Medicare premium buy-in programs: results of SSA demonstration projects.

Three programs known collectively as the Medicare buy-in programs are available to pay Medicare Part B premiums and, in some cases, other medical expenses for certain low-income individuals. The Health Care Financing Administration administers those programs, with most functions performed by the states. The Social Security Administration (SSA) plays an indirect role in the buy-in programs: with certain exceptions, people who qualify for Medicare and hence for buy-in are beneficiaries of Social Security retirement or disability programs. SSA is often cited as an agency that might be able to increase enrollment in the buy-in programs through outreach to its beneficiaries and by acting as an intermediary in the enrollment process. The three buy-in programs have different requirements for eligibility. The Qualified Medicare Beneficiary (QMB) program includes individuals who have Part A Medicare benefits and whose income does not exceed 100 percent of federal poverty guidelines. People in the Specified Low-Income Medicare Beneficiary (SLMB) program are individuals who would otherwise be QMBs but whose income is more than 100 percent but less than 120 percent of poverty guidelines. People in the Qualified Individual (QI) program are those who meet the other criteria but whose income is less than 175 percent of poverty guidelines. Various reports and studies by government agencies and advocacy organizations conclude that the buy-in programs are not reaching many of the people who are eligible. Low enrollment appears to be a particular issue for the SLMB and QI programs. States have tried various outreach efforts, but the effectiveness of those efforts has not been adequately assessed. In 1998, Congress mandated that SSA conduct a demonstration project to determine how to increase participation in the buy-in programs. The project tested six different administrative models in which outreach letters were sent to potential beneficiaries asking them to contact SSA and then be screened for eligibility and referred for enrollment. SSA was able to screen about 7.1 percent of letter recipients for buy-in eligibility: 4.2 percent were potentially eligible for the programs based on income and resources, and 3.7 percent enrolled in a buy-in program. An evaluation of the probability that letter recipients would contact SSA to be screened found that: Among the elderly, older individuals were less likely to be screened but more likely to enroll. Among the disabled, older individuals were more likely to be screened but less likely to enroll. The disabled were less likely to be screened but more likely to enroll. Individuals with higher Social Security benefits were more likely to be screened but less likely to enroll. Women were more likely to be screened and to enroll. Being married did not appear to affect screening but negatively affected enrollment. Individuals with a preference for materials in Spanish were much more likely to be screened and enrolled. In some of the demonstration sites, enrollment in a Medicare+Choice plan increased the probability of being both screened and enrolled. SSA conducted a survey of some people who did not respond to the outreach letter. Most of those from whom explanations of the nonresponse were obtained had not responded because they were not eligible on the basis of their income or resources. If SSA were to reproduce the demonstrations in a nationwide outreach effort, a national mailing would include nearly 20 million individuals. If response rates were similar to those seen in the 1999 demonstrations, outreach would produce over 740,000 new buy-in enrollees. That number might be increased modestly by conducting additional outreach efforts in conjunction with the mailing.     

Reliability of the preliminary results of the Eleventh Census of Population and Housing of 1990

The author assesses the reliability of the eleventh general population and housing census conducted in Mexico in March 1990. An undercount of as many as two million persons is estimated. (SUMMARY IN ENG)     

Performance reporting for accountability purposes:: Lessons,issues, future

This article addresses the status and directions for performance reporting in the New Zealand public sector from the perspective of the Office of the Auditor General (OAG). It outlines the role of the Audit Office, provides definitions of accountability, and projects the dimensions of a new accountability. The authors assess challenges to performance reporting and accountability, the history of reporting performance accountability in New Zealand, an Audit Office perspective on accountability to Parliament, lessons learned from reform, some issues outstanding, and future development in terms of how the public sector in New Zealand should improve reporting on non-financial performance.     

Determinants of popular financial reporting: Evidence from Swedish municipalities

This paper investigates popular financial reporting, to determine how contextual factors can favour or hinder its development. A balanced panel dataset from 289 Swedish municipalities spanning the period 2015–2021 is utilised for the empirical analysis, which is based on bivariate correlations and logistic regression models. The results are interpreted through the lens of legitimacy theory, integrated with innovation and diffusion models. The findings suggest that, while political factors play a certain role, it is primarily the local accounting networks, which enable the exchange of experiences among neighbouring municipalities within the same regional area, that are the most influential factor. These results may prove to be helpful in various contexts, contributing to the academic debate on the relevance of institutional and contextual factors in explaining the voluntary decision to prepare popular financial reports.     

International financial reporting standards convergence in the Indian context: Insights from practitioners

The purpose of this paper is to first, understand the existing status of Indian Accounting Standards (Ind-AS) and its convergence from the perspective of accounting practitioners in India; and second, to elucidate the benefits and challenges while implementing Ind-AS. The paper exemplifies the Ind-AS convergence to International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) thereon cited as Ind-AS. The study considers exploratory research design and uses an in-depth interview approach, a qualitative research method of 32 practitioners in India from a heterogeneous group of 6 regulating institutions, 8 conglomerate companies and 18 audit firms including the Big four. The preparedness of the Ind-AS transition was studied from the perspective of accounting practitioners interviewed revealing three critical perspectives. First, the respondents believed that a greater understanding of the benefits of IFRS convergence can be built by professional education and proper training. Second, the main challenges reflected by the respondents on the implementation of Ind-AS can be summarised in two key areas: the complexity and interpretation of the accounting standards, since there are fundamental differences between IFRS and the converged Ind-AS. Third, by strengthening the regulatory framework for monitoring, enforcing accounting and auditing requirements concerning listed companies.     

Intersectoral differences in public affairs: the duty of public reporting in public administration

Public reporting is a requirement for public affairs practitioners in public administration because of the democratic context in which government operates. By reporting to the public‐at‐large on agency activities, government agencies contributed to an informed citizenry, the essential foundation of a democracy. For public affairs in business administration and non‐profit administration, public reporting is desirable rather than mandatory. Public reporting was traditionally accomplished indirectly, through news media coverage of government. However, recent research suggests a diminution of interest by the media in fulfilling its role as an instrument of democracy. This means that the public reporting obligation of public affairs professionals in public administration needs to shift to direct reporting, through such products as annual reports, newsletters, TV programmes, Internet websites etc. Copyright © 2002 Henry Stewart Publications.     

Materiality in corporate sustainability reporting within UK retailing

The concept of materiality is attracting increasing attention in corporate sustainability reporting. This paper offers a preliminary examination of the extent to which the UK's leading retailers are currently addressing materiality in their sustainability reports and offers some wider reflections on the ways retailers are embracing materiality. The paper begins with a short discussion of the concept of materiality and on its determination and the paper draws its empirical material from the most recent sustainability reports posted on the Internet by the UK's top ten retailers. The findings reveal that there are significant variations in the extent to which the UK's leading retailers are embracing materiality and that there is no evidence of a sector specific approach to materiality within the UK retail community. More generally the authors argue that the methods currently being used to determine materiality are flawed and that retailers seem likely to continue to face challenges in looking to reconcile the relationships between executive management teams, investors and a wide range of stakeholders in operationalising the concept of materiality. The paper provides an accessible review of the extent to which the UK's leading retailers are currently embracing materiality as part of the sustainability reporting process and as such it will interest academics, students and practitioners interested in retailing and corporate sustainability. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Sustainability reporting: How consistency and interdependence in financial and managerial accounting enhance eco-controls

Sustainability reporting requires consistency and interdependency of financial accounting and managerial accounting. Accounting is closely entangled with the eco control (EC) in organisations. The quality of (sustainability) reporting and the disclosures is only as good as the quality and consistency of accounting data captured. Therefore, accounting choices and practises have an important role to play in sustainability reporting. This study explores the mechanism through which accounting informs EC. Through the independent and serial use of two levers, first ‘interdependency’ between financial accounting and management accounting and second, though the use of ‘digitalized information’ as a moderating variable, it is probed as to how EC are shaped. An empirical investigation is undertaken by carefully curating primary data, analysed through partial least squares structural equation modelling technique to inform broader debates in the ‘sustainability reporting’ literature concerning the mechanisms through which EC, are influenced by accounting mechanics, choices and disclosures. Sound EC contributes to sustainability accounting and governance to meet needs of the firms direct and indirect stakeholders without comprising the firm's ability to meet the needs of future stakeholders. The study established that the interdependency between the financial accountants and the management accountants output, mediates the effect of a consistent financial language on EC practises and this effect is independent of the firm size or the industry category. This article brings to the fore, the interplay of FA and MA in informing the environmental controls. The under researched perspective addressed by this study is that EC are highly interdependent with the consistency and comprehensiveness of accounting that informs it which in turn is effected by the cooperation and coordination (interdependency) between FA and MA information providers.     

Projecting retirement income of future retirees with panel data: results from the modeling income in the near-term (MINT) project

Cross-sectional data capture only a point in time and miss individual changes in earnings, labor force participation, marriage, fertility, and health. Because panel data follow individuals over time, they do not have this problem. The problems or concerns with cross-sectional data may be compounded when these data are used to make projections. Iams and Sandell (1997) found that using panel data on earnings explained much more variation in future earnings than using cross-sectional survey data. Panel data are also needed to estimate Social Security benefits, especially for women. Because of auxiliary benefits paid to spouses, ex-spouses, and widow(er)s of entitled workers, an individual's Social Security retirement benefit depends not only on his or her earnings history, but also on his or her marital history and the earnings histories of current and previous spouses. When we compare projected unreduced Social Security benefits with what they would be if we didn't have marital history or earnings history data for men, we find that: Benefits computed using only earnings histories are not very different from benefits computed using both earnings and marital histories. Benefits computed using only current earnings and marital histories underestimate benefits for those in earlier birth cohorts and overestimate benefits for those in the most recent birth cohort. Benefits computed without either marital or earnings histories underestimate benefits for all birth cohorts, but by much more for earlier cohorts than for more recent cohorts. For women we find that benefits computed without marital or earnings histories underestimate benefits in all birth cohorts. The largest differences are for women in earlier birth cohorts. Using both marital and earnings histories to estimate unreduced Social Security benefits, we find that men are projected to continue receiving higher benefits than women, although the gap is expected to narrow as the baby boomers near retirement age. We also look at the composition of projected total income available at retirement for those with incomes in the 45th-55th percentiles of the income distribution and find that: Total income at retirement is projected to be larger for men than for women in every birth cohort. Women are projected to receive the largest share of their total income from Social Security benefits. Men are projected to receive the largest share of their total income from other income sources, although this share declines as the baby boomers near retirement age.     

Latin–American public financial reporting: recent and future development

In recent years, numerous Latin–American countries have carried out reforms in their public accounting systems, with technical cooperation provided by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). Taking into account the lack of international accounting standards for the public sector, USAID has designed a model termed Integrated Financial Management System for Latin America and the Caribbean (IFMS or SIMAFAL). This model is intended to provide better financial information for governmental decision‐taking as regards the allocation of resources; a further goal is to achieve greater transparency and for a higher degree of responsibility to be accepted for the commitments made and the results of activities undertaken. Important changes are currently taking place on the international public accounting scene and the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) is pressing for the adoption of a set of international public accounting standards by Latin–American countries. In this article, we compare the level of information included in the year‐end governmental public report in Latin–American countries which have carried out their reforms outside SIMAFAL with that of others which have followed this model. Second, we examine the extent to which the public financial reporting practices recommended by IFAC coincide with those adopted by the above countries. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Municipal debt in Switzerland: new empirical results

Switzerland has experienced extensive institutional reforms at the local level that could influence local debt. These reforms have included municipal mergers, greater inter-communal cooperation, reformed political decision-making mechanisms, and the introduction of new public management measures. Many of these reforms originated at the cantonal level. However, the institutional diversity among Swiss municipalities hardly has diminished. A cross-sectional analysis for the 137 largest Swiss cities and villages in 2004 shows that direct democratic rights and a high degree of fiscal autonomy lead to a lower level of local debt. There is no statistical support for the hypothesis that reforms following the new public management guidelines had an effect on debt levels.     

Telling the stories of others: claims of authenticity in human rights reporting and comics journalism

ABSTRACT

There are various intermediaries bearing witness to distant conflicts and atrocities. They travel to distant parts of the world to collect different kinds of evidence and stories, motivated by the assumption that knowledge can evoke change. This article asks how authenticity is claimed in this context of humanitarian witnessing. It focuses on two, at first sight quite different, practices of representation: NGO human rights reporting and comics journalism, also known as graphic reporting. It argues that representations of first-hand access to sites and people involved in abuses, or of ‘having been there’, figure centrally in establishing authenticity and thereby truth. The article discusses two techniques through which first-hand truth claims are performed: representations of field research methodologies, and personifications of truth in the figure of the witness. The intermediaries chosen for an in-depth study are the human rights NGO Human Rights Watch and the US comics journalist Joe Sacco.     

Ethnic and religious variations in the reporting of racist victimization in Britain: 2000 and 2008/2009

The role of victimization in the generation of ethnic inequalities is increasingly acknowledged yet its impact on the lives of people with different religious affiliations remains underexplored. This is despite evidence of the importance of religion for forms of group identification and social mobilization. An exploration of the particular impact of religion as a focus for experiences of victimization may be particularly pertinent given the increasingly negative treatment of Muslim people since the riots in Britain of 2001, the terrorist incidents of 2001, 2004 and 2005 and the political and military responses to them. Cross-sectional analyses of data collected in 2000 and 2008/2009 explore whether there is evidence that the ethnic/religious patterning of reports of different forms of victimization have varied over time, after adjusting for the impact of age, gender, migration and socioeconomic differences between the groups. In 2000 Muslim people with different ethnic backgrounds were less likely, but by 2008/2009 were more likely, to report experiences of victimization than Caribbean Christians. However, the ethnic/religious patterning of perceptions of Britain as a ‘racist society’ were more consistent over time. This may suggest that, despite their increased exposure to victimization over the period, Muslim people in the United Kingdom have yet to experience the racialization characteristic of the treatment of Caribbean Christians, which requires a more prolonged exposure to racist negative attitudes. But this may be only a matter of time. The persistent expectation of poor treatment described by Caribbean Christians is testament to the difficulties of addressing these negative perceptions once racialized identities are embedded. Immediate action must be taken to prevent this occurring among other ethnic/religious minorities.     

A Case of Moral Heroism: Sympathy,Personal Identification,and Mortality in Rwanda

What sort of person chooses to remain in a place like Rwanda when an easy exit is offered, when leaving seems the only safe or sane option, and when one is not directly connected to the would-be victims? And how does this person come to develop a circle of care that is expansive enough to include those who are radically Other? In what follows, I consider these questions through a detailed examination of the recent example of Paul Rusesabagina, the Hutu hotel manager in Kigali, Rwanda, who sheltered more than a thousand Tutsi and moderate Hutu refugees during the hundred-day genocide. I argue that Rusesabagina was primarily motivated by an awareness of his own mortality, his personal history, a desire to distance himself from the negative behavior of Hutu like himself, and a strong identification with the Tutsi refugees under his protection.     

Tiny Graves: Mortality,Health, and Personhood in the Early Stages of Life

In recent years, the discipline of anthropology has neglected the long-standing “othering” of children and infants that found its way in past ethnographies. This recent development in the field has resulted in more inclusive and well-rounded ethnographic research and also the culmination of new theoretical questions, including that of the beginnings of personhood. This article explores personhood as it relates to one of the most precarious stages of life, most commonly referred to as the period of “infancy”, using examples from the fields of both philosophy and anthropology. More specifically, it seeks to expand on the cultural practices, ethics, and biological aspects that influence the onset of personhood and the concept of “self” in society.     

China's corporate credit reporting system: A comparison with the United States and Germany

Corporate credit reporting (CCR), which aims at increasing trust in corporates, constitutes an intriguing, yet understudied set of regulatory institutions as it is both a regulatory object and subject at the same time. Differences in national CCR systems pose challenges for multinational companies and have increasingly become a subject of international conflicts on regulatory standards. In this context, the case of China deserves special attention since the country pursues both institutional divergence and convergence with international examples. Hence, the characterization of China's regulatory regime remains difficult. By comparing the institutional context of CCR in China to those in the United States and Germany, this paper sheds light on a specific aspect of China's complex regulatory regime. At the same time, it provides insights into the Chinese manifestation of CCR, which are important for the international business community.     

Mortality in Mexico. Some considerations on rural-urban differentials

"In this essay, certain aspects related to rural-urban mortality differentials in Mexico are analyzed....[These include] the availability, advantages, and limitations of different sources of information and the disparity of levels and tendencies according to particular indicators of acceptable reliability, especially those deriving from recent demographic surveys conducted in Mexico. The findings confirm an inverse ratio between size of settlement and mortality, and reveal a widening of the differentials over time." (SUMMARY IN ENG)