow.htmlJerome Levy Economics Institute:
Wray, L. Randall. "Can the Expansion Be Sustained? A Minskian View"
http://www.levy.org/docs/pn/00-5.htmlRAND:
Pollack, Jonathan D. and Chung Min Lee. Preparing for Korean Unification: Scenarios & Implications (RAND Study) [.pdf]
http://www.rand.org/publications/MR/MR1040/
[Back to Contents]New Offerings from Academic Publishers
Association of American University Presses: New Releases
http://aaup.uchicago.edu/new_releases/Baker&Taylor Academia -- Upcoming Books to Buy (June 2000)
http://www.baker-taylor.com/Academia/M06/Home.htmlCambridge University Press
http://www.cup.org/books/hot.htmlBasic Books: New Releases
http://www.basicbooks.com/newreleases.htmlThela Thesis -- Just Published
http://www.thelathesis.nl/new.htmlPerseus Publishing -- Book News (click on category)
http://www.perseuspublishing.com/booknews.html
[Back to Contents]2000 National STD Prevention Conference
December 4-7, 2000
Midwest Express Center
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
http://www.stdconference.org/International Association for the Study of Forced Migration -- Seventh International Research and Advisory Panel
January 8-11, 2001
University of Witswatersrand
Johannesburg, South Africa.
http://141.13.240.13/~ba6ef3/nextirap.htmWorking-Class Households, Survival Strategies, and Social Movements: Asian Perspectives
International Workshop
March 22-24, 2001
Taipeh, Taiwan
http://www.iisg.nl/~ialhi/news/i0005_1.htmlComparative Black History -- Conference 2001: Diaspora Paradigms: New Scholarship in Comparative Black History
September 20-23, 2001
Michigan State University Kellogg Center
East Lansing, Michigan
http://www.msu.edu/~cbhprgm/conference2.html
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New Tables of Contents/ Abstracts/ Full texts
Persuasions: The Jane Austen Journal Online (Full text)
Vol. 1, No. 1 (Winter 2000)
http://www.jasna.org/pol02/toc.htmlComparative Connections: An E-Journal on East Asian Bilateral Relations: "Long-Term Visions of Regional Security: United States and China" [.pdf] (Full text)
May 2000 (Special Annual Edition)
http://www.csis.org/pacfor/annual/specialMay2000.pdfAfrican Studies Quarterly (Full text)
Vol. 3, No. 3
http://web.africa.ufl.edu/asq/v3/v3i3.htmThe Journal of Modern History (Table of Contents)
Vol. 72, No. 1 (March 2000)
http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/JMH/v72n1toc.htmlBulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies
Vol. 63, No. 2 (June 2000)
http://www3.oup.co.uk/blsoas/hdb/Volume_63/Issue_02/
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H-Net Job Guide
http://www.matrix.msu.edu/jobs/The Chronicle of Higher Education Job Openings
Humanities
http://jobs.chronicle.com/free/jobs/faculty/humanities/links.htm
Social Science
http://jobs.chronicle.com/free/jobs/faculty/sscience/links.htmAcademic Employment Network (By State)
http://www.academploy.com/jobs.cfmAmerican College Personnel Association: ACPA Ongoing Placement Listings
http://www.acpa.nche.edu/placemnt/placemnt.htmAcademic 360.com (Update of "Jobs in Higher Education" site)
http://www.academic360.com/
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Supreme Court Rejects Federal Suits against HMOs
1. Yahoo! News: "Court Nixes Some Lawsuits vs. HMOs" (AP)
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/ap/20000612/ts/scotus_hmos.html
2. FindLaw: Pegram et al. v. Herdrich
http://caselaw.findlaw.com/cgi-bin/getcase.pl?court=US&navby=case&vol=000&invol=98-1949
3. The Newshour: Patients' Bill of Rights
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/health/july-dec99/patients_index.html
4. Opensecrets.org
http://www.opensecrets.org/news/mcare/index.htm
5. Intellectualcapital.com: "America's Health Care Agenda 2000"
http://www.intellectualcapital.com/issues/issue335/item7805.asp
6. National Association of Manufacturers: "Norwood-Dingell Bill: 'A Disappointing And Dangerous Mistake'"
http://www.nam.org/Search/DetailIssue.asp?ID=754&Type=NamTrak
7. The Health Insurance Association of America (HIAA)
http://www.hiaa.org/
8. Union Of American Physicians And Dentists (UAPD): Testimony By Robert L. Weinmann, M.D. Before the House Judiciary Committee
http://www.uapd.com/testimony/test62299.htm
The Supreme Court ruled yesterday that patients cannot sue HMOs in Federal court for giving doctors financial incentives to hold down treatment costs. Reversing a Federal Appeals Court decision that argued such suits could be allowed, Justice Souter, writing for a unanimous Court, concluded that Congress's intent in passing a 1973 law paving the way for HMOs was to affirm the entire concept of managed care, including its emphasis on creating profitability by keeping costs down. The court ruled that an Illinois woman could not sue her HMO under federal law for putting in place incentives that encouraged her doctor to delay diagnostic treatment of what would eventually become a ruptured appendix. The High Court was not swayed by the Court of Appeals's argument that one could distinguish between financial incentives that resulted in inappropriate or inadequate care and those that did not.
While the ruling is seen by some as a blow to the ongoing battle of patient-advocacy groups with large HMO carriers, it does not prohibit suits in state courts under state legislation -- legislation sometimes more generous in its approach to patient plaintiffs than the Federal law in question. Nonetheless, the stock values of most major HMO carriers jumped Monday morning in the wake of the news. Meanwhile, competing versions of a so-called Patients's Bill of Rights continue to be considered on Capitol Hill. But only the House's version would grant patients the right to sue in federal court.
Yahoo! offers an AP story (1) summarizing the Court's ruling. Findlaw has posted online the case's certiorari and the Court's opinion (2). The PBS Newshour's site contains stories and background on the ongoing debate over HMOs (3), including a February 22 interview with Jan Crawford Greenburg, national legal affairs correspondent for the Chicago Tribune, summarizing the Supreme Court oral arguments that day on the case. Opensecrets.org (4) gives background information on the legislative issues concerning managed care, including profiles of special interest groups, descriptions of legislation, and votes taken broken down by party and lobbying expenditures. Ron Pollack, writing for Intellectualcapital.com, provides an analysis of the health care issues likely to be addressed this year both in Congress and in the Fall campaigns (5). A press release from the National Association of Manufacturers (6) expresses their objections to the House Version of the Patients's Bill of Rights passed last Fall, which would give patients a right to sue in federal court. Representing more than 250 insurers and managed care companies, the HIAA Website (7) posts press releases, consumer information, and publications -- many of them dealing with issues of managed care. Finally, the Union of American Physicians and Dentists has posted a transcript of a member's testimony before the House Judiciary Committee (8) detailing some of the ways that managed care companies discourage and dissuade doctors from providing necessary medical care. [DC]
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