MORE ARTICLES
Mapping Mass Migration: New Census Data Shows Continued Out-Migration from Massachusetts to Competitor StatesDecember 19, 2024 - 8:52 am
UK’s John Suchet, OBE, on Tchaikovsky, The Nutcracker, & BalletsDecember 18, 2024 - 9:40 am
Tim’s Take: An Education Reform Stalwart Takes a Curious Look at Homeschoolers With ESAsDecember 12, 2024 - 1:10 pm
U-OK’s Dan Hamlin on Emerging School Models & Learning LossDecember 11, 2024 - 10:20 am
What To Do About 340BDecember 11, 2024 - 9:47 am
Pioneer Institute Offers Blueprint for Federal Administrative ReformDecember 10, 2024 - 9:06 am
The House Call – Mayor Wu Wants to Overhaul Boston’s Arcane Development Approvals Process? Here Are Three Reform OptionsDecember 9, 2024 - 11:05 am
Pioneer Institute Releases Examination of Metropolitan Housing Markets; Obtains Insights Into Improving Affordability December 5, 2024 - 9:03 am
NYT #1 Bestseller Dava Sobel on Marie Curie & Women in ScienceDecember 4, 2024 - 10:58 am
The Roger Perry Internship ProgramDecember 3, 2024 - 2:00 pm
An enlightening comparison on Afghanistan policy
/0 Comments/in Blog, News /byNope, this is not directly related to Pioneer’s mission to promote great policies and big reforms in Massachusetts. But no matter what you think of the decision to send more troops to Afghanistan, it is worth highlighting two of the President’s speeches on the matter — one on March 27, 2009, when he announced “A New Strategy for Afghanistan and Pakistan” and the speech this past Tuesday when, well, he announced a new strategy for Afghanistan and Pakistan. The March 27th speech can be seen here and the December 1 speech can be seen here. Hint: He is very consistent. The only difference between the respective new strategies was the addition of troops with an 18-month window for withdrawal.
MA and federal health care reforms
/0 Comments/in Blog, News /byPioneer has never taken a “position” on the MA Health Care Reform Act of 2006. We’ve held events (1, 2, and others) discussing the merits and weaknesses, and we’ve published a paper on how we should monitor its implementation and make corrections. We are worried about cost implications, crowd-out of the private market and other stuff, but we like state experimentation and we think it should be gauged largely by the empirical question: Has it worked? Our Senior Fellow on Health Care Amy Lischko will help us answer those questions. Those who use it as a justification for federal efforts to recast our health care options, however, are just plain uninformed. The fact is we are only getting to know […]
Don't cut the safety net to shreds
/0 Comments/in Blog, News /byThe State House News Service (subscription required) reports that The state will lay off more than 300 mental health workers over the next several days, with about 300 more opting to accept voluntary retirements and layoffs as the Department of Mental Health moves forward with its closing of Westborough State Hospital. The fact is the Governor has been cutting deeply into the safety for a long time, and at a rate that is alarming. See my blog on the Governor’s job cuts, which are 75% from safety net programs. In comparison, and I know this is counter-intuitive to some, Governor Romney’s cuts to safety net program jobs in 2005 and 2006 amounted to only 25% of the overall cuts to […]
Creating Jobs: Reforming Unemployment Insurance in Massachusetts
/0 Comments/in Economic Opportunity, News /by Editorial StaffAuthor(s): Steve Poftak — Publication date: 2011-02-10 Category: Economic Opportunity Abstract: Pioneer Institute and the Massachusetts High Technology Council are pleased to present a new study that meets this demand: “Creating Jobs: Reforming Unemployment Insurance in Massachusetts.” As the report highlights, Massachusetts’s Unemployment Insurance system – the most generous in the nation in terms of eligibility requirements and benefit duration – is actually inhibiting job creation. The report offers four reform proposals that could generate 10,000 new jobs and $7.5 billion in economic growth over the next decade. [wpdm_package id=53]
CPOE Initiative
/0 Comments/in Healthcare, News /by Editorial StaffIn 2004, the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative (MTC), in partnership with New England Healthcare Institute (NEHI), created the Massachusetts Hospital CPOE initiative, a six-year-long campaign to speed adoption of a computer technology that can drastically reduce the scourge of harmful medication errors. The Initative’s groundbreaking research revealed that one in every ten patients in a Massachusetts community hospital suffers a serious but preventable medication error. The finding spurred the Massachusetts Legislature, the state’s private payers and later the US Congress to enact policy changes encouraging or requiring the use of Computerized Physician Order Entry, or CPOE. [wpdm_package id=262]