The Affordable Care Act and changing economic conditions have encouraged the integration of physicians and hospitals. The objective of the study is to examine how hospitals and physicians have transitioned between integration levels over time.
Houston’s pension funds are in financial trouble and pose a significant risk to the financial health of the city. This paper analyzes a subset of the city's pension plans—in particular, what is normally referred to as a defined benefit (DB) plan.
Using a public health approach to study drug-related murders on the U.S.-Mexico border, the authors conclude the region is experiencing a "violence epidemic."
This paper reviews the literature on asthma management programs for children and discusses the implications and recommendations for asthma management programs, future research and policy development.
Though health education cost-effectively reduces the incidence, morbidity and mortality of chronic conditions such as obesity, currently there is no consistent, systematic method by which Americans are educated about their health. This paper discusses proven approaches to positively change poor behaviors such as overeating and a sedentary lifestyle — key factors that lead to obesity. Health problems related to obesity are thereby reduced, cutting health care costs.
This paper investigates how new potential and proposed regulations will influence the natural gas market in the United States in the coming decades, using the Rice World Gas Trade Model (RWGTM) to examine scenarios in which domestic natural gas development is stressed in a variety of ways. It considers a range of possible policy actions from the federal to the local level.
A new analysis reveals substantial global health gains for AIDS, malaria and neglected tropical diseases that were first targeted by the administration of President George W. Bush in 2003 and then greatly expanded by the Obama administration. Beginning in 2016, an incoming administration will have opportunities to build on this legacy to control and eliminate poverty-related diseases — including those with pandemic potential — and to assert American leadership while being mindful of fiscal constraints.
The United States should assign a particularly high priority on science and technology over the next four years, especially for federal support of research.
