USC Price School of Public Policy

Research News

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Law dramatically reduced hospital prices for uninsured, report finds

June 3, 2013

To comply with a statewide “fair pricing” law, hospitals throughout California have significantly lowered prices to uninsured patients, with nearly all even going beyond the state mandate and offering free care to those below the poverty line, according to a USC study published on June 3 in Health Affairs. The study, led by USC Sol Price School of Public Policy professor Glenn Melnick and Katya Fonkych, found that the surprising success of the legislation represents the beginnings of a safety net not in place for other states.

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METRANS receives $3.7 million Volvo grant to study urban freight

March 25, 2013

The USC METRANS Transportation Center has received a $3.7 million grant from the Volvo Research and Educational Foundation to establish a Center of Excellence in urban freight research. The center, called Metrofreight, will research ways to streamline the transportation, handling and storage of goods in city centers while working to reduce the impact on traffic congestion, air quality and urban livability.

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USC health care study featured in presidential report

March 18, 2013

Research by the USC Leonard D. Schaeffer Center for Health Policy and Economics on the value of cancer care is featured in this year’s Economic Report of the President, which was released on March 15. The report included findings from a Schaeffer Center analysis of health care spending by health economists including USC Price faculty Dana Goldman and Darius Lakdawalla, among others. The study compared increases in life expectancy to increases in treatment costs for cancer patients in the United States versus the European Union. The researchers found that the improvement in life expectancy for cancer patients was much greater in the United States for the period studied, indicating that the higher U.S. spending in cancer care has been a good value.

Less than 1 percent of water in LA is recycled, USC report finds

February 28, 2013

Urban water scarcity is an ongoing reality in arid Southern California, and the region remains dependent on imported water, according to a new two-year analysis of water conservation management in Southern California. Led by researchers at USC, the report — published by the Center for Sustainable Cities at the USC Price School of Public Policy — examined water management strategies that were implemented in 2009 as part of legislation to encourage conservation and reduce dependence on single sources of water.

California map showing population age

Shrinking California Child Population Signals Major Changes for State

January 8, 2013

An unprecedented decline in California’s child population, coupled with a tidal wave of baby boom retirees, will pose significant challenges for the state’s future prosperity, according to an analysis of census data released by the USC Sol Price School of Public Policy and the Lucile Packard Foundation for Children’s Health. “These trends are not yet widely recognized, but they should be a wake-up call for policymakers,” said report author Professor Dowell Myers.

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