Month: March 2021

Maggots, Rape and Yet Five Stars: How U.S. Ratings of Nursing Homes Mislead the Public

Mary Pat Campbell

Link: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/13/business/nursing-homes-ratings-medicare-covid.html

Excerpt:

Much of the information submitted to C.M.S. is wrong. Almost always, that incorrect information makes the homes seem cleaner and safer than they are.

Some nursing homes inflate their staffing levels by, for example, including employees who are on vacation. The number of patients on dangerous antipsychotic medications is frequently understated. Residents’ accidents and health problems often go unreported.

In one sign of the problems with the self-reported data, nursing homes that earn five stars for their quality of care are nearly as likely to flunk in-person inspections as to ace them. But the government rarely audits the nursing homes’ data.

Data suggest that at least some nursing homes know in advance about what are supposed to be surprise inspections. Health inspectors still routinely found problems with abuse and neglect at five-star facilities, yet they rarely deemed the infractions serious enough to merit lower ratings.

At homes whose five stars masked serious problems, residents developed bed sores so severe that their bones were exposed. Others lost the ability to move.

Author(s): Silver-Greenberg, Jessica; Gebeloff, Robert.

Publication Date: 13 March 2021

Publication Site: New York Times

Data visualisation by hand: drawing data for your next story

Mary Pat Campbell

Link: https://datajournalism.com/read/longreads/data-visualisation-by-hand

Graphic:

Excerpt:

We live in a world where data visualisations are done through intricate code and graphic design. From Tableau to Datawrapper and Python and R, numerous possibilities exist for visualising compelling stories. But in the beginning, all data visualisation was done by hand. Visualisation pioneers like W. E. B. Du Bois and Florence Nightingale hand-drew their visualisations because there was simply no other way to make them.

For Du Bois it was his team of black sociologists who explained institutionalised racism to the world using data visualisations, while for Nightingale it was her diagram showing the causes of mortality.

And, even as computers developed, it was often easier to visualise using analogue means. This article will explore the history of hand-drawn visualisations and the case for presenting them in this style. It will also show examples from experts who have opted for the pencil over the screen. You’ll also learn some top tips to help get you started.

Author(s): Amelia McNamara

Publication Date: 24 March 2021

Publication Site: DataJournalism.com

250 Top Business Leaders Just Warned Cuomo: NY’s Tax Hike Proposals Will Have One Huge Consequence

Mary Pat Campbell

Link: https://fee.org/articles/250-top-business-leaders-just-warned-cuomo-ny-s-tax-hike-proposals-will-have-one-huge-consequence/

Excerpt:

Thanks to the recently-passed $1.9 trillion spending package, the state of New York is set to receive a whopping $23.5 billion in federal bailout money. This is more than enough to make up for any revenue gaps incurred over the last year. But progressive lawmakers are nonetheless considering a slew of new business and personal taxes—prompting 250 top business leaders to pen an open letter this week warning that these punitive tax hikes could have drastic ramifications.

“Significant corporate and individual tax increases will make it far more difficult to restart the economic engine and reassemble the deep and diverse talent pool that makes New York the greatest city in the world,” wrote the leaders, whose ranks include the CEOs of JP Morgan Chase, Blackrock, and Goldman Sachs. “Many members of our workforce have resettled their families in other locations, generally with far lower taxes than New York, and the proposed tax increases will make it harder to get them to return.”

Author(s): Brad Polumbo

Publication Date: 24 March 2021

Publication Site: Foundation for Economic Education

Geeking Out: House of Representatives Apportionment Visualization 1910-2010

Mary Pat Campbell

Link: https://marypatcampbell.substack.com/p/geeking-out-house-of-representatives

Graphic:

Excerpt:

So you can see how the dominating states change in the House of Representatives:

in 1910, it was Illinois, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New York

in 2010, it was New York, California, Texas, and Florida

While New York was a large state throughout this visualization, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Illinois dropped out and California, Texas, and Florida rose up.

Author(s): Mary Pat Campbell

Publication Date: 24 March 2021

Publication Site: STUMP at Substack

THE ECONOMICS OF THE 2021 AMERICAN RESCUE PLAN: GETTING RELIEF TO THOSE WHO NEED IT

Mary Pat Campbell

Link: https://ideas.darden.virginia.edu/2021-american-rescue-plan

Excerpt:

If you ask Korinek, this is really Economics 101. “It’s about providing insurance to spread out unequal impact,” he says. “Economists generally think that the government should provide such ‘crisis insurance’ whenever the private market can’t. One example is unemployment insurance.”

When we face risks that are individual-specific, notes Korinek, such as the risk that our house may burn down, it’s relatively easy to buy insurance in the marketplace. However, when we’re confronted with unforeseen, economy-wide risks, like pandemics, it is essentially impossible to be insured. “The way I view the hand of the government during a crisis,” says Korinek, “is not that it distorts markets. Rather, it makes up for missing markets. The market is incomplete, and the government is making it work better.”

Author(s): Gosia Glinska, Anton Korinek

Publication Date: 2 March 2021

Publication Site: UVa Darden Ideas to Action

SUNY Faculty Urge Pension to Divest from Fossil Fuels

Mary Pat Campbell

Link: https://therivernewsroom.com/suny-faculty-pension-divest-from-fossil-fuels/

Excerpt:

In late February, the State University of New York Cortland Faculty Senate, which represents instructors at the Southern Tier school, unanimously passed a resolution urging its pension fund manager, Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association, to divest from fossil fuel companies. “Whereas, the Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association of America-College Retirement Equities Fund (TIAA) has $8 billion invested in industries promoting fossil fuel production, distribution and consumption,” reads the resolution, “…Therefore be it resolved, that the SUNY Cortland faculty urges the SUNY Board of Trustees to support and advocate for the divestment of TIAA funds from all fossil fuel holdings….”

In doing so, the SUNY Cortland Faculty Senate became the latest institution to join TIAA Divest, a campaign demanding that TIAA cease investing in fossil fuel projects, businesses involved in deforestation, and other enterprises accelerating climate change. TIAA has thus far refused to take action, but environmentalists hope that the growing pressure from clients like SUNY faculty will force its hand.

Author(s): Arvind Dilawar

Publication Date: 16 March 2021

Publication Site: The River

Moderna Is Testing Its Covid-19 Vaccine on Young Children

Mary Pat Campbell

Link: https://www.wsj.com/articles/moderna-is-testing-its-covid-19-vaccine-on-young-children-11615892416

Excerpt:

Moderna Inc. has begun studying its Covid-19 vaccine in children aged 6 months to 11 years in the U.S. and Canada, the latest effort to widen the mass-vaccination campaign beyond adults.

The Cambridge, Mass., company said Tuesday that the first children have received doses in the study, which Moderna is conducting in collaboration with the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and a division of the Department of Health and Human Services.

“This pediatric study will help us assess the potential safety and immunogenicity of our COVID-19 vaccine candidate in this important younger age population,” Moderna Chief Executive Stéphane Bancel said.

Author(s): Peter Loftus

Publication Date: 16 March 2021

Publication Site: Wall Street Journal

Democrats Gave Americans a Big Boost Buying Health Insurance. It Didn’t Come Cheap.

Mary Pat Campbell
Democrats Gave Americans a Big Boost Buying Health Insurance. It Didn’t Come Cheap.

Excerpt:

The reliance on private plans — a hard-fought compromise in the 2010 health law that was designed to win over industry — already costs taxpayers tens of billions of dollars each year, as the federal government picks up a share of the insurance premiums for about 9 million Americans.

The ACA’s price tag will now rise higher because of the recently enacted $1.9 trillion covid relief bill. The legislation will direct some $20 billion more to insurance companies by making larger premium subsidies available to consumers who buy qualified plans.

Author(s): Noam N. Levey

Publication Date: 24 March 2021

Publication Site: Kaiser Health News

Comment letter by TIA Board Member John Kayser on recent GASB Exposure Drafts

Mary Pat Campbell

Link: https://www.truthinaccounting.org/news/detail/comment-letter-by-tia-board-member-john-kayser-on-recent-gasb-exposure-drafts

Excerpt:

Several months ago, the Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) issued two new Exposure Drafts for proposals that would lead to a new government accounting concept statement and related standard. GASB invited comment on those proposals, a process in which Truth in Accounting participated directly and also encouraged others to participate.

…..

… The following information is on the State of Illinois, the city of Chicago and the Chicago Public School (“CPS”) system … The severe financial decline in those three entities have not been at all adequately communicated to the various users of the information. The accounting standards and reporting have not required it. Those governmental units are financially unsustainable and their services to their citizens have not been sustained. The financial accounting standards have been fundamentally flawed for decades and border on gross negligence.

… The GASB must have a higher level of accounting standards. There are no independent third parties overseeing their government accountings standards like there is with FASB and nongovernmental entities. The financial and service sustainability of State and local entities are in question. The services they provide are of the utmost importance to the public and their citizenry. … Requiring fund balance accounting using total financial resources focus measurement and accrual basis of accounting is the tool necessary for the political system and the public to successfully address these issues.

Author(s): Bill Bergman, John Kayser

Publication Date: 22 March 2021

Publication Site: Truth in Accounting

14th Actuarial Speculative Fiction Submissions

Mary Pat Campbell

Link: https://www.soa.org/sections/2020-speculative-fiction-contest/

Excerpt:

The 14th Speculative Fiction Contest is over, and we now get to find out which story is the readers’ favorite!

Read each of the stories submitted by our creative and imaginative actuaries. Pick up to three of your favorite stories and vote for no more than three, so that we have a true Readers’ Choice Award. We will award the author of the story getting the most votes a specially designed Speculative Fiction Zoom background and an SOA branded gift. Be sure to tell your friends about this contest. Get them to read the stories and pick their favorites too!

Voting online must occur from March 8 – April 15. On May 1 this award, as well as all the other awards will be announced on the SOA website.

Publication Date: March 2021

Publication Site: Society of Actuaries

A Primer on Insurance Policies and Genetics

Mary Pat Campbell

Link: https://www.soa.org/resources/research-reports/2021/primer-ins-policies-genetics/

Full report: https://www.soa.org/globalassets/assets/files/resources/research-report/2021/primer-ins-policies-genetics-report.pdf

Graphic:

Excerpt:

A new subset of Somatic non-blueprint information is the growing field of Epigenetics, defined as changes ‘above
the genetics,’ where it has recently been found that lifestyle choices also induce non-heritable physical or chemical
changes directly on a person’s DNA after birth, and can be measured by isolating the DNA and revealing these
features. The U.S. Center for Disease Control states: “Epigenetics is the study of how your behaviors and
environment can cause changes that affect the way your genes work. Unlike genetic changes, epigenetic changes
are reversible and do not change your DNA sequence.” (9)


An example of the latter is a finding that the tips of our chromosomes – called telomeres – can shorten or lengthen
in correlation with health status and ‘biological aging,’ a finding that was the subject of a 2009 Nobel Prize (10). An
additional example of epigenetics is in tobacco use, shown below, and generally discussed at the 2020 SOA Health
Conference by Dr. Brian Chen at this link https://webcasts.soa.org/products/actuarial-innovation-and-technologyupdate-on-recent-research#tab-product_tab_speaker_s.

Author(s): James Timmins

Publication Date: March 2021

Publication Site: Society of Actuaries