YourStory.com (03.04.1017) Over the past year or so, we have seen the announcement of multiple initiatives to provide free internet access to the Indian public. While some of these measures met with justified resistance, it is essential that we do not overlook the great potential that lies in a differential pricing of certain categories.

LeVif.be (31.03.2017) La Chambre a adopté jeudi, majorité contre opposition (VB et Vuye se sont abstenus) le projet de loi réformant le financement de la sécurité sociale.

gabonactu.com (04.04.2017) Le ministre gabonais des Affaires sociales, Paul Biyoghe Mba a récemment consacré une demi-journée pour expliquer aux gabonais par des mots simples le nouveau code de protection sociale qui remplace l’ancien code de sécurité sociale datant des années 70.

Corporate Knights (21.03.2017) A bill requiring Ireland’s €8 billion sovereign wealth fund to divest itself of all coal, oil and gas holdings moved one step closer to ratification after passing a second stage reading in the Irish lower house of parliament in January.

EuroNews (24.03.2017) Les dépenses de santé aux Etats-Unis sont estimées à 20 % du PIB pour 2017, un record mondial qui se chiffre à 3,5 trillions de dollars. Moins de la moitié de ces dépenses sont financées par le gouvernement américain. (A titre de comparaison, selon l’OCDE, au sein de l’Union européenne, les pays membres prennent en charge environ 72 % des dépenses de santé.)

20minutos (06.03.2017) El gasto español con relación al PIB es inferior (43,8%) a la media de la UE (47,2%) y de países como Finlandia, Francia (57% ambos) o Dinamarca (54,8%). El porcentaje del gasto dedicado a políticas sociales (ayudas a mayores, parados o dependientes) es del 39,1%, 1,5 puntos inferior a la media de la UE.que en la UE en sanidad, educación, defensa y ayudas a la vivienda.
La elevada deuda de las administraciones ha duplicado en una década (del 4,1% en 2007 al 8% en 2014) el gasto público dedicado a pagar intereses.

Business Ghana News (29.03.2017) More than 3,000 women on social protection intervention programmes are receiving skills training as part of efforts to wean them off the programmes.

Les Echos (05.03.2017) Prévalence de nouvelles formes de contrat de travail, explosion du chômage, accroissement du nombre de retraités, avènement des nouvelles technologies… Tous ces changements sont autant de défis pour le monde de la protection sociale. Comment faire évoluer les modes de financement et les couvertures sociales, tout en conciliant solidarité et liberté ? C’est toute la question !

BBC News (05.04.2017) More worker-owned businesses could help deal with the budget shortfall for health and social care, according to the Wales Co-operative Centre.

usatoday.com (05.04.2017) At Chatters, a small café in the lobby of a hospital, the staff frothing cappuccinos and managing the register  aren't your typical young baristas.  That's because every employee must be at least 55.

Asian Development Bank (dec 2016) Asia’s growing labor force needs innovative solutions to reduce risks and ensure social protection of workers in vulnerable employment with informal arrangements.

EurActiv (30.03. 2017) Putting more than 10 years of paralysis behind it, the European Commission finally launched a revision of the directive on the prevention of occupational cancers in May 2016. Lawmakers can now address reprotoxic substances in the workplace, writes Laurent Vogel.

tdg.ch (10.04.2017) Fruit de la révolution numérique, Uber fait un carton dans les banlieues. De manière générale, la France se veut le pays de la nouvelle économie. Les politiques sont à la traîne.

Social Security Administration is committed to providing benefits quickly to claimants whose medical conditions are so serious that they clearly meet our disability standards.  Our two fast-track processes, Quick Disability Determination (QDD) and Compassionate Allowances (CAL), use technology to identify claimants with the most severe disabilities and allow us to expedite our decisions on those cases while maintaining accuracy.  These initiatives have been two of our greatest successes in recent years. We can approve some cases in a matter of days instead of months.

QUICK DISABILITY DETERMINATIONS (QDD) RULES FINALIZED (September 1, 2007)

The new regulations implementing QDD read as follows:

Sec. 404.1619 (416.1019) Quick disability determination process.

(a) If we identify a claim as one involving a high degree of probability that the individual is disabled, and we expect that the individual’s allegations will be easily and quickly verified, we will refer the claim to the State agency for consideration under the quick disability determination process pursuant to this section and Sec.404.1620(c). (416.1020(c))

(b) If we refer a claim to the State agency for a quick disability determination, a designated quick disability determination examiner must:

1. Have a medical or psychological consultant verify that the medical evidence in the file is sufficient to determine that, as of the alleged onset date, the individual’s physical or mental impairment(s) meets the standards we establish for making quick disability determinations;
2. Make quick disability determinations based only on the medical and nonmedical evidence in the files; and
3. Subject to the provisions in paragraph (c) of this section, make the quick disability determination by applying the rules in subpart P of this part.

(c) If the quick disability determination examiner cannot make a determination that is fully favorable to the individual or if there is an unresolved disagreement between the disability examiner and the medical or psychological consultant, the State agency will adjudicate the claim using the regularly applicable procedures in this subpart.

Country: USA. Institution: SSA. DocType: Regulation/Business Process.

In an effort to improve the speed and quality of their disability claims process, Social Security developed the “fast-track” program, a two-part initiative that uses computer technology to identify cases where the decision is highly likely or certain to be favorable.

The first initiative is Quick Disability Determinations (QDD). Under QDD, a predictive computer model analyzes specific data within the electronic file to identify cases where there is a high potential that the claimant is disabled and where Social Security can quickly obtain evidence of the person’s allegations.

20 CFR 416.1019 - Quick disability determination process. :  https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/20/416.1019 

SSA Program Operations Manual System (POMS):

• DI 11005.603 Processing Quick Disability Determinations (QDD) Cases - Field Office (FO) Instructions 

• DI 23022.000 Processing Quick Disability Determination (QDD) and Compassionate Allowance (CAL) in the Disability Determination Services (DDS)

This paper provides new evidence on the development of online platforms and explores the emergence of new forms of work in the digital economy. Following the rise of platforms that match demand and supply of goods (e-commerce) and information (search, social networks), platform markets for services traded over the Internet (the "x"-economy) have grown exponentially in recent years. The paper analyses how online platforms affect the organisation of markets and work; discusses related opportunities and challenges for individuals participating in such markets; presents analysis of trends and effects of non-standard work in OECD countries; and identifies policy issues related to new forms of work. It finds that the transformative effects of online platforms may challenge existing institutions and might necessitate reviews of policy and regulatory frameworks in many areas. To further analyse such digital transformation, better data is needed on the effects of online platforms in all of these areas.

RTL Info (16.08.2016) Le congé parental a de plus en plus de succès. Les employés qui choisissent de lâcher du lest pour s'occuper de leur enfant sont chaque année plus nombreux. Les allocations octroyées pour congé parental ont augmenté de 74% en 10 ans.

Les Echos (27.07.2016) Par peur du chômage, la France a longtemps augmenté ses allocations chômage, favorisant le refus de l'emploi. Dans le même temps, la concurrence internationale pousse au dumping social et fiscal entre les Etats. Et si la France faisait pression sur ses voisins pour qu'ils augmentent aussi leurs prestations sociales ?

beehive.govt.nz (18.08.20116) Social Development Minister Anne Tolley says that a new child-centred, stand-alone ministry with a new Chief Executive is to be established to focus on the care and protection of vulnerable children and young people.

The Bahamas Weekly (13.08.2016) Eligible citizens and legal residents of The Bahamas will have access to a full range of benefits needed to restore and maintain optimum health under the proposed National Health Insurance Plan.

El País (19.08.2016) Un informe de expertos del FMI sitúa a los países del sur de Europa como los más expuestos al aumento de la edad de la fuerza laboral

Bloomberg (16.08.2016) Acting President Michel Temer’s prized fiscal austerity proposal to cap public spending will only succeed if he can convince Brazil’s Congress to pass a controversial pension reform as well, according to a leading member of his economic team.

bfmtv (08.08.2016) Travailler à tout prix, même quand on est malade, n’est pas la solution. Cela ne fait que retarder et aggraver l’état de santé.

swissinfo.ch (24.08.2016) La Suisse nage à contre-courant avec sa décision d'accorder aux thérapies complémentaires le même statut que la médecine conventionnelle. La volonté des citoyens prime dans ce cas sur la science.

Die Zeit (15.08.2016) Das Renteneintrittsalter wird derzeit von 65 auf 67 Jahre angehoben. Den Experten der Bundesbank geht das nicht weit genug.