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The objective of this study was to determine if an association existed between the mid-2005 TennCare (Medicaid) disenrollment and increases in uninsured ambulatory care sensitive condition (ACSC) non-admitted ER visits and inpatient hospitalizations in Davidson County, Tennessee (= the city of Nashville). Logistic regression modeling, using an interactive term for insurance category x year, indicated that the effect of no insurance on ACSC ER visits increased by 18% from 2003 to 2007 (p<.001), but no significant effect was found for uninsured ACSC inpatient hospitalizations. These greater odds of ACSC ER visits among uninsured patients were associated with a 60% increase in hospitals' bad debt write offs during this same time period. Therefore, the TennCare disenrollment was associated with increased likelihood of uninsured ACSC non-admitted ER visits and greater financial losses for Davidson County hospitals during this time period.

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This study explores the impact of Hurricane Katrina on local government HR management for several cities along the Mississippi Gulf Coast. The authors interviewed mayors, city managers, chief administrative officers, and HR directors regarding a range of topics, including the recruitment and retention of employees in the post-Katrina environment. Analysis of the interviews shows that the smaller cities and towns on the Gulf Coast continue to struggle with hiring and retaining qualified employees. While some local governments have faired better than others during the recovery period, discussions with city officials have shown that retaining employees has proven difficult and daunting following the catastrophe.

State-operated lotteries have recently been asserted by public administrators and academicians as panaceas for eradicating revenue disparities existing across public school districts in the American states. The purpose of this research project is to empirically test the hypothesis that lottery revenues raise the state expenditures for public education. A state-level national dataset, which includes fifty American states over the period 1977-1997, was used for the analysis. Pooled time-series cross-sectional and ARIMA modeling was employed to test the hypothesis. This study finds that lottery revenues had a positive influence on state per pupil expenditures for education. The evidence for the impact of lotteries on state per pupil expenditures for education was robust and statistically significant. Copyright 2005 by The Policy Studies Association..