More and more, adoptions being made out of foster care, By Colleen O’Connor, October 25, 2011, Denver Post: “Images of children from distant countries, from Bulgaria to China to Russia, have been the public face of adoption in America. But that picture is overdue for an update. Most kids adopted by U.S. families now come from the child-welfare system: about 52,340 in 2010, up from 15,000 in 1988. In Colorado, the number has increased 125 percent to 1,044 in 2010 from 465 in 1995. The consensus is that it’s good to get children out of ‘the system.’ However, such adoptions can bring with them unanticipated physical and emotional challenges that require ongoing support…”
Day: October 26, 2011
Medicaid Information System – New York
Taking pulse of Medicaid costs, By Cathleen F. Crowley, October 25, 2011, Albany Times-Union: “Guy Amisano’s soda company sold cases of Pepsi all over Western New York, but he never could put his finger on which sales were the most profitable or whether his price discounts paid off. So in the 1980s, Amisano hired some computer geeks to build a software program to track sales and costs in real time. ‘I was able to see precisely what and to whom I should sell and at what price to achieve optimal profitability without losing volume,’ Amisano said. His profits rose 20 percent and his company grew significantly. Over the next 14 years, Amisano ran Pepsi-Cola Elmira Bottling Co. while selling his computer program on the side. More than half of the beverage industry bought it. In 2000, his family sold the Horseheads-based bottling company to focus on the visual datamining software under a business called Salient Management Company. Now New York’s Medicaid system — the largest in the nation — uses Salient’s software to track the public health program’s $52 billion annual budget, 4.7 million recipients and 60,000 health care providers. Medicaid is the public health insurance program for low-income and disabled people. For the first time, top health officials say they can see where Medicaid dollars are going in real time…”
SNAP and Farmers Markets
Minn. farmers’ markets adapt as food stamp program changes to EBT, By Julie Siple, October 25, 2011, Minnesota Public Radio: “Getting fruits and vegetables into the hands of low-income Minnesotans got a little bit easier this summer, as a growing number of farmers markets across the state allowed customers to pay with Electronic Benefit Transfer, or EBT cards — the replacement for food stamps. It’s part of a national trend, one aimed at making fresh produce more accessible to the more than 45 million Americans who rely on government assistance to put food on their table…”