Health, Education, Employment, Social Security, Welfare and Veterans
Reports (Letter Report, 05/01/96, GAO/HEHS-96-139W).

GAO presented a listing and selected summaries of reports and
testimonies issued in April 1996 relating to such issues as: (1) health
care reform; (2) Medicare and Medicaid; (3) public school management;
(4) training and employment; and (5) social security, disability, and
welfare benefits.

--------------------------- Indexing Terms -----------------------------

 REPORTNUM:  HEHS-96-139W
     TITLE:  Health, Education, Employment, Social Security, Welfare and 
             Veterans Reports
      DATE:  05/01/96
   SUBJECT:  Health care programs
             Health care services
             Drugs
             Public schools
             Privatization
             Employment or training programs
             Welfare benefits
             Social security benefits
             Women
IDENTIFIER:  Medicare Program
             European Union
             Supplemental Security Income Program
             Medicaid Program
             Bibliographies
             
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Cover
================================================================ COVER


Health, Education, and Human Services Division Reports

May 1996

HEALTH
EDUCATION
EMPLOYMENT
SOCIAL SECURITY
WELFARE
VETERANS

GAO/HEHS-96-139W


(990001)


Abbreviations
=============================================================== ABBREV

  GAO - U.S.  General Accounting Office
  ABC - Test

PREFACE
============================================================ Chapter 0

This monthly bibliography lists the U.S.  General Accounting Office's
(GAO) recently released products on health, education, employment,
social security, disability, welfare, and veterans issues. 

To learn about previous reports, please call (202) 512-6000 for a
customized keyword search or do your own search via the Internet. 

Ordering products is easy.  Simply call the number above or place
your order by e-mail. 

Janet L.  Shikles
Assistant Comptroller General
Health, Education, and Human Services Division
(202) 512-6806


NEW RELEASES
============================================================ Chapter 1


   HEALTH
---------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 1:1

Medicare:  Federal Efforts to Enhance Patient Quality of Care
(Report, GAO/HEHS-96-20, Apr.  10, 1996).  Contact:  Sandra K. 
Isaacson, (202) 512-7174

The Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA) is modifying its
Medicare quality assurance programs to incorporate the latest
research on outcome indicators and current concepts of continuous
quality improvement.  However, HCFA's efforts in distributing
comparative performance data lag behind those of state agencies and
many employers in the private sector.  Furthermore, GAO's analysis of
HCFA's previous implementation efforts raises concerns about how well
HCFA will implement comprehensive programs to deal effectively with
poorly performing providers and improve all providers' performance. 

European Union Drug Approval:  Overview of New European Medicines
Evaluation Agency and Approval Process (Report, GAO/HEHS-96-71, Apr. 
5, 1996).  Contact:  John C.  Hansen, (202) 512-7105

As an important step in establishing a single European marketplace
for prescription drugs, the European Union recently modified its drug
approval procedures and created a new agencyï¿½the European Medicines
Evaluation Agencyï¿½to provide a faster and more efficient drug
approval process that would benefit consumers and industry. 
Advocates of reforming the U.S.  Food and Drug Administration have
suggested the European model may provide some alternative approaches
worth adopting.  However, because the new system has been operational
for only a year, it is too soon to determine whether it will enable
pharmaceutical companies to more quickly market their products
throughout Europe. 


   EDUCATION
---------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 1:2

Private Management of Public Schools:  Experiences in Four School
Districts (Report, GAO/HEHS-96-3, Apr.  19, 1996).  Contact:  Fred E. 
Yohey, (202) 512-7218

The early experiences of four school districts that contracted with
private, for-profit companies for school management have yielded
mixed results.  Although scores on standardized achievement tests did
not substantially improve in the three districts where test scores
were available for analysis, in all four districts the private
management companies made changes that benefited students.  For
example, student attendance improved in Dade County, Florida, and
Minneapolis, Minnesota, and the instructional approach implemented in
Baltimore, Maryland, and Dade County placed teaching assistantsï¿½most
with college degreesï¿½in every classroom.  In Baltimore and Hartford,
Connecticut, school building repair and maintenance were enhanced and
the number of computers available to students was increased. 


   EMPLOYMENT
---------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 1:3

Job Training:  Small Business Participation in Selected Training
Programs (Report, GAO/HEHS-96-106, Apr.  29, 1996).  Contact: 
Charles Jeszeck, (202) 512-7036

Large employers are about twice as likely to take advantage of
several types of training programs as are employers with fewer than
100 workers.  Small employers may perceive barriers, such as detailed
administrative or other paperwork requirements, that make their
participation in training programs more difficult.  Also, small
employers may not find programs useful if they focus on workers'
general needs rather than on employers' specific skill needs, and
small employers often know less about available training programs
than large employers.  To reduce barriers for small employers, some
training programs GAO reviewed encourage consortia that provide
information, technical assistance, and other types of help. 


   SOCIAL SECURITY, DISABILITY,
   AND WELFARE
---------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 1:4

Supplemental Security Income:  Some Recipients Transfer Valuable
Resources to Qualify for Benefits (Report, GAO/HEHS-96-79, Apr.  30,
1996).  Contact:  Christopher Crissman, (202) 512-7051

The Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program is the country's
largest cash assistance program for the poor and one of the
fastest-growing entitlement programs.  Currently, the law does not
prohibit people from transferring resources to qualify for SSI
benefits, which are intended for people who are aged, blind, or
disabled.  Between 1990 and 1994, 3,505 individuals transferred cash,
houses, land, and other items valued at an estimated $74 million to
make themselves eligible for SSI benefits.  Although implementing a
transfer-of-resource restriction would increase the Social Security
Administration's (SSA) administrative costs, GAO estimated that from
1990 through December 1995, $14.6 million of SSI program expenditures
could have been saved if a restriction similar to one used in
Medicaid's long-term care program had been in place.  Such a
restriction could also assure the public that only those who need SSI
will receive it. 

Social Security:  Issues Involving Benefit Equity for Working Women
(Report, GAO/HEHS-96-55, Apr.  10, 1996).  Contact:  Michael D. 
Packard, (202) 512-7250

Several issues have been raised about the fairness of women's Social
Security benefits.  These issues arise because women, more than men,
are eligible for dependent's benefits, as spouses or survivors, based
on their current or former spouse's earnings.  Thus, they are more
often subject to the dual entitlement limitation, which reduces the
dependent's benefits by $1 for every $1 of Social Security retirement
benefits the dependent receives.  Increases in married women's labor
force participation (from 15 percent in 1940 to 60 percent today) may
intensify concerns about the fairness of the benefits they receive. 
Most proposals addressing these concerns have not been adopted.  They
would either increase benefit and/or administrative costs or reduce
benefits for some beneficiaries. 


*** End of document. ***