We introduce spatial patterns of Tweets visualization (SPoTvis), a web-based geovisual analytics tool for exploring messages on Twitter (or “tweets”) collected about political discourse, and illustrate the potential of the approach with a case study focused on a set of linked political events in the United States. In October 2013, the U.S. Congressional debate over the allocation of funds to th...

Many advocates of universal health care put competition and consumer choice at the center of the latest major push for health reform. Dozens of major organizations close to the Democratic Party, including the AFLCIO, Moveon.org, and the Children’s Defense Fund, fought on behalf of a remarkably modest solution: creation of a public health plan — essentially a nonprofit insurance company — to com...

The Affordable Care Act (ACA), of 2010, or Obamacare, was the most monumental change in US health care policy since the passage of Medicaid and Medicare in 1965. Since its enactment, numerous claims have been made on both sides of the aisle regarding the ACA's success or failure; these views often colored by political persuasion. The ACA had 3 primary goals: increasing the number of the insured...

The immense growth of online social networks from simply being a medium of connecting people to assuming a variety of roles has led to a massive increase in their use and popularity. Today, networks like Facebook and Twitter act as news sources, mediums of advertising and facilitators of socio-political revolutions. In such a scenario, it is of vital importance to be able to detect the opinions...

Most states require that as a consideration of obtaining and maintaining a medical license, all applicants must demonstrate "financial responsibility." Usually this includes: (1) establishing an escrow account of cash and/or readily marketable securities; (2) an irrevocable, non-transferable letter of credit; or (3) in most cases, medical malpractice insurance coverage. In recent years, some st...

This technical memo examines health insurance coverage of AIANs in Los Angeles. Previous studies have found that AIANs are significantly less likely to have access, particularly to private insurance (Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured, 2000; American Indians and Alaska Natives: Health Coverage and Access to Care, 2004; Urban Indian Health Institute, 2012). The gap is particularly n...