orfonline.org (12.10.2018)  Arguably the most ambitious health insurance programme in the world today, the Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PMJAY) gives India the chance to transform its healthcare infrastructure. This paper discusses these hurdles and concludes that if PMJAY succeeds, India's largest health insurance scheme would also become its most effective healthcare initiative.

Euro WHO (October 2018) This brief serves as an overview and introduction to the Economics of Healthy and Active Ageing series. It reviews the main evidence on the health and long-term care costs associated with ageing populations to better understand the expected cost pressures due to changing demographics. At the same time, the brief explores how older populations can and do contribute meaningfully both in economic and societal terms, particularly if they are able to remain healthy and active into later life. The brief concludes by reviewing selected policy areas that have been shown to either support the health and activity of older people or which otherwise reinforce sustainable care systems more broadly in the context of population ageing.

EurActiv (05.10.2018) Estonia and Finland will start exchanging digital prescriptions at the end of the year, in a groundbreaking move that Estonian Health Minister Riina Sikkut said she hoped other EU countries will follow. Speaking to EURACTIV.com on the sidelines of the ongoing European Health Forum in Gastein, Austria, Sikkut said that in Estonia, it is common practice for healthcare professionals to use the e-health system to exchange patient medical records.

El País (17.10.2018) Los españoles tendrán una esperanza de vida de 85,8 años en 2040, lo que convertirá a España en el país con mayor esperanza de vida del mundo, según un estudio de la Universidad de Washington (Seattle, EE UU) difundido este martes.

blogs.iadb. (17.10.2018) Cada año, el 17 de octubre se celebra el Día internacional para la erradicación de la pobreza. Este año el tema es “construir un futuro sostenible: unirnos para poner fin a la pobreza y la discriminación”. Si bien erradicar la pobreza puede parecer imposible, incluso en países de la OECD hay población pobre y todo depende de la definición utilizada, en este contexto, estamos hablando de pobreza extrema. Pobreza extrema se define como la situación en la que un hogar no cuenta con el ingreso necesario para cubrir sus necesidades mínimas de alimentación, expresadas en una canasta básica de alimentos. Aunque el valor de una canasta básica varía entre países, esta acepción de la pobreza extrema tiene una connotación absoluta, pues está definida por las necesidades nutricionales que se requieren para poder llevar a cabo las actividades de la vida diaria. Es esta condición la que se busca erradicar.

 Le Temps (17.10.2018)  Une étude estime que l'Espagne, avec 85,8 ans, pourrait prendre la tête du palmarès de l'espérance de vie d'ici à 2040, devant le Japon, Singapour et la Suisse

The Local (17.10.2018) Sweden has the EU's lowest proportion of people living in serious poverty, with around one percent of the population falling into that category according to national statistics agency SCB.

France Inter (17.10.2018) En cette journée internationale pour l'élimination de la pauvreté France Inter se penche sur cette question complexe dont semblent aujourd'hui se saisir les pouvoirs publics

ILO (12.10.2018) Successful results were supported by social dialogue between government and the social partners.  A mix of sound economic and social policies and constructive social dialogue between the government, workers’ and employers’ organizations have helped Portugal recover from the 2008 economic and financial crisis and have driven economic and employment growth, says a new ILO report.

allgemeine-zeitung (08.10.2018) Immer mehr Rentner bleiben im Alter auch beruflich aktiv. Ist eine „Vermittlungsstelle Seniorenjobs“ also eine Perspektive mit Zukunft? Mit einer bundesweiten Fachtagung im Kreishaus in Ingelheim wurden diese und weitere sich daraus ergebenden Fragen aus der Perspektive von Wissenschaft, Politik, Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft beleuchtet und diskutiert.

L'essentiel (16.10.2018) Le salaire minimum, ainsi que le Revenu d'inclusion sociale (Revis) et celui pour les personnes gravement handicapées, vont augmenter de 1,1% au 1er janvier.

Free Malaysia Today (15.10.2018) Referring to the article in news portal Free Malaysia Today titled “Freelancers in ‘gig economy’ need EPF-like scheme too” published on Oct 14, there is definitely a need for freelancers or workers of the Fourth Industrial Revolution to have Employees Provident Fund (EPF)-like schemes for old-age savings.

The Guardian (11.10.2018) Index seeks to name and shame countries failing to invest in health and education to create productive children

TNS - The News on Sunday (14.10.2018) Finance Minister Asad Umar has announced the supplementary budget in late September and one of its features is to cut down the development expenditure from PKR 1030 billion to PKR 725 billion to decrease the deficit. This is nothing new in Pakistan. Since the days of the Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP) in Pakistan in the past few decades, development expenditure is often cut to decrease the budget deficit and the non-development expenditure remains largely intact.

Le Temps (15.10.2018) La consultation de la réforme AVS 21 vient de s’achever. Les effets notamment fiscaux sont nombreux. Mais elle ignore, et parfois pénalise, les indépendants. Le directeur de PensExpert propose de regrouper sous un seul contrat les personnes à la fois salariées et free lances

Corpus législatif suisse de lutte contre la fraude aux prestations

Center For Global Development (26.09.2018)  India’s biometric ID, Aadhaar, is here to stay. This is the verdict of India’s Supreme Court which delivered a historic judgement today on a slew of petitions challenging the growing use of Aadhaar in the country. The apex court agreed that government can mandate its use to distribute government subsidies and benefits. It can also be required to be linked to the PAN, India’s tax ID number—an issue that has been hotly contested. However, Aadhaar will not be mandatory for opening bank accounts or getting mobile connections. Private entities cannot insist on Aadhaar as a condition for providing services. Most importantly, eligible beneficiaries cannot be denied their entitlements even in cases where their biometric authentication fails for some reason.

bcg.com (2018) This article is a chapter from the BCG report, The Most Innovative Companies 2018: Innovators Go All In On Digital.

Le Monde (10.10.2018) Dans une décision inédite, le tribunal des affaires sociales des Yvelines a reconnu qu’un homme avait été victime d’un accident du travail dans une entreprise de télécommunications en raison de son électrosensibilité.

Fiji Sun (10.10.2018) The Fiji National Provident Fund has once again received international com­mendation for its responsiveness to its stakeholders’ needs, as well as developing on­line services to ease doing business with its customers. The fund received two awards at the recent International Social Security Association (ISSA) Regional Social Security Forum for Asia and the Pacific, held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia from October 2

osha.europa (25.09.2018) The conference provides an overview of current challenges, presents latest developments and ongoing initiatives. Aspects addressed range from the European perspective to simple measures and practical solutions suitable for implementation within companies. In workshops, participants will have the opportunity to discuss risk-based approaches, workplace risk management and health monitoring, and campaigning activities.’

The Sun (10.10.2018) All social welfare payments went up by €5 per week in last year's Budget and Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe confirmed a similar increase will kick in early next year

jagranjosh (09.10.2018) The Employees’ State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) was awarded the ‘ISSA Good Practice Award’ for administrative solution for coverage extension at the ‘Regional Social Security Forum for Asia and the Pacific’ held recently at Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The award recognizes the measures taken by ESIC for extension of coverage of the Scheme for Promoting Registration of Employers and Employees (SPREE), reducing the rate of contribution rates for 24 months in newly implemented areas and raising the wage limit for coverage under the ESI Act.

Les Echos (09.10.2018) Au cours de la réunion de mercredi, le gouvernement devrait pour la première fois commencer à abattre quelques cartes sur l'architecture générale du système de retraite auquel il aspire. Il s'agit, selon une source gouvernementale, de dévoiler « les grands axes » de la réforme - par exemple, le principe des points plutôt que des comptes notionnels -, mais « sans fermer de portes à ce stade ». « L'idée n'est pas d'apporter des solutions, mais de définir le terrain de jeu », poursuit la même personne.

Long-Term Care in Latin America and the Caribbean?: Theory and Policy Considerations

AUTHOR Caruso Bloeck, Martín; Galiani, Sebastián; Ibarrarán, Pablo

DATE Aug 2017

This paper discusses theoretical and practical issues related to long-term care (LTC) services in Latin America. Demand for these services will rise as the region undergoes a swift demographic transition from its currently young population to a rapidly aging one, especially since the region’s aging cohorts are more prone to experience a decline in their functional and physical abilities than elderly people elsewhere in the world. We argue that private insurance markets are ill-equipped to provide coverage to meet the need for LTC, while the amount of personal savings required to afford self-insurance is prohibitively high. We study how developed economies have dealt with the issue of LTC and pay special attention to the most salient features of their LTC programs. We then direct the discussion to Latin America, where LTC may not be an immediate priority, but governments are likely to encourage the development of LTC programs as demand for them steadily grows. In particular, policymakers are probably going to focus initially on LTC programs for the poor and the vulnerable, for whom LTC affordability is a greater problem. We therefore study how basic elements of policy design affect costeffectiveness of LTC programs by means of a formal model. Our study shows that propoor programs are more cost effective when people have the option to receive cash subsidies, and the availability of in-kind and in-cash choices reduces program costs overall. We argue that our findings are natural starting points to start thinking about LTC program development in the region.