Urban Institute

About: Urban Institute is a nonprofit organization based out in Washington D.C., District of Columbia, United States. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Medicaid & Population. The organization has 927 authors who have published 2330 publications receiving 86426 citations.

Grading a Physician's Value — The Misapplication of Performance Measurement

Abstract: By 2017, the value-based payment modifier will be used to reward or penalize all Medicare physicians on the basis of the relative calculated value of the care they provide. But a physician's overall value cannot be assessed with current or foreseeable measures.

Trends in Volunteer Mentoring in the United States: Analysis of a Decade of Census Survey Data

Abstract: Over the past decade, considerable resources have been devoted to recruiting volunteer mentors and expanding mentoring programs. It is unclear whether these efforts have helped to counter the broader national trends of declining volunteer rates. The current study uses data from the Volunteering Supplement of the Current Population Survey (CPS), sponsored by the U.S. Census Bureau and U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, to explore population-level trends in mentoring over the past decade. Results suggest that mentoring rates have remained relatively stable over the past decade, but that the population of mentors has changed somewhat in terms of age, ethnicity, educational background, and region of the United States. In addition, certain sectors of the mentor population show higher rates of attrition from 1 year to the next. Findings have important implications for the development of recruitment, training, and mentor support practices within mentoring organizations, as well as policies designed to meet the needs of at-risk youth in the U.S.

Tax Policy Issues in Designing a Carbon Tax

Abstract: A carbon tax is a promising tool for discour aging the greenhouse gas emissions that cause climate change. In principle, a well-designed tax could reduce the risk of climate change, minimize the cost of emissions reductions, encourage innovation in low-carbon technologies, and raise new public revenue. But designing a real-world carbon tax poses significant challenges. We analyze those challenges from a public finance perspective, emphasizing three tax policy design issues: setting the tax rate, collecting the tax, and using the resulting revenue. The benefits of a carbon tax will depend on how policymakers address those issues.

The State Children's Health Insurance Program: Successes, Shortcomings, and Challenges

Abstract: This paper examines successes and shortcomings of the SCHIP program. SCHIP is a source of coverage for millions of children, improving their access to health care and sparking innovation in program design and improvements in Medicaid. Concurrently, SCHIP has added to the complexity of the insurance system and introduced new inequities in access to insurance. It is imperfectly targeting eligible uninsured children, and the financing of the program is problematic because of the block-grant funding structure and the use of SCHIP funds to cover adults. These issues need to be addressed during the SCHIP reauthorization process, which is scheduled to begin in federal fiscal year 2006. (Kenney, Genevieve, and Debbie Chang. September/October 2004. The State Children's Health Insurance Program: Successes, Shortcomings, and Challenges. Health Affairs 23(5): 51-62.)