Public plans--Americans with Disabilities Act--discrimination-disparate treatment of mental disabilities. Rogers v. Department of Health and Environmental Control, 174 F.3d 431 (4th Cir.1999)

Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA), which prohibits discrimination in the services, programs or activities of public entities, does not require a state's long-term disability plan to provide the same level of benefits for mental and physical disabilities. By placing mental disabilities in different risk classifications from physical disabilities, South Carolina's long-term disability plan did not violate a South Carolina statute that prohibits discrimination "between insureds of the same class and risk involving the same hazards."     

ADA--covered entities--shareholder-directors as employees. Clackamas Gastroenterology Associates v. Deborah Wells

Control is the touchstone for determining whether an individual is an employee for the purpose of determining if a business entity is a "covered entity" subject to Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Thus, if shareholder-directors operate independently and manage the business, they are proprietors and not employees, but if they are subject to the firm's control, they are employees. All the incidents of the relationship must be considered with no one factor being decisive. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's (EEOC's) six relevant factors provide the guidelines.     

Wellness programs: complying with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)

Employers that offer wellness programs must be careful to comply with the guidelines of ADA. As the dollar amounts involved in these programs and the number of participants increase, so does the risk of lawsuits.     

中国残疾人补贴现状分析及制度设计思路

对残疾人这一具有独特身心特征的人群进行补贴是残疾人社会保障制度中的重要内容之一。本研究通过回顾国际残疾人补贴制度的发展沿革,分析我国当前补贴制度下残疾人的收益,探讨了在中国对残疾人进行补贴存在的挑战,并对如何进行补贴制度的设计,使其更具操作性提出尝试性思路:即在全社会提升尊重残疾人群体平等和尊严的意识;以政府为主导,建立多部门合作机制,促进残疾人补贴的有效性;建立多元化分层补贴制度以"稳"和"恒"为原则加强残疾人补贴制度的稳定性和持续性。     

Managing emotional fallout. Parting remarks from America's top psychiatrist. Interview by Diane Coutu

Last fall, the United States was brutally thrust into a new and dangerous world. As the twin towers of the World Trade Center collapsed and the Pentagon burned, the horrible reality of terrorism seared the American consciousness. It touched more than the victims and their families; everyone who sat transfixed before the horrific images on TV lived through the trauma. In a sense, we were all eyewitnesses, and we must all cope with feelings of anger, stress, and anxiety. That poses a huge immediate challenge for business, because it is largely in the workplace--where we spend so many of our waking hours--that we will confront these emotions. And many companies have risen to the challenge, establishing new guidelines for processing mail in light of anthrax fears and organizing stress reduction programs for employees. While the logic of taking such action is incontestable, it raises a much larger question: What responsibility does a company bear for the mental well-being of its work-force? If companies help employees deal with depression and anxiety in the wake of terrorist acts, doesn't that put mental health care on the business agenda? To answer these questions, HBR senior editor Diane Coutu talked with Dr. Steven Hyman, the former director of the National Institute for Mental Health. In this interview, he discusses the implications of coping with tragedy, the resilience of individuals, and the treatment of mental illness. And he suggests that September 11, 2001, may come to be seen as a tipping point--the moment when managers started to think about dealing with mental health issues on a regular basis.     

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA): An emerging challenge to accounting education

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA; 1990) opens an academic door on two levels which will affect the way we provide educational services. First, employment practices for staff and faculty will require a review. Second, there will be more disabled students in our classroom. This article summarizes relevant provisions of the ADA and offers recommendations for compliance. A significant issue considered is faculty employment practices. Each of the three typical performance areas of faculty activity (research, service, and teaching) are examined. The Act also creates a new environment for instruction for the students. Access to the classroom, office hours, examination locations, research facilities, computer labs, etc., must be made available in a manner that is normally provided for all students. This article presents a graphic paradigm providing a structure for evaluation of the institutional and instructional impacts.     

我国农村残疾人医疗救助制度建设分析

自2003年国家开展医疗救助试点以来,我国医疗救助制度在不断地改进和完善。根据2011年东北农村残疾人社会保障与服务体系的调研,结合民政部门统计数据,本文分析了农村残疾人医疗救助制度建设的必要性、可行性、存在的问题和解决措施。目前,我国农村残疾人医疗救助制度存在救助覆盖范围窄、救助水平低、资金管理不善和制度衔接不到位等问题,医疗救助应该从农村残疾人抓起,扩大医疗救助覆盖范围、提高救助水平、增强救助管理和完善制度建设。     

Employment Quota System and Labour Market Outcomes of Individuals with Disabilities: Empirical Evidence from South Korea

To date, only a few studies have attempted to evaluate the effectiveness of disability employment quota systems using structural changes in policies. This study exploits the structural changes in South Korea's disability employment quota system that took place in 2004 and 2006 to expand the current disability policy evaluation literature. We separate the effect of these changes in the quota system into their effect on the probability of labour force participation and their effect on the probability of employment (after controlling for selection into the labour market). We also study the extent to which the changes – which included increasing the number of employers covered by the quota system, the number of jobs available to individuals with disabilities and the financial incentives for employing individuals with disabilities – have affected job satisfaction among individuals with disabilities. Our results suggest that the changes in the quota system may have increased labour force participation but have had a limited positive impact on the probability of employment among people with disabilities in South Korea. Further, compulsory hiring and expanded opportunities have not substantially affected the level of job satisfaction observed among employees with disabilities relative to their non‐disabled counterparts.     

Disability, Poverty, and Schooling in Developing Countries: Results from 14 Household Surveys

Analysis of 14 household surveys from 13 developing countriessuggests that 1–2 percent of the population have disabilities.Adults with disabilities typically live in poorer than averagehouseholds: disability is associated with about a 10 percentagepoint increase in the probability of falling in the two poorestquintiles. Much of the association appears to reflect lowereducational attainment among adults with disabilities. Peopleof ages 6–17 with disabilities do not live in systematicallywealthier or poorer households than other people of their age,although in all countries studied they are significantly lesslikely to start school or to be enrolled at the time of thesurvey. The order of magnitude of the school participation deficitassociated with disability—which is as high as 50 percentagepoints in 3 of the 13 countries—is often larger than deficitsrelated to other characteristics, such as gender, rural residence,or economic status differentials. The results suggest a worrisomevicious cycle of low schooling attainment and subsequent povertyamong people with disabilities in developing countries.     

Building scenarios with Fuzzy Cognitive Maps: An exploratory study of solar energy

In scenario planning, causal mapping has long been used as a means to elicit the worldviews of multiple experts, facilitate discussion, and challenge and improve mental models. Large and complex causal maps, however, are difficult to analyze. This paper proposes a novel method for scenario building, based on Fuzzy Cognitive Maps, that combines intuitive, cognitive mapping techniques with formal, quantitative analysis. The proposed method helps scenario planners to integrate the qualitative and partial knowledge of multiple individuals and overcome information processing limitations. The feasibility of the proposed approach is investigated with two scenario studies on solar photovoltaic panels.     

The future of accessibility in disaster conditions: How wireless technologies will transform the life cycle of emergency management

By describing a transformed life cycle of emergency management, this paper re-envisions how emergency managers may prepare for, respond to, recover from, and mitigate against disaster impacts in the future. Additionally, this paper also reveals how the broader social, political, economic, and cultural levels must change to foment a culture of safety with and for people with disabilities. The authors use the framework to identify how future wireless technologies can empower people with disabilities with regards to individual (or household) emergency preparedness and in coping with the drastic life changes following a disaster.     

Las incapacidades de aprendizaje organizacional y su relación con los estilos de aprendizaje organizacional en la Mipyme

In this study, we examined 200 micro, small and medium enterprises from Durango City, Mexico, in order to find the possible relationship between learning disabilities and organizational learning styles, and its impact on organizational learning. To achieve this we applied a measuring instrument to the aforementioned companies, it was duly adapted to the context, tested and validated, and the responses were analyzed using a linear regression model, which used the seven learning disabilities as predictors of the four learning styles. We found statistically significant evidence that there is a relationship between learning disabilities and learning styles in the studied enterprises.     

Health incentives: the science and art of motivating healthy behaviors

Employers seeking to motivate and encourage healthy behaviors among their employees are increasingly turning to incentive rewards. In fact, a recent Buck Consultants survey of 555 employers, titled Working Well: A Global Survey of Health Promotion and Workplace Wellness Strategies, predicts the use of such rewards to more than double over the next two to three years. This article provides an overview of the key considerations for employers seeking to maximize the value of incentive rewards. Discussion includes incentive strategies, types of rewards, reward amounts and regulatory considerations under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).     

Proposal of a coefficient to evaluate the management of the internal control

The objective of this article is to propose a management index for the Internal Control of care entities. This was conceived following the multicriteria modeling guidelines in conjunction with the detection of weaknesses through the Petri networks. For this purpose, the order of importance and compliance of the internal control components were determined, and the lack of reliability of the critical processes in the entity subject to the practical implementation was identified. Derived from its humanitarian mission – lending quality health care to the population – it is necessary to decrease the emergence of events that could infringe upon the physical and psychological integrity of the patients in hospitals. One of the strategies to consider to overcome this challenge is the adequate implementation of the Internal Control System, which guarantees the sustainability of the insurers through the increase in the efficiency of the care of the people, feasible only within a care model that quantifies the control over the population already identified and cared for.     

企业环境信息披露的理论基础透视

环境污染是目前人类遇到的最大挑战,而造成环境污染的主要原因则是企业的工业污染,对企业的环境信息进行披露是当前环境保护的一大法宝。从环境信息披露动机来看,有强制披露和自愿披露两种。但不论是何种动机,其表象之后有着深厚的理论基础。目前政府强制要求污染企业披露环境信息,其理论依据源于一是环境规制理论;二是环境公共信托理论。环境规制源于对环境问题的市场失灵,而环境公共信托理论则强调环境资源“万民共有”的法理。此外,企业会采取自愿披露环境信息的策略,其理论依据也有两点：一是利益相关者理论;二是组织合法性理论。利益相关者对环境信息的需求是推动企业主动披露环境信息的外在动力,而企业自愿披露环境信息的内在动力,则是为了获得组织合法性。     

Propuesta de un índice para evaluar la gestión del control interno

Derived from its humanitarian mission, to pay quality health care to the population, in hospitals and health facilities is needed reduce the occurrence of events that may threaten the physical and psychological integrity of the patients they serve. One of the strategies to consider to overcome this challenge is the proper implementation of the internal control system, to ensure the sustainability of insurers, by increasing efficiency in the care of people, feasible only within a care model that quantifies and management on population identified and addressed. The objective of this paper was to propose a coefficient to evaluate the internal control management for a hospital entity. This was conceived under the guidelines of the multi-criteria modeling in conjunction with the detection of critical points through Petri nets. For this, the order of importance and fulfillment of the components of Internal Control and in unison the unreliability of critical processes in the entity being identified practical application was determined.     

You have to lead from everywhere. Interviewed by Scott Berinato

When responding to a complex, fast-moving crisis, leaders must constantly adapt their mental models and create a "unity of effort." argues Allen, a retired U.S. Coast Guard admiral and the national incident commander for the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. That's a much bigger management challenge than approaching the job as a military operation and drawing on unity of command, and it can require nuanced and creative strategies, such as deciding to go "off book" when standard protocol simply won't work. In this edited interview, Allen--who also brought post-Katrina New Orleans back from the brink of anarchy and headed the Coast Guard's response to the September 11 attacks along the eastern seaboard-stresses the need to lead both from headquarters and on the ground. He discusses how the phenomenon of publicly available, real-time information has affected crisis management in recent years, addresses the challenges of managing multiple public and private stakeholders, and shares his thoughts on how to lead when an anxious public is counting on success.     

Designing a guideline-based utilization management program

Many public and private organizations are developing and publishing clinical guidelines to assist health care providers and patients in making appropriate medical decisions. Unless clinical guidelines are part of a well-designed managed care program, they have little effect on physician practice styles. This article explores integral components of an effective guideline-based utilization management program. Initial evaluation of this program suggests that, as part of a well-designed utilization management program, clinical guidelines can inform patients and physicians, and create appropriate incentives for effective health care delivery.     

The Effect of Corporate Governance on the Use of Enterprise Risk Management: Evidence From Canada

This article examines the use of enterprise risk management (ERM) by companies in Canada, the characteristics that are associated with the use of ERM, what obstacles companies face in implementing ERM, and what role, if any, corporate governance guidelines have played in the decision to adopt ERM. We obtained our data from the responses to a mail survey sent to Canadian Risk and Insurance Management Society members as well as telephone interviews with 19 of the respondents. The results indicate that 31 percent of the sample had adopted ERM and that reasons for adopting ERM include the influence of the risk manager (61 percent), encouragement from the board of directors (51 percent), and compliance with Toronto Stock Exchange (TSE) guidelines (37 percent). The major deterrents to ERM were an organizational structure that discourages ERM and an overall resistance to change. Although only about one‐third of companies indicated that they had adopted an ERM approach, evidence was clear that a larger portion of the sample was moving in that direction, as indicated by what changes they had observed in their companies in the past three years. These include the development of company‐wide guidelines for risk management (45 percent), an increased awareness of nonoperational risks by operational risk management personnel and an increased awareness of operational risks by nonoperational risk management personnel (49 percent), more coordination with different areas responsible for risk management (64 percent), and more involvement and interaction in the decision making of other departments. Contrary to what we expected, there was not a significant difference between firms that are listed on the TSE versus those that are not in terms of the propensity to use ERM. However, the fact that 37 percent of firms indicated that the TSE guidelines were influential in their decision to adopt ERM provides some evidence that the guidelines are influencing companies’ risk management strategies.     

Disparities Old and New in US Mental Health during the COVID-19 Pandemic*

The COVID-19 pandemic has reduced well-being and economic security on a number of dimensions, likely worsening mental health. In this paper, we assess how mental health in the US population has changed during the pandemic. We use three large, nationally representative survey sources to provide a picture of mental health prior to and during the pandemic. We find dramatic but broad-based declines in the level of mental health from pre-pandemic baseline measures across both people and places. Rates of poor mental health have jumped roughly 25 percentage points, from a base of roughly one-third. We document substantial disparities in mental health but show that the pandemic has generally preserved, rather than widened, these. Significant worsening in relative mental health among Hispanics and respondents aged 30 and older are exceptions. Consistent with an important role for pandemic-specific shocks, We find that income loss, food insecurity, COVID-19 infection or death in one's close circle, and personal health symptoms are all associated with substantially worse mental health. If anything, the decline in mental health is worsening as the pandemic wears on and is becoming less related to local COVID-19 case rates.