April 11, 2012
The Atlantic published an interview with USC Price Professor David Sloane focusing on his new book, Planning Los Angeles. The article states, "Covering everything from early planning documents to the impact of the recession to the challenges of regional transportation development, Planning Los Angeles is a comprehensive look at how the city has been shaped by urban planning. Sloane says the essays paint a more complete picture of where planners have done well in the city, where plans have fallen short and why, despite its reputation as an unplanned city, urban planning continues to mold L.A."
April 11, 2012
LA Streetsblog published a story by David Sloane, professor and director of undergraduate programs at USC Price. In the story, Sloane writes about CicLAvia, "a civic event that brings together people of many ages, races and ethnicities, from many neighborhoods around Los Angeles for a momentary 'ephemeral event' where they walk, ride, talk and laugh together. Such moments are crucial to the public life and culture of any city, but especially our city." Sloane added: "Too often Angelenos see the world through the windshield of their car, not imagining that they can safely move around their neighborhoods by other means, and do it faster and more efficiently." The story mentions that Sloane's newest book, Planning Los Angeles, will be released this week.
April 4, 2012
The Denver Post quoted USC Price Professor Glenn Melnick about competition between hospitals.
March 30, 2012
Planetizen ran a Q&A with David Sloane, professor and director of undergraduate programs at USC Price, that discussed his new book, Planning Los Angeles. In the interview, Sloane said: "I would argue that planning is everywhere in LA: from the very grid that underlies the vast majority of the basin, to the way that the rivers are controlled, to the residential neighborhoods that are so carefully protected from commerce and from traffic. So, all those things are just classic elements of 20th century planning. The question then becomes, is it well planned? In some sense, that's what the book gets at as well, the successes and failures."
March 28, 2012
KPCC-FM featured research by USC Schaeffer Center for Health Policy and Economics researchers Dana Goldman, Geoffrey Joyce and Anupam Jena, finding that higher insurance co-pays may lead to parents not filling prescriptions for their children. The study found that children with asthma whose parents had higher co-pays were slightly less likely to fill prescriptions for them. Children aged five and up whose parents had the highest co-pays were about 30 percent more likely to visit the hospital.
March 27, 2012
ABC News Philadelphia affiliate WPVI-TV reported on research by USC Price Professor Dana Goldman, Geoffrey Joyce of the School of Pharmacy, and USC Schaeffer Center for Health Policy and Economics Senior Fellow Anupam Jena, finding that higher insurance co-pays may lead to parents not filling prescriptions for their children. "Over the course of a year, many of these children were taking less than 50 percent of the medicine that's required to control their condition," Goldman said.
March 24, 2012
The Associated Press quoted John Romley, USC Price research assistant professor and an economist at the Schaeffer Center for Health Policy and Economics, about hospitals and patient amenities.
March 14, 2012
U.S. News & World Report featured several USC schools and programs in its 2013 edition of "Best Graduate Schools." The USC Price School was ranked No. 4 for Health Policy and Management; No. 6 in Public Affairs, up from No. 7 last year; No. 6 for Public Management Administration; No. 7 for City Management and Urban Policy; No. 7 for Nonprofit Management; No. 9 in Social Policy; No. 12 for Public Policy Analysis; and No. 21 for Public Finance and Budgeting.
February 16, 2012
Reuters quoted USC Price Associate Professor Darius Lakdawalla about research finding that Medicare spends more per person on obese beneficiaries. Lakdawalla is director of research at USC's Schaeffer Center for Health Policy and Economics
February 1, 2012
KPCC-FM Southern California Public Radio featured a report by assistant professor Jenny Schuetz of the USC Price School that analyzed the availability of retail services in 58 large U.S. metro areas. While the study found that many poor urban neighborhoods have high concentrations of grocery stores, these neighborhoods often lacked the larger chain establishments that often provide lower prices and a larger selection. "It's not a matter of how many there are -- there are lots of small 'mom-and-pop' stores but not many larger chain stores or supermarkets," Schuetz wrote in the report..
January 23, 2012
The Washington Post quoted John Romley, USC Price research assistant professor and economist at the Schaeffer Center for Health Policy and Economics, and highlighted a study he did about the increasing importance of hospital amenities in patient care.
October 20, 2011
TheSacramento Bee quoted SPPD Professor Roberto Suro, director of the Tomas Rivera Policy Institute at USC, about fluxes in birthrates among first- and second-generation Latino immigrants.
October 19, 2011
USA Today quoted SPPD Senior Fellow Sherry Bebitch Jeffe about Mitt Romney's weak point as a presidential candidate being his support for a 2006 Massachusetts health care law.
October 14, 2011
Fox Business cited research by USC's Schaeffer Center for Health Policy and Economics, the RAND Corporation and Towers Watson, on how high-deductible health plans can reduce health care costs.
October 6, 2011
Good quoted USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development Professor David Sloane about "fitness deserts" -- low-income areas that don't provide opportunities for exercise.
September 8, 2011
HealthDay News featured a study by SPPD Professor Glenn Melnick and the RAND Corporation, which found that bigger health plans are better able to negotiate lower prices from hospitals. In cities with the fewest health plans, there was a roughly 12 percent drop in hospital costs. "As long as there is enough competition to keep health plans honest, the consolidation has a good result on prices," Melnick said.
August 14, 2011
The San Diego Union Tribune ran an op-ed by SPPD alum Chris Van Gorder, MPA '86. Van Gorder wrote, if a long-term plan is not agreed upon by Dec. 23, "the Defense Department and health care delivery - doctors and hospitals - will pay a significant price... Congress has designed a spending or cost reduction 'trigger' that will cut military spending by billions in addition to cutting Medicare reimbursement to hospitals and physicians by 2 percent, or $50 billion a year on top of cuts already planned in current legislation. This solution puts both the military and health care organizations in the middle of the debt-ceiling debate." Van Gorder is president and CEO of Scripps Health and the immediate past chair of the American College of Healthcare Executives.
July 8, 2011
Veeral Shah, Eesha Chakravartty, Rachel Liberatore and Allison Viramontes are four recent MHA graduates to discover that their real-world class projects and 1,000 hours in an administrative residency left them qualified to make instant impacts in the field of health management and policy.
July 1, 2011
CNN cited a study by SPPD Professor Dana Goldman and the USC School of Pharmacy and a Massachusetts General Hospital colleague, which found a correlation between increased Internet access and rising admissions for treatment of prescription drug abuse.
May 31, 2011
The Huffington Post ran an op-ed co-written by SPPD Professor Dana Goldman and SPPD graduate student Veeral Shah, about Congress' attitude toward Medicare. "Both Republicans and Democrats agree that rising Medicare costs are the principal long-term driver of the federal deficit," Goldman and Shah wrote. "They just don't agree on how to rein in the spending."
May 28, 2011
The Billings Gazette cited a study by SPPD Professor Dana Goldman and a Massachusetts General Hospital colleague, which found a correlation between increased Internet access and rising admissions for treatment of prescription drug abuse.
May 20, 2011
TechNewsDaily covered a study by SPPD Professor Dana Goldman and a Massachusetts General Hospital colleague, which found a correlation between increased Internet access and rising admissions for treatment of prescription drug abuse.
May 13, 2011
The Los Angeles Times featured a study by USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development Professor Dana Goldman and a Massachusetts General Hospital colleague, which found a correlation between increased Internet access and rising admissions for treatment of prescription drug abuse. "Our work is hypothesis generating: It raises the possibility that the observed growth in U.S. prescription drug abuse may partially stem from wider Internet availability through online pharmacies that sell prescription drugs illegally," Goldman and co-author wrote.
April 29, 2011
The USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development gave new meaning to the words "travel planning" during the recent international planning studios in India and Argentina. Led by Tridib Banerjee, SPPD professor and director of graduate programs in urban planning, the two studios gave students an opportunity to put theory into practice, collaborating to address real-world planning challenges in international settings.
April 29, 2011
Judith Feder, one of the nation's foremost experts on the U.S. health insurance system, discussed the Affordable Care Act and Medicare on April 14 at the Ronald Tutor Campus Center as part of the 2011 seminar series at the USC Schaeffer Center, jointly housed at the School of Policy, Planning, and Development and the School of Pharmacy. Drawing on her political experience and health policy expertise, Feder provided an overview of the 2010 health reform law and described the challenges facing those who remain uninsured.
April 6, 2011
While the U.S. reforms its health care system, the USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development is following suit with a revamp of its Master of Health Administration program. "We've revised the curriculum to emphasize some of the key areas that are going to be health system priorities for the foreseeable future: issues around the quality of care, health finance, health policy analysis, management and the use of health information technology," said Michael Nichol, director of graduate programs in health.
March 19, 2011
The San Francisco Chronicle quoted SPPD Professor Glenn Melnick about rising health costs.
March 16, 2011
When it comes to regulating health care, the common perception is that Democrats trust the government while Republicans rely on the market. But as Daniel McFadden - winner of the 2000 Nobel Prize in Economics and Presidential Professor of Health Economics at USC - recently explained to USC students, faculty and staff, government interference and private market shortcomings are both "serious contributors to the dysfunction of our health care system." In his first presentation since joining USC's faculty, McFadden presented an economist's view of the 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act during a recent seminar at SPPD.
March 6, 2011
The Los Angeles Times quoted SPPD Professor Glenn Melnick about consolidation in Northern California that has given more negotiating power to a few hospital networks.
February 2, 2011
When hospitalized for a major acute medical condition -- including heart attack, stroke and pneumonia -- patients were less likely to die in high-spending hospitals, according to a new study appearing in the Feb. 1 issue of the Annals of Internal Medicine. The findings inform the ongoing discussion on how to curb health care spending. SPPD Research Professor John Romley, an economist at the USC Schaeffer Center for Health Policy and Economics, authored the study.
February 2, 2011
Dilip Jeste, an expert in the field of aging, discussed his ongoing research on the criteria and determinants of successful aging Jan. 27 as part of the USC Schaeffer Center for Health Policy and Economics Seminar Series. Jeste, director of the Sam and Rose Stein Institute for Research on Aging at the University of California, San Diego, is at the forefront of research efforts to develop a definition, as well as criteria for, successful aging.
January 25, 2011
Fox News Orlando, Fla., affiliate WOFL-TV featured research by SPPD Professor Dana Goldman which found that men over 40 who use erectile dysfunction treatments are two to three times more likely to pick up a sexually transmitted disease than their counterparts who don't take such drugs. The most common diseases found were HIV/AIDS and chlamydia, the story stated.
January 18, 2011
The St. Petersburg Times quoted John Romley, research assistant professor at the USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development, about research he conducted with SPPD Professor Dana Goldman and colleagues, on luxury perks offered in hospitals.
January 10, 2011
Nobel Prize-winning economist Daniel McFadden has been appointed the Presidential Professor of Health Economics at USC by President C. L. Max Nikias. The title of Presidential Professor is a rare USC honor bestowed upon an individual who combines the highest academic recognition with landmark contributions to society. McFadden will have joint appointments at the USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development and the Department of Economics at USC College. He will work with Dana Goldman, who holds the Norman Topping/National Medical Enterprises Chair in Medicine and Public Policy at SPPD and director of the USC Schaeffer Center for Health Policy and Economics.
January 10, 2011
City News Service reported that Nobel Prize-winning economist David McFadden has joined the faculties of the USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development and USC College, and was named by USC President C. L. Max Nikias to the post of Presidential Professor of Health Economics. "His appointment reflects the university's solid commitment to its economics program, as well as its goal of strengthening the social sciences at USC," Nikias said. "He will be a resource and a colleague for the many USC scholars and graduate students who study economics, statistics, choice modeling and psychology," added USC Provost Elizabeth Garrett.
January 6, 2011
Stephen Hora, director of the USC Homeland Security Center for Risk and Economic Analysis of Terrorism Events (CREATE), has been named to a National Council on Radiation Protection & Measurements scientific committee. He attended the committee's first meeting Dec. 9 and 10. Hora is a research professor at the USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development.
December 16, 2010
The New York Times highlighted research by USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development faculty John Romley and Dana Goldman and colleagues, about luxury perks offered in hospitals. "[T]he happiness and joy that these amenities provide for patients over the course of what is otherwise a difficult experience is something we should respect," Romley said. "It's not just about patient survival anymore; it's also about the patient experience," Goldman added.
December 9, 2010
La Opinion highlighted a study led by LaVonna Lewis, teaching associate professor at the USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development, which found that one in three grocery stores in low-income Los Angeles neighborhoods often sells expired food.
December 8, 2010
RedOrbit featured an upcoming USC Center for Sustainable Cities event, at which Daniel Mazmanian of the USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development will present a report on climate change adaptation.
December 6, 2010
From hotel-style room service to massage therapy and magnificent views, hospitals increasingly are touting their luxury services in a bid to gain market share, especially those in competitive urban markets. A new article, published in the New England Journal of Medicine and co-authored by SPPD's Dana Goldman and John Romley, raises crucial questions about the role of amenities in hospital care, explaining that how individuals decide to value the patient experience can have a significant effect on health-care costs.
November 21, 2010
The Sacramento Bee highlighted research by SPPD Professor David Sloane and a colleague about the community impact of an anti-gang injunction, and quoted Sloane on the subject.
November 5, 2010
The New York Times cited research by SPPD Professor Glenn Melnick on effects of the allocation of market power among insurers and hospitals. Melnick found that health plan market concentration reduces hospital prices, while higher hospital market concentration results in higher prices. The widely held notion that more insurers in a market area will reduce the premiums paid by the insured isn't supported by economic theory or empirical research, the story stated.
November 5, 2010
The New York Times cited research by SPPD Professor Glenn Melnick on effects of the allocation of market power among insurers and hospitals. Melnick found that health plan market concentration reduces hospital prices, while higher hospital market concentration results in higher prices. The widely held notion that more insurers in a market area will reduce the premiums paid by the insured isn't supported by economic theory or empirical research, the story stated.
November 3, 2010
The United States faces a Herculean challenge in trying to bend the curve on health costs, and it may take a national emergency before something finally can be done about it, health policy experts warned at a recent conference hosted by the Leonard D. Schaeffer Center for Health Policy and Economics at USC. The Schaeffer Center is a collaboration between the USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development and the USC School of Pharmacy.
October 6, 2010
The Sacramento Bee quoted Professor Dana Goldman about new legislation that would make California the first state to establish a health benefits exchange. Goldman is director of the Schaeffer Center for Health Policy and Economics, the story noted.
October 1, 2010
La Opinion quoted SPPD Professor Glenn Melnick about increasing health insurance premiums.
September 29, 2010
The Ventura County Star reported that SPPD alumnus and adjunct associate professor Earl Greenia has been hired to lead a Ventura County Medi-Cal plan that will serve about 110,000 low-income residents. Earl Greenia was announced as CEO of the Gold Coast Health Plan, a program triggered by California's mandate to transform Medi-Cal into a locally-run managed care system, the story noted. The new health plan is expected to process $300 million in claims a year and is set to begin early next year, the article stated.
September 22, 2010
The Los Angeles Times quoted Professor Glenn Melnick about a struggle between City of Hope National Medical Center and City of Hope Medical Group.
September 16, 2010
On Sep. 8, the USC School of Policy, Planning and Development and the USC Office of Government and Civic Engagement co-sponsored a policy briefing for the Sacramento policymaking community featuring professor Dana Goldman. The event, which was held at the California Chamber of Commerce, drew more 110 guests from the state capitol, state agencies, local health-related private and non-profit organizations, as well as USC students and alumni.
September 12, 2010
La Opinion quoted SPPD Professor Glenn Melnick about increases in health insurance premiums.
July 26, 2010, 2010
In the latest Health Policy Outlook from the American Enterprise Institute and the Schaeffer Center for Health Policy and Economics at USC, Schaeffer Center researchers and SPPD professors Dana Goldman and Darius Lakdawalla investigated whether geographic variations in use of health services and spending differed between Medicare and the private sector.
July 23, 2010
The Hill featured research by SPPD Associate Professor Darius Lakdawalla and Professor Dana Goldman that suggests that one of the main arguments of the healthcare reform debate, that regions of the country currently spending more on medical care without getting better results should emulate low-use areas, may be fundamentally flawed. The assumption is based on Medicare data but private health insurance plans show no such variations, according to the study by the researchers from USC's Schaeffer Center for Health Policy and Economics and a University of Chicago colleague.
July 1, 2010
A study in the latest issue of the Journal of American Planning Association concludes that contrary to current thinking, exposure to poor air quality is higher in compact U.S. regions than in sprawled locations. The study is authored by Lisa Schweitzer, associate professor at the USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development.
June 18, 2010
The New York Times quoted SPPD Professor Dana Goldman about a new Dutch study which found that the obese have lower lifetime medical costs because they die younger. Goldman is director of the Leonard D. Schaeffer Center for Health Policy and Economics at USC.
May 24, 2010
Eleven graduate students representing the various master's programs in the USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development launched the school's first student-adjudicated academic journal. The USC Policy, Planning, and Development Review, an online publication, aims to promote discourse among students of SPPD's professional degree programs by encouraging them to produce work that addresses important social topics.
May 11, 2010
Bringing together diverse perspectives from across the health care industry, the USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development held a panel discussion focusing on leadership in health care policy. Co-hosted by the SPPD Athenian Society and the Camden Group, the discussion touched on topics such as the role of emerging technology, the recently passed health care bill, and reasons for rising health care costs.
May 7, 2010
During spring semester, 15 graduate students from the USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development collaborated with students from the Technical University of Berlin on a comparative study of transit-adjacent urban redevelopment. "The overall focus of the Berlin planning studio was the large-scale redevelopment of inner-city rail station sites," said Deike Peters, a SPPD adjunct and director of the planning studio.
April 26, 2010
In a collaborative student-led effort, leading voices in minority health advocacy in Los Angeles came together at the USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development for a panel discussion on "Inequities in Minority Health: Access, Quality and Outcomes." The event, featuring representatives from the nonprofit, education and government sectors, covered a variety of pressing health care issues facing minority communities across the country.
March 9, 2010
A study by SPPD Assistant Professor Vivian Wu finds that despite the increasing clout of HMOs in the 1990s, hospitals maintained a dominant position in determining health care pricing decisions. The research is timely as the country reevaluates its health care system to extend coverage to the uninsured and considers whether to introduce a public health insurance option. The findings, in effect, provide a glimpse of how hospitals might adapt or react to other external pressures on heath care pricing.
February 25, 2010
SoCal Minds highlighted research by Assistant Professor Vivian Yaling Wu on the role of large, affluent hospitals in determining decisions on health care pricing. The study suggested that because HMOs' pricing power has waned recently, these hospitals have more clout on cost issues.
February 22, 2010
In recent weeks, Scripps Health president and CEO Chris Van Gorder, an alumnus of the USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development, has led two trips to Haiti to help the victims of the earthquake. "The damage was much worse than I anticipated," said Van Gorder, MPA '86. "Just like everyone else, I watched all the major news stations, but that doesn't prepare you for the wide scope of devastation."
February 20, 2010
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel quoted Assistant Professor Vivian Yaling Wu about health care price competition.
February 17, 2010
Scientific American quoted SPPD Professor Dana Goldman about spending health care stimulus money on prevention efforts. Goldman is the director of the Leonard D. Schaeffer Center for Health Policy and Economics at USC, the story noted.
February 12, 2010
Mint (India) highlighted a study by SPPD Professor Dana Goldman on the effects of food prices on obesity in China. The obesity rate there grew from 14.6 percent in 1992 to 21.8 percent in 2002, the story reported. Goldman and a colleague found that when the price of cooking oil was lower, individuals consumed more, leading to a higher level of body fat. Goldman and his co-author said that "by using different pricing policies, it is possible to effectively induce healthier food consumption patterns and thus control the growth of obesity."
January 28, 2010
Some of the nation's leading economists, budget policy experts and tax authorities gathered at the USC Gould School of Law to assess the looming fiscal crisis and look at the challenges facing the United States' economy in the next decade. SPPD Professor Dana Goldman, one of the panelists at the conference, discussed population health and longevity as a driver of fiscal imbalance.
January 22, 2010
La Opinion quoted SPPD Senior Fellow Sherry Bebitch Jeffe about health care reform.
January 19, 2010
The New York Times ran an op-ed by SPPD Professor Dana Goldman and Aaron Edlin of UC Berkeley about health care reform. "Whenever we call our physicians, we can't get in to see them for several months. Our colleagues have a similar experience. This raises a simple question: Who is going to treat the approximately 30 million newly insured?" they wrote. "It isn't just physician practices that are full; nurses are also in short supply. The Institute of Medicine sounded the alarm about a shortage of health care professionals way back in 2002, and pointed out its adverse effects on the quality of care. When we asked one of our doctors if he will care for these newly insured, he said it won't be him he is plenty busy already unless someone offers him a lot of money. And that is precisely what will happen. Health care is not immune from the fundamental laws of supply and demand. If demand for care rises and supply cannot increase, then prices rise."
December 23, 2009
A study overseen by USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development professor Dana Goldman provides support for preventive measures, such as exercise or dietary changes, as a cost-effective way to improve the health and life spans of elderly patients with certain chronic conditions. The study, published in the American Journal of Public Health, found that Americans over the age of 50 who are being treated with diabetes, hypertension or obesity interventions could live longer, with better quality of life, and without increasing lifetime medical spending.
December 16, 2009
New estimates of the future life span of Americans exceed the government's own projections by as much as 7.9 years, according to a research team of heath policy experts that included USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development professor Dana Goldman.
November 30, 2009
Bucking the trend of the recent economic downturn, the Career Services Office at the USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development drew a record-high attendance among employers and students alike for its Fall Networking Night. More than 100 graduate and undergraduate students packed the Radisson Hotel Ballroom Oct. 13 to meet and interact with nearly 80 employers representing the public, private and not-for-profit sectors.
November 30, 2009
USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development Assistant Professor Lisa Schweitzer is among a team of USC researchers to receive a $505,000 award from the National Institutes of Health for a new project, "Access to Scientific Information and Services for Latino Families with Autistic Children."
October 8, 2009
The Los Angeles Times cited a study led by SPPD Teaching Associate Professor LaVonna Lewis which found that one in three grocery stores in low-income Los Angeles neighborhoods often sells expired food. "It's a quality question," Lewis said. "Shouldn't people have access to fresh, healthy foods no matter where they live? It's also a resource question. If you have limited resources, aren't those resources used less effectively if the food you purchase in your neighborhood is quickly out of date?" Future studies will try to determine whether expired food products are found more often in low-income areas, Lewis said.
September 29, 2009
ABC News cited a study led by SPPD Teaching Associate Professor Lavonna Lewis which found that one in three grocery stores in low-income Los Angeles neighborhoods often sells expired food. But the researchers also found expired food on shelves in "the posh suburbs along the beaches to the west of Los Angeles," the story stated. "It's an issue that is more widely distributed than I had thought," Lewis said. While some expired food is sold at a "manager's special" discount, Lewis said she isn't 100 percent convinced that the food is safe. "We don't think people are making informed choices, because the information is so hard to find," she explained. "The consequences may be greater in south Los Angeles because of a low health status."
September 25, 2009
A USC study has found a good reason to check the expiration date on market foods. Researchers, working with residents in lower-income areas of Los Angeles, counted at least one expired poultry, beef or dairy product in about a third of the store visits made over a one-year period. USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development professor LaVonna Lewis presented some of the project's data at the 2009 California REACH US Conference.
September 24, 2009
Dana Goldman, a widely respected expert in health economics, has been named director of the new Leonard D. Schaeffer Center for Health Policy and Economics at USC, according to an announcement from USC Executive Vice President and Provost C. L. Max Nikias. Goldman most recently served as director of the RAND Corp.'s Health Economics, Finance and Organization Division.
September 23, 2009
A major new research center focused on health policy and economics has been established at USC, Executive Vice President and Provost C. L. Max Nikias announced. The center is funded by a $1.2 million operating gift from health care industry leader Leonard D. Schaeffer and his wife, Pamela. The Leonard D. Schaeffer Center for Health Policy and Economics is a collaboration between the USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development and the USC School of Pharmacy.
September 18, 2009
The Sacramento Bee quoted Professor Glenn Melnick on whether the current health care reform proposals will curb escalating medical costs. The proposed plans contain vague notions of improving efficiency and increasing competition, Melnick said. However, there's no guarantee that a government-run insurance plan or other overhaul proposals will bring costs down, he added.
September 11, 2009
American Public Media's "Marketplace" interviewed Associate Professor Darius Lakdawalla about the hidden costs of employer-provided health care. "They'll go to the drug store, they'll get charged 20 bucks or 40 bucks for their prescriptions. Those kinds of things employees are going to tend to know about," Lakdawalla said. "Oftentimes, they don't really know how much the employer is paying for the health insurance premium." Lakdawalla is director of research at the Schaeffer Center for Health Policy and Economics.
September 9, 2009
Richard Callahan, associate dean and director of leadership programs at the USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development, has been appointed to a newly formed advisory board for the California Environmental Protection Agency's Department of Toxic Substances Control.
August 24, 2009
The Columbus Dispatch quoted SPPD Senior Fellow Sherry Bebitch Jeffe about the White House indicating that it would accept a health care bill without a public option. This has infuriated liberal Democrats who supported Barack Obama's campaign in 2008, the story stated. "These guys on the left invested an awful lot in Barack Obama, and I think they feel as if they own a piece of him," Jeffe said. "He's not delivering from their perspective."
April 28, 2009
The San Francisco Chronicle quoted Professor Glenn Melnick about America's preparedness for a potential swine flu outbreak. "There's been a lot more planning, so we're better prepared than we've ever been," said Melnick, holder of the Blue Cross of California Chair in Health Care Finance. "We haven't really seen the budget cuts hit yet," he added. "Next year, we might have a problem." In case of a pandemic, health care workers have been trained to report to work, he added. "There's been a lot more planning and training within health care organizations so people understand the risks and they don't panic unnecessarily and they will report for work."
April 23, 2009
The The Riverside Press-Enterprise quoted Professor Glenn Melnick about hospitals' dependence on Medicare reimbursements. On average, about 55 percent of a hospital's revenue comes from federal reimbursements, Melnick said. A hospital that loses Medicare funding is also likely to lose private insurance contracts, the other main source of hospital revenue, the story noted. "That is usually a death knell for a hospital," he said.
April 17, 2009
The St. Petersburg Times highlighted a presentation that Professor Glenn Melnick delivered at the Association of Health Care Journalists conference in Seattle. Total United States health spending in 2007 was $2.24 trillion, Melnick noted.
March 6, 2009
La Opinion quoted Professor Glenn Melnick about Los Angeles' Pacific Hospital reportedly seeking bankruptcy protection. If the hospital closes, 80 percent of patients who receive care under public assistance programs like MediCal would have to move elsewhere in the San Fernando Valley for services, Melnick said.
January 26, 2009
The USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development marked its 80th anniversary by hosting a special colloquium Jan. 16 at the Davidson Conference Center. During the conference, Dean Jack H. Knott noted that SPPD remains dedicated to advancing academic theory and making a vital impact in the world.
January 25, 2009
The Monterey County Herald quoted Professor Glenn Melnick about the fiscal state of a medical center in Salinas, Calif. It's unclear whether the hospital can continue its newfound financial viability or is doomed to slip back into critical condition, the story stated. "The question is, 'Are they going to find themselves in the same situation five years from now,'" Melnick said. Melnick is director of the Center for Health Policy and Management at USC, the story noted.
December 22, 2008
The USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development signed a formal agreement to participate in Fellows/USA, the Peace Corps' graduate fellowship program. This agreement will enable former volunteers to pursue a graduate education in public administration, public policy, urban planning, health administration and real estate development.
This past summer, more than 40 master's students representing all programs of study with the USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development took part in the school's international lab program, doing research in Foshan, China, and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
A new analysis provides a closer look at how much cancer patients value hope -- with important implications for how insurers value treatment, particularly in end-of-life care. The analysis led by Darius Lakdawalla, director of research at the Leonard D. Schaeffer Center for Health Policy and Economics at USC and associate professor at the USC Sol Price School of Public Policy, surveyed 150 cancer patients currently undergoing treatment. It is part of a special issue on cancer spending in the journal Health Affairs.
Health insurance policies that shift costs to patients through higher co-payments may have serious unintended consequences for children, including less use of effective treatments and an increased number of hospitalizations, according to a new study in by researchers from the Leonard D. Schaeffer Center for Health Policy and Economics, a collaboration between the USC Sol Price School of Public Policy and the School of Pharmacy. The study was published in The Journal of the American Medical Association.
The USC Sol Price School of Public Policy was among several USC schools and programs that ascended in the latest national rankings released by U.S. News & World Report . The Price School climbed to sixth place (from seventh in 2008) in the newest edition of "America's Best Graduate Schools" for public affairs.
As the nation suffers a burgeoning obesity crisis, health advocates and policymakers have zoned in on poor neighborhoods they've termed "food deserts" -- areas with few grocery stores and other access to healthy food. But a new USC study finds that many poor urban neighborhoods have high concentrations of grocery and other retail food outlets. More doesn't translate to better, the researchers said, as residents in poor neighborhoods are more likely to be living next to small mom-and-pop food stores instead of large supermarkets. USC Sol Price School of Public Policy assistant professor Jenny Schuetz was the study's lead author.
City planners long have debated how to get people on their feet and cars off the road. But encouraging urban dwellers to go pedestrian could require different strategies depending on their attitudes toward walking, according to USC Sol Price School of Public Policy professor Marlon Boarnet. The research comes at a time when scholars from multiple disciplines tout the value of walking for health and environmental benefits as much as to alleviate congestion.
The USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development brought its international expertise to the table at the 2011 USC Global Conference, held Oct. 13-15 in Hong Kong. SPPD faculty joined business experts to discuss issues of worldwide significance at the three-day event. "Most of the issues we deal with -- from health care to urban development to the environment -- don't occur just in the United States but around the world," said SPPD Jack Knott. "We incorporate that global perspective as an integral fabric into everything we do at the school."
On average, Americans live about a year-and-a-half less than their Western European counterparts and also less than people in most other developed nations. A study in the July issue of Social Science & Medicine is the first to calculate the fiscal consequences of the growing life expectancy gap over the next few decades. USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development faculty Dana Goldman and Darius Lakdawalla, are among the study's authors.
Helping Americans lead healthier and wealthier lives -- that's how USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development graduates Brooke Lykins and Mary Kuhn plan to spend their upcoming year courtesy of the Clinton-Orfalea Fellowships. The fellows will head to New York in August to work at the William J. Clinton Foundation, which addresses issues of global climate change, HIV and AIDS in the developing world, childhood obesity, and economic opportunity and development.
The nation's biggest employer - the federal government - already has snapped up four members of the USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development's Class of 2011. Master of public administration graduates Kristina McBoyle, Marie Mazwi and Yuliya Zingertal and MPA/master of social work graduate Juliet Bui have been selected to participate in the Presidential Management Fellowship program administered by the U.S. Office of Personnel Management and designed to groom future government leaders.
March 23, 2009