Community benefit activities of private, nonprofit hospitals

The definition of hospital community benefits has been intensely debated for many years. Recently, consensus has developed about one group of activities being central to community benefits because of its focus on care for the poor and on needed community services for which any payments received are low relative to costs. Disagreements continue, however, about the treatment of bad debt expense and Medicare shortfalls. A recent revision of the Internal Revenue Service's Form 990 Schedule H, which is required of all nonprofit hospitals, highlights the agreed-on set of activities but does not dismiss the disputed items. Our study is the first to apply definitions used in the new IRS form to assess how conclusions about the adequacy of nonprofit hospital community benefits could be affected if bad debt expenses and Medicare shortfalls are included or excluded. Specifically, we examine 2005 financial data for California and Florida hospitals. Overall, we find that conclusions about community benefit adequacy are very different depending on which definition of community benefits is used. We provide thoughts on new directions for the current policy debate about the treatment of bad debts and Medicare shortfalls in light of these findings.     

The deployment of Canadian experts and teachers in international development

Abstract: The purpose of this paper is twofold. First, it examines the deployment of Canadian experts and teachers in international development. Secondly, it assesses the extent to which the distribution of Canadian expertise among developing countries is consistent with the Canadian policy of concentrating on the needs of the poorest of the poor and those in greatest need. The results show that over one-half of all Canadian experts go to Africa and that about 20 per cent are women, mostly in traditional female-dominated professions. Using more objective social and economic development indicators, such as the Physical Quality of Life Index and Disparity Reduction Rates, however, the results show that the deployment of Canadian expertise does not reflect the real needs of many of the developing countries receiving aid from the Canadian International Development Agency. These contradictions and inconsistencies are discussed in the light of competing and often conflicting foreign policy objectives which often override the legitimate development needs of the most needy countries. Specific suggestions are made to alleviate some of the inconsistencies. Sommaire: Cet article poursuit un double objectif. Il se penche tout d'abord sur le contingent d'experts et de professeurs canadiens nommés à l'étranger dans le cadre du développement international. Ensuite, il évalue si la répartition des compétences canadiennes dans les pays en voie de développement est conforme à la politique canadienne selon laquelle il faut se concentrer sur les besoins des plus pauvres parmi les pauvres et des plus démunis. Les résultats montrent que plus de la moitié de tous les experts canadiens vont en Afrique et qu'environ 20% d'entre eux sont des femmes, celles-ci exerçant surtout des professions typiquement féminines par tradition. Toutefois, en s'appuyant sur des indicateurs de développement économique et sociaux plus objectifs, comme 1'Indice de la qualité physique de la vie et les Taux de réduction des disparités, les résultats montrent que le contingent d'experts canadiens ne reflete pas les vrais besoins de beaucoup de pays en voie de développement bénéficiant de l'assistance de 1'Agence canadienne de développe-ment international. Dans l'article, on analyse ces contradictions et ces illogismes à la lumière des objectifs de la politique étrangère, lesquels sont souvent en conflit les uns avec les autres et ne tiennent pas compte des besoins légitimes des pays les plus démunis en matière de développement. L'article contient des suggestions précises visant à réduire certaines contradictions.     

Policy Reform and the Politics of Housing in the British Conservative Party 1924-1929

This paper examines an important period in the development of the modern British Conservative Party. The changing patterns of electoral support in the first decade after the first world war required the Conservatives to recast their policies to appeal to the new electorate. Many historians of this period see the development of policy at this time as signalling a shift in the Party that constituted a form of 'new Conservatism'. This paper looks at on the substance of the welfare policy reforms and, concentrating on housing policy, argues that there is little evidence of fundamental reform. It is argued that far from constituting a reformist agenda, the Conservative welfare policies of the time in fact reflect a simple and pragmatic reading of the fluid and unpredictable political circumstances of the time.     

Authoritariansim as indicated by measures of acceptance of authority and directiveness among police officers,students and townspeople

Conclusion Recently theory and scales measuring authoritarianism and cynicism of police have come into close scrutiny. In particular, Langworthy (1987:28,33) has concluded from his review of 21 empirical studies that police cynicism appears to have several different dimensions and that the “failure to detect cynicism or a factor closely related to it is a product of reliance on a very flawed instrument the Niederhoffer index.” To address that criticism of a faulty instrument, this research has utilized scales measuring directiveness and proauthority. For reasons of alpha coefficients, only the scores on the pro-authority scale were analyzed. Mean scores on the pro-authority scale between law officer, students, townspeople and police officers were not significantly different. When investigating variables relating to the high scores of proauthority of police officers, rank was statistically significant while age was not. For future research, separate population should be continued as well as random sampling. In addition, variables of age, sex, ethnic, rank and departmental/organizational dimensions should be explored.