Investment Priorities of the Budgets for Disaster and Safety Management Projects Based on Euclidean Distance with AHP

The object of this study is to determine investment priorities for various types of disasters and accidents in order to promote the investment efficiency of disaster and safety management budgets. To this end, data were collected on 35 types of disasters and accidents and damage statistics for the five most recent years (2014-2018) from 43 disaster and safety management projects budgets. Factors are (ｉ) the damage status of overall disasters and accidents: annual average number of occurrences, human casualties, and property losses, and (ⅱ) the characteristics of large-scale events: occurrence cycle, human casualties per disaster, and property losses per disaster. Investment priority was determined using Euclidean distance with weights determined by the AHP (Analytical Hierarchy Process) to represent the current status of damage caused by disasters and accidents. As a result, storm⋅flood and maritime accidents were found to have greatest investment priority. Heat waves, heavy snows (including cold waves), infectious diseases, suicides, fires (including explosions), and accidents in vulnerable social groups show a higher ranking of investment priority. Massive investment in disaster and safety management focusing on these types is necessary.

Receipt of and Spending on Cessation Medication Among US Adults With Employer-Sponsored Health Insurance, 2010 and 2017

Objective Studies examining the use of smoking cessation treatment and related spending among enrollees with employer-sponsored health insurance are dated and limited in scope. We assessed changes in annual receipt of and spending on cessation medications approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) among tobacco users with employer-sponsored health insurance from 2010 to 2017. Methods We analyzed data on 439 865 adult tobacco users in 2010 and 344 567 adult tobacco users in 2017 from the IBM MarketScan Commercial Database. We used a negative binomial regression to estimate changes in receipt of cessation medication (number of fills and refills and days of supply). We used a generalized linear model to estimate spending (total, employers’, and out of pocket). In both models, covariates included year, age, sex, residence, and type of health insurance plan. Results From 2010 to 2017, the percentage of adult tobacco users with employer-sponsored health insurance who received any cessation medication increased by 2.4%, from 15.7% to 16.1% ( P < .001). Annual average number of fills and refills per user increased by 15.1%, from 2.5 to 2.9 ( P < .001) and days of supply increased by 26.4%, from 81.9 to 103.5 ( P < .001). The total annual average spending per user increased by 53.6%, from $286.40 to $440.00 ( P < .001). Annual average out-of-pocket spending per user decreased by 70.9%, from $70.80 to $20.60 ( P < .001). Conclusions Use of smoking cessation medications is low among smokers covered by employer-sponsored health insurance. Opportunities exist to further increase the use of cessation medications by promoting the use of evidence-based cessation treatments and reducing barriers to coverage, including out-of-pocket costs.

Determinants of CO2 emissions generated by air travel vary across reasons for the trip

This study estimates factors of importance for the carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) emissions generated by travellers flying for different reasons based on representative Austrian micro data for the period 2014–2016. The annual average number of flights taken by adults vary between 0.1 (visiting friends) and 0.8 (going on holiday), and the amount of CO2e emissions generated by each return flight is approximately 1100 kg. This leads to a total of 6 million tonnes CO2e emissions per year. Results of the Pseudo Poisson Maximum Likelihood estimations reveal that the amount of CO2e emissions created is related to socio-demographic, locational and seasonal factors, although mainly for the largest group of travellers: the holiday makers. In this group, individuals with university degrees, young persons (16–24 years) and capital city residents generate the largest amounts of emissions, as opposed to persons with children and large households. Residents of the capital region each quarter cause 64 kg more CO2e emissions than inhabitants of rural areas, persons with university degrees create 74 kg larger emissions than those without degrees and young adults instigate 90 kg more emissions than middle-aged persons. CO2e emissions of holiday flights are highest in the first quarter of the year. The importance of education is also pronounced for CO2e emissions related to business travel, as is gender.

Deposited Dust

A dust storm is meteorologically defined whenever visibility is less than 1,000 meters (Al-Kulaib 1990). Al-Dousari (2009) lists Kuwait as having one of the highest dust precipitation rates in the world. Safar (1980) states that the annual average number of dusty days due to dust storms or rising dust or suspended dust in Kuwait is 255.4. Forty-seven sampling sites representing all the geomorphological and sedimentological provinces in Kuwait were selected for the installation of dust traps to measure the average annual amount of deposited dust during 2009–2010 and 2010–2011 in tons.km-2.

The Benefit non-take-up in the Context of Cash Social Assistance Reform in Lithuania

The purpose of this article is to present the results of cash social assistance (CSA) benefit non-take-up in the context of the CSA system reform in Lithuania. The right to adequate minimum income benefits is one of the 20 key principles under the European Pillar of Social Rights (EPSR). Using the tax-benefit microsimulation model EUROMOD we seek to identify all those eligible to CSA benefit and to analyse its non-take-up rates in Lithuania. The analysis for 2016 showed that CSA benefit non-take-up in Lithuania was around 22%. This means that around one fifth of those who are entitled to this benefit do not get it for various reasons. The results show that there are two types of households, with a non-take-up rate exceeding 30%: single person and lone parent households. The dynamics of CSA benefit non-take-up between 2007-2016 were strongly negatively correlated to the annual average number of recipients of the CSA benefit. This makes for a counter-cyclical dynamic of the CSA non-take-up relative to the economic growth cycle. We find some evidence of an increase in the CSA non-take-up rate following the recent CSA reform in Lithuania. Further analysis is needed to distinguish between the effects of the economic cycle and the CSA reform.

Past, Present, and Future of Virtual Water and Water Footprint

Virtual water and water footprint have received increasing attention. However, no published research has conducted a quantitative and objective review of this field from the perspective of bibliometrics. Therefore, based on the Web of Science Core Collection, this study employs CiteSpace to quantitatively analyze and visualize information about countries, institutions, and authors that have conducted virtual water and water footprint research over the past two decades. As of July 2020, there were 1592 publications on virtual water and water footprint, showing an increasing trend overall. The annual average number of publications was only 7.4 in 1998–2008, while it was 126.5 in 2009–2019. Among them, up to 618 publications in the field of environmental science, accounting for 46%. China was the most productive country with a total of 344 articles, but the Netherlands had the strongest influence with a betweenness centrality of 0.33, indicating its leading position. It is essential to strengthen cooperation between developed (water-rich) and developing (water-poor) countries and to incorporate virtual water into social water cycle research. This study is expected to provide a new perspective for investigating the research frontiers and hot spots of virtual water and water footprint research.

Analysis of the Effect of Serious Illness Medical Insurance on Relieving the Economic Burden of Rural Residents in China: A Case Study in Jinzhai County

Background: In 2003, China established a New Rural Cooperative Medical System (NRCMS) for rural residents to alleviate the burden of medical expenses among rural residents. However, its reimbursement for high medical costs was insufficient. Therefore, China gradually established the Serious Illness Insurance System (SIMIS) based on NRCMS. After receiving payment through NRCMS, patients in rural areas who met the requirements of SIMIS policy would receive a second payment for their high medical expenses. This study aimed to analyze the effect of the implementation of SIMIS on alleviating the economic burden of rural residents in Jinzhai County.Methods: The study used the inpatient reimbursement data of NRCMS in Jinzhai County, Anhui Province, from 2013 to 2016. We adopted descriptive and regression discontinuity (RD) methods to analyze the payment effect of SIMIS. The RD analysis targeted patients (n = 7,353) whose annual serious illness expenses were between CNY 10,000 (1,414 USD) and CNY 30,000 (4,242 USD), whereas the descriptive analysis was used for data of the patients compensated by SIMIS (n = 2720).Results: The results of RD showed that the actual medical insurance payment proportion increased by about 2.5% (lwald = 0.025, P <0.01), inside medical insurance self-payment proportion increased by about 2% (lwald = 0.020, P <0.10), and outside medical insurance self-payment proportion decreased by about 1.6% (lwald = -0.016, P <0.05). The descriptive results showed that patients with serious illnesses mostly chose to go to a hospital outside the county. The annual average number of hospitalizations was 3.64. The reimbursement mainly came from the NRCMS. The payment amount of SIMIS was relatively small, and the out-of-pocket medical expenses were still high.Conclusion: The medical technology level of Jinzhai County could not meet the needs of patients with seriously illnesses, the number of beneficiaries of SIMIS was small, and the ability to relieve the burden of medical expenses of the rural residents was insufficient. The high out-of-pocket expenses increased the possibility that only people with good economic conditions could benefit from the reimbursement of SIMIS, resulting in inequity.

Analysis of the Effect of Serious Illness Medical Insurance on Relieving the Economic Burden of Rural Residents in China: A Case Study in Jinzhai County

Background: In 2003, China established a New Rural Cooperative Medical System (NRCMS) for rural residents to alleviate the burden of medical expenses among rural residents. However, its reimbursement for high medical costs was insufficient. Therefore, China gradually established the Serious Illness Insurance System (SIMIS) based on NRCMS. After receiving payment through NRCMS, patients in rural areas who met the requirements of SIMIS policy would receive a second payment for their high medical expenses. This study aimed to analyze the effect of the implementation of SIMIS on alleviating the economic burden of rural residents in Jinzhai County. Methods: The study used the inpatient reimbursement data of NRCMS in Jinzhai County, Anhui Province, from 2013 to 2016. We adopted descriptive and regression discontinuity (RD) methods to analyze the payment effect of SIMIS. The RD analysis targeted patients (n = 7,353) whose annual serious illness expenses were between CNY 10,000 (1,414 USD) and CNY 30,000 (4,242 USD), whereas the descriptive analysis was used for data of the patients compensated by SIMIS (n = 2720). Results: The results of RD showed that the actual medical insurance payment proportion increased by about 2.5% (lwald = 0.025, P <0.01), inside medical insurance self-payment proportion increased by about 2% (lwald = 0.020, P <0.10), and outside medical insurance self-payment proportion decreased by about 1.6% (lwald = -0.016, P <0.05). The descriptive results showed that patients with serious illnesses mostly chose to go to a hospital outside the county. The annual average number of hospitalizations was 3.64. The reimbursement mainly came from the NRCMS. The payment amount of SIMIS was relatively small, and the out-of-pocket medical expenses were still high.Conclusion: The medical technology level of Jinzhai County could not meet the needs of patients with seriously illnesses, the number of beneficiaries of SIMIS was small, and the ability to relieve the burden of medical expenses of the rural residents was insufficient. The high out-of-pocket expenses increased the possibility that only people with good economic conditions could benefit from the reimbursement of SIMIS, resulting in inequity.

Analysis of the Effect of Rural Residents Serious Illness Medical Insurance on Relieving the Economic Burden of Rural Residents in China:A Case Study in Jinzhai County

Background In 2003, China established a New Rural Cooperative Medical System(NRCMS) for rural residents, which had alleviated the burden of medical expenses of rural residents, but the reimbursement for high medical was insufficient. Therefore, China had gradually established a Serious Illness Insurance System (SIMIS) on the basis of NRCMS. After the payment of NRCMS, patients who met the requirements of SIMIS policy would be given a second payment to further alleviate the economic burden of patients with high medical expenses in rural areas. The purpose of this study is to analyze the effect of the implementation of SIMIS on alleviating the economic burden of rural residents in Jinzhai County. Methods Based on the inpatient reimbursement data of NRCMS in Jinzhai County, Anhui Province from 2013 to 2016. We adopt descriptive and regression discontinuity (RD) method to analyze the payment effect of SIMIS. The RD analysis object (n = 7353) was the patients whose annual serious illness expenses were between CNY 10,000 and CNY 30,000, and the descriptive analysis object (n = 2720) was the patients compensated by SIMIS. Results The results of RD showed that the actual medical insurance payment proportion (AMIPP) increased by about 2.5% (lwald = 0.025, P < 0.01), inside medical insurance self-payment proportion (IMSPP) increased by about 2% (lwald = 0.020, P < 0.10), outside medical insurance self-payment proportion (OMISPP) decreased by about 1.6% (lwald = -0.016, P < 0.05). The descriptive results showed that the serious illness patients mostly chose to go to hospital outside the county. The annual average number of hospitalizations was 3.64. The reimbursement mainly came from the NRCMS. The payment amount of SIMIS was relatively small, and the out of pocket medical expenses were still high. Conclusion The medical technology level of Jinzhai County could not meet the needs of seriously illness patients, the number of beneficiaries of SIMIS was small, and the ability to relieve the burden of medical expenses of rural residents was insufficient. The high out of pocket expenses increased the possibility that people with good economic conditions could enjoy the reimbursement of SIMIS, resulting in inequity.

Analysis of the Effect of Rural Residents Serious Illness Medical Insurance on Relieving the Economic Burden of Rural Residents in China:A Case Study in Jinzhai County

Background In 2003, China established a New Rural Cooperative Medical System(NRCMS) for rural residents, which had alleviated the burden of medical expenses of rural residents, but the reimbursement for high medical was insufficient. Therefore, China had gradually established a Serious Illness Insurance System (SIMIS) on the basis of NRCMS. After the payment of NRCMS, patients who met the requirements of SIMIS policy would be given a second payment to further alleviate the economic burden of patients with high medical expenses in rural areas. The purpose of this study is to analyze the effect of the implementation of SIMIS on alleviating the economic burden of rural residents in Jinzhai County. Methods Based on the inpatient reimbursement data of NRCMS in Jinzhai County, Anhui Province from 2013 to 2016. We adopt descriptive and regression discontinuity (RD) method to analyze the payment effect of SIMIS. The RD analysis object (n = 7353) was the patients whose annual serious illness expenses were between CNY 10,000 and CNY 30,000, and the descriptive analysis object (n = 2720) was the patients compensated by SIMIS. Results The results of RD showed that the actual medical insurance payment proportion (AMIPP) increased by about 2.5% (lwald = 0.025, P < 0.01), inside medical insurance self-payment proportion (IMSPP) increased by about 2% (lwald = 0.020, P < 0.10), outside medical insurance self-payment proportion (OMISPP) decreased by about 1.6% (lwald = -0.016, P < 0.05). The descriptive results showed that the serious illness patients mostly chose to go to hospital outside the county. The annual average number of hospitalizations was 3.64. The reimbursement mainly came from the NRCMS. The payment amount of SIMIS was relatively small, and the out of pocket medical expenses were still high. Conclusion The medical technology level of Jinzhai County could not meet the needs of seriously illness patients, the number of beneficiaries of SIMIS was small, and the ability to relieve the burden of medical expenses of rural residents was insufficient. The high out of pocket expenses increased the possibility that people with good economic conditions could enjoy the reimbursement of SIMIS, resulting in inequity.