Notes that, lacking objective, comprehensive information about health care coverage options, Medicare beneficiaries rarely understand consequences of alternative purchasing decisions. Describes Illness Episode Approach, method providing information on Medicare, Medigap policies, and Health Maintenance Organizations. Method described presents…

Describes the funding mechanism in Illinois that permits school districts to levy a separate tax to pay for risk management and tort liability. Offers practical applications for risk care management including risk care management job descriptions. (MLF)

A five-step plan to develop a school insurance request for proposal to negotiate the best deal available for a school district. (MLF)

Ideas for expanding vision-related rehabilitation services, possibly through the health care system, are addressed. Need areas include gaining support nationally and within states, professionalizing the vision-related rehabilitation field, using innovative health care practices, acquiring funding, and improving accountability. (SW)

Two samples of Trade Adjustment Assistance Program participants before and after 1988 program changes were studied. The program served workers who were permanently displaced and suffered significant earnings losses, but there was no evidence that training affected earnings three years after initial unemployment. (SK)

Systematic billing of handicapped students' health insurance policies to supplement special education revenues is routine practice in several states. Article identifies key issues for school districts and state education agencies contemplating third party billing plans through examining a case study of one such plan. Insurance billing violates…

Self-funding means that the client has accepted a portion of the risk and funded for that portion of the risk in a separate account designated exclusively for the payment of claims. Focuses on the financial advantages to self-funding the medical-insurance program. Presents pluses and minuses and defines a list of insurance terms. (MLF)

In negotiating a superintendent's contract, caution and expert legal counsel are as important for the school board as for the superintendent. Offering a well-rounded package providing both annuities and insurance policies can help boards attract the best superintendent candidates. The most serious negotiation issue for superintendents involves…

Responding to Francis M. Duffy's article in the same "Journal of Curriculum and Supervision" issue, this article argues that insurance agents are in the business of selling policies and bringing in revenue, not promoting personal care for clients. Education attempts to cultivate equality, collegiality, and cooperation, not personal and…

Francis Duffy's case study of a district manager in the insurance business suggests comparative inquiry in supervision as a reasonable alternative to uncritical acceptance of constructs originating in noneducational contexts. Managers and supervisors in all organizational settings face the paradoxical task of encouraging both differentiation and…

Discusses the need for emergency planning for libraries to ensure that disaster response teams are ready to deal with a variety of possible calamities. Guidelines are given for writing a disaster plan, including floor plans, emergency procedures, insurance coverage, treatment of damaged materials, and reallocation of staff and collections. (LRW)

Notes consumer dissatisfaction with Health Maintenance Organizations (HMOs). Highlights legislative efforts aimed at a patients' bill of rights, including the political partisanship involved. (HTH)

Offers guidelines for risk management to campus entertainers and their representatives, including options for insurance coverage, types of insurance policies, and risk management for non-insurable factors associated with concerts and novelty events. (MSE)

Describes the process behind health-plan selection for school district employees and offers suggestions on how managers might enhance their current healthcare plan purchasing process. Areas of health-plan review and critique are listed as are tips for measuring plan performance and advice on acquiring backup data on plan quality. (GR)

Describes predictors of expenditures for dental services using data on 975 elderly persons. Forty-four percent of elderly persons reported using some dental services within a year. Persons with separate dental insurance, younger and better educated persons, and those with greater financial resources were more likely to use dental services. (JBJ)