Newswire Archives
A new brief from the Urban Institute explores employment and earnings outcomes among advanced degree recipients. Examining these outcomes across degree, occupational, and demographic categories paints a nuanced picture of the payoffs of graduate and professional education.
The brief can be obtained at https://www.urban.org/research/publication/after-graduate-and-professional-school/view/full_report.
Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-TN) and Ranking Member Patty Murray (D-WA) are seeking comments and suggestions from education stakeholders for the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee to consider as they work to draft a reauthorization of the Higher Education Act.
Comments are due by February 23, 2018 and should be sent to: HigherEducation2018@help.senate.gov.
Projections from the CMS Office of the Actuary indicate that national health expenditure growth is expected to average 5.5% annually over 2017-2026. That growth is projected to be faster than projected growth in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by 1.0%. As a result, the report projects the health share of GDP to rise from 17.9% in 2016 to 19.7% by 2026.
Projections can be obtained at https://www.cms.gov/Research-Statistics-Data-and-Systems/Statistics-Trends-and-Reports/NationalHealthExpendData/NationalHealthAccountsProjected.html.
Health care added 20,000 new jobs in January 18, slightly less than the 2017 average of 24,000 new jobs per month. More than half of January growth was in hospitals, which added 12,700 jobs, double the 2017 monthly average of 6,000.
Additional information can be obtained at https://altarum.org/sites/default/files/uploaded-related-files/SHSS-Labor-Brief_February_2018_0.pdf.
An article in the journal BMJ on February 7, 2018 discusses reasons why white American are dying at higher rates.
The article can be obtained at https://www.urban.org/sites/default/files/publication/96466/failing_health_of_the_united_states_1.pdf.
The Trump Administration submitted to Congress its budget request for fiscal year 2019. Among other components, it proposes reductions of hundreds of billions of dollars in reductions to Medicare and Medicaid over 10 years.
The request can be obtained at https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/budget-fy2019.pdf.
Nearly 11.8 million individuals selected a 2018 health plan during open enrollment, based on new data from the National Academy for State Health Policy that includes all U.S. states. Plan selections in the 17 state-based marketplaces, including those that use the federal HealthCare.gov platform, rose by 0.19%, while selections in the 34 states that use the federally-facilitated marketplace fell by 5.3%.
Data can be obtained at https://nashp.org/state-health-insurance-marketplace-enrollment-2017-and-2018/.
Approximately 3 million American adults lack access to both online and physical institutes of higher education. A report from the Urban Institute examines the intersection of physical education deserts with online education deserts, where access to broadband needed for online education is limited. Although online education is not a perfect substitute for learning in a physical classroom, increasing access to online coursework is a common response to the issue of education deserts.
The report can be obtained at https://www.urban.org/sites/default/files/publication/96191/disconnected_from_higher_education_1.pdf
Sen. Lamar Alexander, Chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee has circulated a White Paper on higher education accountability and is seeking comments by Thursday, February 15 at 5pm. The White Paper provides an overview of federal accountability requirements and considers a number of concepts or proposals for updating the measures.
The White Paper may be accessed here. Information on submitting comments may be accessed here. A statement issued by Ranking Member Patty Murray may be accessed here.
Workers rank health care as the most critical issue in the nation, according to new research from the Employee Benefits Research Institute (EBRI). A survey finds that a majority of workers describe the health care system as poor or fair, although workers’ satisfaction in their own health plans remains high. Rising health care costs have implications for financial wellbeing among workers. Of the one-half of workers reporting cost increases, 26% state they have decreased their contributions to retirement plans and 43% have decreased their contributions to other savings.
The report can be obtained at https://www.ebri.org/pdf/notespdf/EBRINotes%20v39no13.pdf.
