Instruction: create a high quality summary of the given input

Input:
UK said to face a million-home shortfall by 2022
 The shortfall of new homes in England is set to reach more than a million by 2022 as the gulf between building houses and demand from a growing populations widens, new research shows.

Since 2005 England has seen a cumulative shortfall of more than 530,000 new homes and the projection for the next five years suggests that the situation is not going to get any better.

The analysis from conveyancing search provider Search Acumen using official figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) suggests that there is enough brownfield land to provide the space to meet housing demand.

Search Acumen compared the volume of new homes completed in England each year since 1976 with new dwellings needed to accommodate the growing number of households over the same period.

It estimated household growth by assessing annual ONS birth, death and migration data, and used the ONS’ average annual number of people deemed a household to determine how many new homes would meet the extra demand.

According to the data, in the mid-noughties the creation of new households outstripped supply for the first time in three decades, a trend which has accelerated as the population in England has increased. This drop has been exacerbated by the average UK household size reducing by 16%, from 2.78 persons in 1976 to 2.34 in 2016, meaning more but smaller households putting increasing demand on property supply.

On the eve of the 2017 general election, both the Conservatives and Labour pledged to increase new home builds between 2017 and 2022. Search Acumen has compared those pledges of 300,000 and 200,000 completed new homes each year over a five year period respectively, to its findings.

According to projections, the Tories’ immediate jump to 300,000 homes per year, double 2016’s completions, would only address the current shortfall in the short term.

Taking a closer look at the gap that developed after 2005, the data can estimate the shortfall in supply created by the slowdown in new house builds. Between 2005 and 2016, more than 530,000 too few homes were built to meet the growing demand.

Search Acumen’s research also projected how many homes would be completed each year and how many more households would be created. If trends do continue, England will need an additional 510,000 homes to meet demand. This, on top of the current shortfall means England could have more one million too few homes by 2022.

More than one million homes additional homes may sound like a daunting proposal in a relatively small country and to illustrate the amount of space needed Search Acumen theoretically speculated as to the amount of potential available land for housing development in England by assessing only available brownfield and green belt land.

According to Government figures, there are currently more than 31,000 hectares of brownfield land in England that is suitable to build homes on. In 2015, house builders were able to build 37 domiciles per hectare on brownfield land. Therefore, Search Acumen’s analysis suggests that there is enough brownfield land in England to meet cumulative demand for housing for the next five years if trends continue.

Finally, Search Acumen estimated how much green belt land could be theoretically affected. The research found that if housebuilders continued to build 14 domiciles per hectare on the more than 1.1 million hectares of green belt land in England, only 14% of all green belt would have to be turned over to developers to meet cumulative demand into 2047.

‘The housing market in all corners of England has ground to a halt as people struggle to find a home that fits their needs and their budgets. Our research suggests that, even with housing supposedly higher up the political agenda, the pledges made at the last election won’t do the job of keeping up with demand in the long-term after years of under-investment into new housing,’ said Andrew Lloyd, managing director of Search Acumen.

‘As supply has weakened, demand continues unabated with more dispersed households, an increasing number of births, and net migration unlikely to be affected by Brexit and proposed changes to border controls,’ he explained.

‘We face a future where first time buyers are further squeezed by rising prices, and where those already on the ladder looking for an affordable home simply cannot. To make up for years of under supply, we need to embark on the greatest housing boom this country has seen in a century,’ he pointed out.

‘But it is possible. We have the space, we have the desire and we have tens of thousands of housing professionals in the private and public sector ready to go. We just need our leaders to share our industry’s sense of urgency and begin laying foundations for economic success right away,’ he added.

Output: The UK must build a million new homes by 2022 to meet growing demand and there is enough brownfield land to accommodate them, according to a study by conveyancing search provider Search Acumen using Office of National Statistics data. "We need to embark on the greatest housing boom this country has seen in a century," said Andrew Lloyd, managing director of Search Acumen. Demand first began to outstrip supply in the mid-2000s, but neither the Conservatives' nor Labour's 2017 election pledges to build more homes would have made up the 530,000 shortfall.


Instruction: create a high quality summary of the given input

Input:
First submarine drone squadron launched by US Navy
 The U.S. Navy launched its first-ever underwater drone squadron on Wednesday, demonstrating the growing role of unmanned craft as a vital component of the military.

The service expects the Unmanned Undersea Vehicle Squadron One, or UUVRON 1, will reach its full operational capability for unmanned undersea missions by 2020, the Drive reported.

The new squadron replaces a smaller unit that was part of Submarine Development Squadron Five, or DEVRON 5, which still contains the USS Jimmy Carter spy submarine, a nuclear-powered behemoth tasked with secret Naval operations.

"Today we are transitioning our UUV detachment into the first UUV squadron," U.S. Navy Captain Robert Gaucher, the outgoing head of DEVRON 5, said at a formal activating ceremony at the Naval Undersea Warfare Center in Washington. "Why is this historical? It's because in standing up UUVRON 1, it shows our Navy's commitment to the future of unmanned systems and undersea combat."

Currently, most of the Navy's underwater drones are used to search for enemy mines or to conduct oceanographic mapping and research. These drones can often conduct research and reconnaissance faster, cheaper, and for longer periods of time than manned ships. They can also reach areas that are too shallow or narrow for larger ships to pass.

Output: The US Navy has launched its first submarine drone squadron, the Unmanned Undersea Vehicle Squadron One. The squadron should be fully operational by 2020 for independent undersea missions, replacing part of the Submarine Development Squadron Five. The drones, like their manned counterparts, will be used to search for enemy mines, conduct oceanographic mapping and carry out reconnaissance in areas that are difficult to reach with conventional manned subsea vehicles.


Instruction: create a high quality summary of the given input

Input:
Pension funds fear paperwork burden from proposed ECB rule change
 Although the ECB has issued assurances the regulation is to benefit the stability of the eurozone's monetary system, a number of European pension fund associations raised concerns about the costs.

"In consequence of the new reporting requirements, internal operative expenses for German pension funds will rise and new IT modules or programs will become necessary (and will incur) additional costs," said Klaus Stiefermann, CEO at Arbeitsgemeinschaft fur betriebliche Altersversorgung, the German occupational pension funds association in Berlin. AbA represents 174 pension funds with €174 billion ($207.7 billion) in assets.

Gerard Riemen, managing director at Pensioenfederatie, the Dutch pension association based in The Hague, which represents 220 retirement funds with €1.1 trillion in assets, added: "It is not desirable that pension funds must hire a provider to harvest the data. The funds then have no other option but to pass these additional costs on to their participants."

The key sticking points associated with the incoming regulation are the formula by which pension funds will be calculating and reporting liabilities to the ECB, and the frequency of the reporting, pension fund executives said during a public hearing on the regulation held by the ECB on Sept 21.

While most pension funds in the eurozone now report data annually to domestic regulators, the draft regulation on the ECB's website stipulates, that starting in 2019, pension funds will be expected to provide the data quarterly.

Consultants present at the hearing voiced concerns that adhering to new pan-European rules will incur unwanted costs associated with producing the data more regularly. And because domestic reporting rules vary across the eurozone, pension funds fear that they will be expected to aggregate data in unfamiliar ways. Asset owners highlighted at the hearing that some jurisdictions might feature more advanced practices, such as in the Netherlands, where market-based valuations of liabilities are conducted.

But ECB officials said during the hearing that asset owners will be expected to report liabilities according to established models in their respective member states to national central banks and supervisory authorities, which then will provide the required quarterly updates to the ECB.

To collate and streamline the data of occupational pension funds, the ECB teamed up with the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority, which supervises occupational pension funds in the eurozone. But sources said the reporting templates expected by the two institutions vary, too, and could be a source of additional work.

"Even though the intention was to coordinate the reporting requirements between the ECB and EIOPA, we doubt that the objective of consistent reporting requirements which avoid double reporting and limit the related costs will be achieved," the AbA's Mr. Stiefermann said. For example, pension funds in Germany will have to report three different sets of data: to the national regulator, the EIOPA and the ECB, he said.

"A different breakdown and a different format for each reporting requirement mean that extra work will be needed," he added.

Output: European pension funds are concerned that a European Central Bank directive will require additional paperwork burdens and eventually lead to new capital requirements being imposed. Proposed regulations require funds to report their investments on a security-by-security basis, beginning with investments for 2018. Fund managers are also concerned that new regulations requiring quarterly, rather than annual, reporting of investments will mean they incur additional costs.


Instruction: create a high quality summary of the given input

Input:
FBI keeps secret hacking tools used to access terrorist's phone
 Video: FBI doesn't have to reveal details of iPhone hacking tool

The FBI will not be forced to reveal details of a hacking tool used to break into a terrorist's iPhone, a case that sparked months of legal hostilities between Apple and the US government.

Vice News, USA Today, and the Associated Press filed a Freedom of Information lawsuit to reveal the name of the hacking tool's vendor and its price.

The Justice Dept. launched legal action against Apple, which had refused to help unlock the phone, arguing the device's encryption could not be defeated -- even by the company.

The FBI later obtained a hacking tool -- details of which the agency wants to keep secret.

The tool allowed federal agents to access the phone's contents of Syed Farook, who with his wife Tashfeen Malik murdered 14 people in San Bernardino, California in December 2015 in a mass shooting, later deemed a terrorist attack.

A court gave its final ruling in favor of the FBI late on Saturday.

In her ruling, federal judge Tanya Chutkan said that naming the vendor and its cost would amount to putting a target on its back, and could lead to the loss of theft of the hacking tool.

The FBI said that the vendor's networks are "not as sophisticated" as its own, which could invite cyberattacks against the company.

"It is logical and plausible that the vendor may be less capable than the FBI of protecting its proprietary information in the face of a cyber-attack," said the court. "The FBI's conclusion that releasing the name of the vendor to the general public could put the vendor's systems, and thereby crucial information about the technology, at risk of incursion is a reasonable one."

The tool is said to have only been able to access a "narrow slice" of devices, thought to be iPhone 5C devices running the older iOS 9 operating system.

But the FBI told the court that it may later find "a way to enhance the tool's capabilities."

The news agencies were also fighting for access to the price of the tool. The organizations argued that revealing the price fair game as details had already been publicly made, including one by former FBI director James Comey and Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), who both put the price of the tool at around the $1 million mark.

The court disagreed.

"Releasing the purchase price would designate a finite value for the technology and help adversaries determine whether the FBI can broadly utilize the technology to access their encrypted devices," said the court.

The court also dismissed the notion that Comey's statements on the price of the hacking tool amounts to an "official disclosure" that compels the release of information.

The news organizations will not be allowed to appeal the case.

Output: The FBI has won its legal battle to protect the identity of the company who provided the hacking tool it used to break into a terrorist's iPhone. The US law-enforcement agency bought the hacking software after Apple refused to help them break the encryption on the iPhone of Syed Farook, who murdered 14 people in a mass shooting in 2015. News organisations filed Freedom of Information requests to obtain details of the cost and nature of the tool, but a court decided that the FBI should not have to disclose such information.


Instruction: create a high quality summary of the given input

Input:
Snapchat uses augmented reality for branded World Lenses
 A number of characteristic brand icons could be coming to Snapchat’s augmented reality options. During Advertising Week New York, Snap Inc. debuted the first set of brand sponsored Snapchat World Lenses.

World Lenses put virtual objects in the real world through the Snapchat app and the smartphone camera, allowing users to explore the animated virtual objects from all sides. Now, brands can create sponsored World Lenses, putting their own characters into Snapchat’s AR options.

Recommended Videos

The first two sponsored World Filters explore a few of the platform’s opportunities. Warner Bros. is putting the Spinner car from Blade Runner 2049, putting the futuristic car flying through the real world. Bud Light also has a new 3D World Lens in the form of a baseball-game-style beer guy, complete with a little dance.

The idea is to bring a brand’s mascot, product or other easily recognizable items into Snapchat’s mix of augmented reality. While the first two showcase the character side, Snapchat also suggests that brands could use the option to add virtual products to a real-life scene, which isn’t too far from Ikea’s platform that allows users to try out furniture in their own home.

Sponsored World Lenses can be run nationally like the Bud Lite and Blade Runner characters, or can be used in conjunction with Snapchat’s targeted advertising tools, which allows businesses to reach out to specific audiences by age, gender or interests.

Snapchat’s advertising strategy changed earlier this year when the company made an agreement with Oracle Data Cloud for creating targeted ads using third-party data. These types of ads, instead of using information from a Snapchat profile, user data such as online purchases on other sites or spending habits from using a store loyalty card. The tool can be disabled by swiping off the Snap Audience Match, which means Snapchat will only track information shared in the app for advertising.

The new branded World Lenses is part of a series of several updates designed to encourage more advertising on the platform, now that Snap Inc. is on the New York Stock Exchange. Last year, the company also applied for a patent for tech that would recommend ads based on the items inside Snaps.

Editors' Recommendations

Output: Snapchat has unveiled the first set of its sponsored World Lenses, which allows brands to insert their own mascots, products or objects into Snapchat’s augmented reality (AR) options. The new sponsored AR series is part of a drive to encourage more advertising on Snapchat’s platform. Big brands such as Warner Bros and Bud Lite have already taken up the opportunity to develop advertisements for World Lenses, while Snapchat has suggested that brands could also use the platform to add virtual products to real-life scenes, similar to Ikea’s AR app that allows users to place furniture in their own homes.


Instruction: create a high quality summary of the given input

Input:
Uber northern European manager Jo Bertram quits
 Jo Bertram, regional general manager - Northern Europe at Uber. Jo Bertram / Linkedin

Uber's top boss in Britain will quit the taxi hailing app just as the firm battles to overturn a decision to strip it of its license in London, according to an email seen by Reuters.

The British capital's transport regulator deemed Uber unfit to run a taxi service last month and decided not to renew its license to operate, citing the firm's approach to reporting serious criminal offences and background checks on drivers.

But in an email seen by Reuters on Monday, Uber's Northern European Manager Jo Bertram, who has responsibility for Britain among other countries, said the firm needed a new manager in the region to tackle the issues it faces.

"Given some of our current challenges, I’m also convinced that now is the right time to have a change of face, and to hand over to someone who will be here for the long haul and take us into the next phase," she said.

In response, Uber's top boss in Europe, the Middle East and Africa said that the firm would now seek out Bertram's replacement.

"Jo will remain with us over the next few weeks in order to help with a smooth transition, and I look forward to working closely with the excellent team she leaves behind," Pierre-Dimitri Gore-Coty said in an email seen by Reuters.

The firm's London boss Tom Elvidge will head up UK operations on an interim basis, he said.

Uber's new global Chief Executive Dara Khosrowshahi is due in London on Tuesday to meet the head of the city's transport regulator in a bid to keep operating in one of its most important foreign markets.

Bertram heads up the San Francisco-based app's operations in ten countries including Britain, Ireland, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg.

In the email, she declined to say where she would be moving to.

"An exciting new opportunity has arisen that will allow me to apply what I’ve learnt here and I’ll be able to share more details with you soon," she said.

(Reporting by Costas Pitas; editing by Guy Faulconbridge)

Output: Embattled ride-hailing company Uber has received another blow as its top executive in Britain announced her departure. Northern European manager Jo Bertram leaves the company just as the firm fights to overturn the decision to strip it of its licence in London. Bertram had been with Uber for four years and in an email to staff she commented that "an exciting new opportunity” had arisen for her, which she did not disclose. Bertram’s resignation comes as Uber's new global chief executive, Dara Khosrowshahi, flies to Britain to meet the head of Transport for London. Bertram will leave in a few weeks' time.


Instruction: create a high quality summary of the given input

Input:
Build to rent sector grows by nearly 40% quarter on quarter
 The Build to Rent sector in the UK now has 95,918 homes completed, under construction or in planning, a quarter on quarter rise of almost 40%, new research shows.

The number has increased from the 69,824 recorded in the first quarter of 2017, a rise of 37.4%, according to the data produced by real estate firm Savills for the British Property Federation (BPF).

When looking exclusively at the number of Build to Rent homes under construction and in planning, the rate of growth is even stronger, up from 56,547 to 78,917, an increase of 39.6%.

With 54,978 homes complete, under construction and in planning, London still has the highest number of Build to Rent homes but regionally numbers are growing with 12,316 currently under construction compared to 11,696 in London.

The size of Build to Rent developments also continues to experience significant growth, with 34 developments currently in the pipeline set to provide over 500 new rented homes each compared to 24 developments in the first quarter of the year.

‘The data allows us to track Build to Rent’s growth across the UK. Correcting the supply-demand imbalance in the UK is fundamental to addressing the housing crisis, and we have demonstrated that Build to Rent has much to offer,’ said Ian Fletcher, director of real estate policy at the BPF.

He welcomed the Mayor of London’s continued support of the sector and his recognition of its capacity to deliver much-needed homes. ‘We look forward to the Government’s formal response to the national Housing White Paper, which formally recognised Build to Rent in the National Planning Policy Framework,’ he added.

‘We need all housing tenures to be fully supported by the right policy framework if we are going to reverse the damage caused by years of undersupply,’ he concluded.

Output: The UK build to rent sector had a total of 95,918 homes in the planning process, being built or completed between April and June this year, an increase of 37.4% from Q1's 69,824, according to estate agents Savills. The rate of growth for build to rent homes either in construction or planning has increased by even more, from 56,547 to 78,917, or 39.6%. London has the largest number of build to rent homes underway, with 54,978 recorded as being in planning, being built or completed. However, there are 12,316 homes being built in the regions as against 11,696 in London.


Instruction: create a high quality summary of the given input

Input:
Exclusive yacht club combats plastic ocean waste
 One of the most exclusive yacht clubs in the world has drawn up an environmental charter to ask 150,000 sailors across the globe to reduce plastic pollution in the ocean.

The Costa Smerelda yacht club in Sardinia, established by the Aga Khan 50 years ago, is publishing the charter to cut plastic waste at the One Ocean Forum conference. International sailing organisations have signed up to support the document which will be disseminated to 150,000 sailors who compete across the world.

Riccardo Bonadeo, commodore of the club, said there was a need to raise awareness among sailors, people who live on and use the coast, and the wider public, about the need to reduce plastic waste and adopt more environmentally friendly marine practices.

The charter aims to gather a commitment from yacht clubs, their members, marinas and other ocean users to adopt a set of principles and actions to reduce marine waste.

Oliver Schwall, managing director of the Sailing Champions League which has contact with individual national leagues across the world, has signed the charter. “Behind the Sailing Champions League and the International Sailing League Association are up to 300 sailing clubs from 15 countries who have more than 150,000 members.

“This give us a great opportunity to make the ideas of the Charta Smerelda known throughout Europe,” he said.

The charter will be published at a conference run by Costa Smerelda yacht club in Milan on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Bonadeo believes there has never been a more pressing time to promote its message which includes:

eliminating single-use plastics

preserving water resources

protecting and preserving marine habitats

adopting renewable energy

adopting ethical and responsible behaviour during boating and sailing and

raising public awareness of marine litter and pollution and the need to reduce it.

Data from the Ellen MacArthur foundation show the scale of marine pollution. The foundation in a report in 2016 revealed that every year more than 8m tonnes of plastic are leaked into the ocean. Up to 40% of the world’s oceans are heavily affected by human activities causing pollution, loss of coastal habitats and depleted fisheries, according to the UN’s sustainable development goals. By 2050 there will be more plastic in the ocean than fish by weight, according to the Ellen MacArthur foundation.

New figures revealed by the Guardian showed a million plastic bottles are bought across the world every minute. By 2021 purchase of plastic bottles will rise by 21% to 583bn bottles across the world.

Output: The Costa Smerelda yacht club has created an environmental charter which calls on sailors across the world to fight plastic pollution in the ocean. The exclusive Sardinian club, established 50 years ago by the Aga Khan, is publishing the charter at a conference in Milan this week. The charter aims to commit yacht clubs, marinas and other groups to reducing marine waste, with  proposals include the elimination of single use plastics, adoption of renewable energy, preservation of water resources and marine habitats, and ethical and responsible behaviour.


Instruction: create a high quality summary of the given input

Input:
Dubai government set to launch digital currency
 Dubai’s government is to launch a cryptocurrency following a partnership between Emcredit, a subsidiary of Dubai’s Department for the Economy (also known as Dubai Economy) and a UK based blockchain start-up called Object Tech Grp.

The new “encrypted digital currency,” called emCash, will be based on the latest blockchain technology, Dubai’s economy department says in a statement, and will be usable through emPay, a wallet launched by Emcredit to support contactless payments.

Output: The government of Dubai is set to launch emCash, its own digital currency, as part of an ambitious plan to have blockchain to underpin the Emirate's financial system. In a statement, Ali Ibrahim, deputy Director General of Dubai Economy, said emCash would be used through a new wallet called emPay, which would offer fiat payments as well as real-time digital transactions. Other blockchain-based services, including real-time settlement and peer-to-peer lending, would also be developed, according to the government's statement.


Instruction: create a high quality summary of the given input

Input:
Canadian asset managers launch an ETF nearly every day
 Share

Exchange-traded funds providers continue to pump out new investment offerings with a plethora of products hitting the shelf in September.

More than 20 ETFs have launched over the last few weeks – both in the active management space and passive investing – pushing the total number of ETF offerings in the Canadian market beyond the 600 mark. The assets flowing into the Canadian ETF market have been consistently heading north month over month and now sit at $135-billion in assets under management.

Here is a roundup of the most recent product launches – as well as those set to hit the market this fall:

Wisdom Tree Canada added three dividend-paying equity funds to its ETF offering. WisdomTree Canada Quality Dividend Growth Index ETF (DGRC); WisdomTree Emerging Markets Dividend Index ETF (EMV.B); and WisdomTree U.S. MidCap Dividend Index ETF (UMI and UMI.B). They all follow a dividend-weighted approach, rather than weighting by market capitalization and charge management fees between 0.21 per cent to 0.38 per cent.

Horizons ETFs Management (Canada) Inc. introduced its new developed markets strategy with the launch of Horizons International Developed Markets Equity Index ETF. With the ticker HXDM, investors will gain exposure to developed market stocks outside of North America through tracking the MSCI EAFE Index. Management fees for HXDM are 0.20 per cent.

Horizons has also filed preliminary prospectuses for three additional funds expected to launch later this year: Horizons Robotics and Automation Index ETF (ROBO); Horizons Active Intl Developed Markets Equity ETF (HADM); and Horizons Active A.I. Global Equity ETF (MIND).

RBC Global Asset Management Inc. launched a suite of seven index-tracking ETFs sub-advised by State Street Global Advisors (SSGA), the investment management arm of State Street Corp. The funds include: RBC Canadian Short Term Bond Index ETF (RCSB); RBC Canadian Bond Index ETF (RCUB); RBC Global Government Bond (CAD Hedged) Index ETF (RGGB); RBC Canadian Equity Index ETF (RCAN); RBC U.S Equity Index ETF (RUSA); RBC International Equity Index ETF (RINT); and RBC Emerging Markets Equity Index ETF (REEM). The seven ETFs will follow indexes provided by FTSE Russell and have management fees ranging from 0.05 per cent to 0.35 per cent.

RBC already has plans to launch an additional five funds later this year and filed a final prospectus for four actively managed fixed-income ETFs and one index-tracking fund. These upcoming ETFs will leverage the investment capabilities behind the PH&N and BlueBay fixed-income funds and includes: RBC 6-10 Year Laddered Canadian Corporate Bond Ladder ETF (RMBO); RBC Canadian Bank Yield ETF (RBNK); RBC Short-Term U.S. Corporate Bond ETF (RUSB, RUSB.U); RBC PH&N Short-Term Canadian Bond ETF (RPSB); and RBC BlueBay Global Diversified Income (CAD Hedged) ETF (RBDI).

Newcomer Evolve funds just announced four of its ETFs are now actively trading on the TSX. The funds had already filed preliminary prospectus early in the summer and received approval from regulators. With management fees of 0.40 per cent, Evolve Gender Diversity (HERS); Evolve Cybersecurity (CYBR); and Evolve Automobile Innovation Index ETF (CARS) are all indexed based funds, while Evolve Active Canadian Preferred Share ETF ( DIVS) is actively managed with a fee of 0.65 per cent and is sub-advised by Foyston, Gordon & Payne Inc.

Evolve has more products set to launch this fall including a global health care fund – Evolve Global Healthcare Enhanced Yield ETF (LIFE).

Dynamic Funds and BlackRock Canada expanded the Dynamic iShares Active ETFs lineup with three actively managed fixed-income ETFs that provide exposure to U.S. mid-cap equity and global financial services: Dynamic iShares Active Tactical Bond ETF (DXB); Dynamic iShares Active U.S. Mid-Cap ETF (DXZ); and Dynamic iShares Active Global Financial Services ETF (DXF) all provide exposure to active investment strategies implemented by Dynamic fund managers Christine Horoyski for DXB, Tom Dicker and Steven Hall for DXZ, and Yassen Dimitrov for DXF. Management fees range from 0.50 per cent to 0.75 per cent.

Invesco's Powershares introduced two income-focused ETFs that will offer investors exposure to intermediate-term corporate bonds and the real estate sector. The PowerShares 1-10 Year Laddered Investment Grade Corporate Bond Index ETF (PIB) will aim to track the FTSE TMX Canada Investment Grade 1-10 Year Laddered Corporate Bond Index, while PowerShares S&P/TSX REIT Income Index ETF (REIT) will track the S&P/TSX Capped REIT Income Index. Management fees for PIB and REIT are 0.25 per cent and 0.45 per cent, respectively.

Hamilton Capital Partners expanded its fund family with the addition of the Hamilton Capital US Mid-Cap Financials ETF (USD). The fund provides investors the opportunity to gain long-term returns in U.S. dollars, consisting of capital growth and dividends from an actively managed equity portfolio of, primarily, United States-based mid-cap (market capitalization between US$500 million and US$20 billion) financial services companies. With the ticker HFMU.U, the portfolio may include commercial and investment banks, insurance companies, brokerages, asset managers, exchanges, real estate investment trusts and other investment companies. Management fees are 0.85 per cent.

First Asset has added to its actively managed suite of funds with two new ETFs: First Asset Enhanced Short Duration Bond ETF (FSB) and First Asset Cambridge Global Dividend ETF (FCW and FCW.B ) have management fees of 0.60 per cent and 0.70 per cent, respectively. FSB aims to provide positive absolute returns, monthly distributions along with very low volatility , while FCW aims to provides attractive total investment return, consisting of dividend income and capital gains, by investing primarily in equity and equity-related securities of issuers anywhere in the world. The company also launched a rules-based ETF with an unhedged version of the First Asset Tech Giants Covered Call ETF with the ticker TXF.B and management fees of 0.65 per cent.

Output: Canada's asset management industry launched more than 20 exchange traded funds in September. WisdomTree, Invesco and RBC Global Asset Management were among the firms to bring new offerings to the market, with additional fund products expected later in the year. The Canadian ETF market now offers more than 600 funds with a total of CAD135bn ($108bn) under management.


Instruction: create a high quality summary of the given input

Input:
UK grocer Ocado trials robo-deliveries using Oxbotica CargoPod
 Earlier this year, the GATEway Project (Greenwich Automated Transport Environment), led by the Transport Research Laboratory (TRL) trialled autonomous pods to shuttle people around the Greenwich peninsula. Also, Project partner Oxbotica drove it’s Geni vehicle more than 100km around the roads of the borough. The residents of Greenwich are certainly getting used to the sight of driverless vehicles on their streets and pedestrianised areas.

Professor Nick Reed, academy director from TRL, says: “We are coming to the twilight of the project, but this third trial is around deliveries. And, as in all of the use cases, we are looking at public trust and acceptance of automated vehicles.”

Now, the project together with online supermarket Ocado and Oxbotica has completed the UK’s first trials of an autonomous delivery vehicle called CargoPod.

“We need to understand how these vehicles will support the future of logistics in the city,” adds Prof Reed. “Whether that will be supermarkets, fuel filling stations or hospitals. Can we improve the efficiency of deliveries to these environments by using autonomous vehicles that are completely safe and produce zero emissions?”

CargoPod has been developed by Oxbotica and is guided by the company’s Selenium autonomy software system, which uses two lidar sensors as well as several cameras to enable real-time, accurate navigation, planning and perception in dynamic environments like busy residential areas. The CargoPod is run by the same software as the autonomous shuttles, meaning that it can predict the trajectory of people, cyclists and other vehicles that are moving around it. It is programmed to make emergency stops if someone were to step out in front of it, yield to other vehicles and follow people or cyclists at a perceived safe distance of around 5m. Although this will be subject to the result of the public trial and how comfortable the public is with being followed by an autonomous vehicle.

Dr Graeme Smith, chief executive of Oxbotica, a spin-out from Oxford University, explains: “We took a standard electric vehicle and modified it so we could drive it electronically. The compartment on the back swings open so you can load up to 128kg of groceries using a forklift truck. Once the boxes are in there, the customer will get a message on their phone to say which of the eight lockers on the side of the vehicle is theirs to open when it arrives.”

Although Oxbotica developed the vehicle for the trial, the company’s main role in the project is as software manufacturer and developer. It is working on how the vehicle reacts to pedestrians and other road users as well as the more formal rules of the highway code. Another area they are pioneering is the laser mapping of environments where GPS is ineffective and has been overlooked by initiatives like Google’s street-mapping.

“There are a lot of companies that are laser mapping all the roads in the world, but when you get into a community like this or a campus community, maybe your own driveway, these are not things that anybody has ever mapped before,” Dr Smith says. “The technology that we introduce has to have the capability of being able to form maps itself and then transmit those maps between other vehicles that might want to use the same area.”

Uniquely, the focus of this study is both on the commercial opportunities of self-driving technology and how it functions alongside people in a residential environment. It also explores the public’s perceptions and understanding of driverless delivery vehicles.

Last-mile delivery

Ocado Technology has already invested heavily in autonomous tech for its warehouses to increase efficiency and throughput. It is using the GATEway trial to explore the logistics and practicalities of deploying electric autonomous ‘last-mile’ delivery vehicles and could be the next step to replace or augment its fleet of diesel delivery vans.

David Sharp, head of technology at Ocado, is quick to point out that last-mile delivery is not the end of human delivery drivers. He explains: “This is just another delivery mechanism. The Ocado driver who carries all the heavy stuff up your flights of stairs is still a very valuable way of having things delivered. But, to economically deliver small numbers of items, having a more autonomous delivery mechanism might be more value for money.”

The research findings will also help guide the wider roll out of autonomous vehicles which, in the future, may play an

important role in cutting inner city congestion and air pollution. The trial is run in partnership with ‘Digital Greenwich’, an initiative that has established Greenwich as a flagship ‘smart city’, where emerging technologies, such as these, are being developed and tested in real-life, complex urban environments. GATEway is one of several projects taking place around the UK.

The residents of Greenwich may have become used to the sight of autonomous vehicles, but do they like them? Dr Smith says: “It’s been amazing, we haven’t found anyone that’s been negatively opposed.

“For example, we had an older lady, a real technophobe, she was terrified of being in the vehicle, but after it had been going for about 30 second she said, is this it? It’s just like a train. And from that minute she was over that hump.”

Over the horizon With its role in the GATEway project virtually over with the completion of this test, Oxbotica is setting its sights on the next, bigger project, focussing on the highest levels of autonomy. Dr Smith says: “We have just won a £13 million Government project called ‘Driven’, which is going to put six autonomous vehicles on the road between London and Oxford.” Finishing in 2019, the Driven project, which Oxbotica is leading, is underway now. It will use everything it has learned from developing the GATEway pods and transfer that into full-sized cars travelling at national speed limits. The first cars are expected to be on the roads by the beginning of 2018.

Output: Trials of the first UK self-driving grocery delivery service have begun in a partnership between grocer Ocado and autonomous vehicle manufacturer Oxbotica. The service's CargoPod vehicle is equipped with Oxbotica's Selenium autonomy software, which enables the vehilce to navigate, detect obstacles and make emergency stops using cameras and sensors. It can carry up to 128 kg of groceries that can be offloaded by customers from lockers on the side of the vehicle. The CargoPod is being tested for public trust and logistical possibilities, as well as its ability to handle highway code regulations.


Instruction: create a high quality summary of the given input

Input:
Franklin Mutual adds water leak alerts from Roost home telematics
 The carrier is using the Roost Roost Smart Water Leak and Freeze Detector, designed to sense water leaks as well as humidity and freezing temperature situations.

(Image source: Roost.)

Franklin Mutual (Branchville, N.J.) has selected Roost’s (Sunnyvale, Calif.) home telematics solutions for water leak and freezing detection in order to drive greater customer engagement and satisfaction, and to mitigate the costs of water leak claims.

“By partnering with Roost to offer our policyholders Roost Smart Water Leak and Freeze Detectors, we are continuing our commitment to better serve our policyholders with innovative services, products and coverages,” comments Brian Lytwynec, President and CEO, Franklin Mutual Insurance. “Together we are pairing valuable innovative devices with excellent insurance that delivers protection and priceless peace of mind around the home for our customers.”

Roost Smart Water Leak and Freeze Detector is designed to sense water leaks as well as humidity and freezing temperature situations. The device then delivers smartphone alerts via the Roost/Franklin Mutual Insurance App to help minimize water damage and loss. Roost says that the smart Wi-Fi enabled detector sets up in less than 5 minutes and is easily located in places around the home that are most prone to water leaks such as sinks, hot water heaters, toilets and various appliances.

Impact of Preventing Water Claims

“We are gratified to be working with one of New Jersey’s most established and respected insurers and see this as another strong validation of our smart sensor notification platform,” comments Roel Peeters, co-founder and CEO of Roost. “Franklin Mutual Insurance clearly sees the impact our solutions can have on helping to prevent water claims as well as improving their customer engagement and retention.”

Output: New Jersey-based Franklin Mutual Insurance is making use of telematics provided by home-monitoring firm Roost to track water leaks and pipes freezing. Franklin hopes that by using data provided by Roost's home-monitoring devices it can mitigate the cost of claims related to water leaks. Policyholders with Franklin will be provided with Roost's smart water leak and freeze detectors, which send alerts to homeowners' smartphones if they detect a leak and also freezing conditions or excess humidity.


Instruction: create a high quality summary of the given input

Input:
Bidalgo aims for $250m in 2017
 Missed the GamesBeat Summit excitement? Don't worry! Tune in now to catch all of the live and virtual sessions here.

Bidalgo has created an automated advertising platform for mobile app developers and publishers, and the Tel Aviv-based company expects to close 2017 with more than $250 million in revenue, up dramatically from $86 million in 2016.

Peli Beeri, CEO of Bidalgo, said in an interview with VentureBeat that the company has averaged $25 million in revenue for the past three months, and that means its revenue run rate is $300 million going forward. That means that it could generate $300 million in revenue in the next 12 months as it becomes a one-stop shop for those who buy mobile ads to promote their apps and games.

He said that an increase in clients, global expansion, and additions to the company’s services have fueled the growth. Bidalgo is an official marketing partner of Facebook, Instagram, Google, Snapchat, and Pinterest, and it also covers Apple Search Ads. Bidalgo’s AI-based algorithms automate and optimize the entire ad-buying process, including automatic creation of new ads and ad content managing how much to pay for each ad.

The company has delivered more than 25 million installs in the past year and generated more than $1 billion in revenue for app developers, based on the revenue from those installs. Bidalgo’s algorithms take approximately 2.5 million actions per day to optimize campaign performance on behalf of its clients.

Event Transform 2023 Join us in San Francisco on July 11-12, where top executives will share how they have integrated and optimized AI investments for success and avoided common pitfalls. Register Now

Image Credit: Bidalgo

“App marketing has become extremely complex, making it practically impossible for marketers to scale their apps all on their own,” said Beeri. “The market is up, but Bidalgo has offered a self-serve, one-stop shop to help app marketers acquire new users, and that has helped us grow faster than the market.”

Bidalgo started in Israel in 2010, and the company became a Facebook ad partner in 2011. It opened a San Francisco office in 2015. The company now has 80 employees, a number that is up 50 percent since the start of the year. Beeri anticipates the company will have 100 employees by the end of the year. Israel has a strong heritage in marketing and advertising technology, and Bidalgo gained momentum early by working with Israeli game and app companies, such as Playtika and Plarium.

Now, hundreds of advertisers — from early-stage app developers to Fortune 500 companies — rely on Bidalgo’s platform and services to scale their user acquisition programs. Bidalgo’s customers include Playtika, Plarium, Scientific Games, Wargaming, and dozens of other top grossing app developers.

Automation, which artificial intelligence software enables, helped Bidalgo gain traction with advertisers, Beeri said.

“It gave us an advantage in achieving results for user-acquisition managers,” Peeri said. “We started out small, but today, our customers are spending millions with us.”

Beeri said that the company provides a dashboard that serves as a way to view a bunch of campaigns across platforms, all at once.

Image Credit: Bidalgo

“Using Bidalgo’s AI solutions has allowed us to not only scale to millions of users with incredible return on ad spend but also understand what type of additional game content to produce and who our target audience is on a deeper level,” said Filippo De Rose, head of marketing and ad monetization at Pixelberry Studios, in a statement. “Bidalgo was one of our key partners in breaking into the top 20 grossing apps.”

One of the impediments is ad fraud, which has become a $1 billion problem.

“The ad networks have a problem with ad fraud, and that has shifted a lot of momentum back to the platforms like Google and Facebook,” Beeri said. “This comes back to the fact that we are fully transparent. You can log into our platform and see most of what is happening.”

Rivals include Nanigans and Smartly.io. By the end of 2018, Beeri hopes to target total revenues of $1 billion. Bidalgo is concentrating on getting a bigger share of ad spending. For a customer who might spend $10 million on all advertising in a year, Bidalgo might get 5 percent of the spending.

“Everyone says they have AI and automation,” he said. “It’s challenging to compete. But we are focused completely on this mobile-app market. We have a lot of things in the pipeline and plan to be even stronger going forward.”

Output: Israeli firm Bidalgo is on target to end 2017 with revenues of $250m, compared to the previous year's figure of $86m, according to CEO Peli Beeri. The company is an advertising partner of Facebook, Google, Snapchat, Pinterest and Instagram, and has developed an artificial intelligence-backed platform offering an end-to-end mobile ad-buying solution for game and app marketers. Bidalgo oversaw 25 million installs in the past year, and Beeri said the firm will concentrate on growing its share of ad spending in the future.


Instruction: create a high quality summary of the given input

Input:
Telemedicine eyes wider adoption after US disaster response
 As wide swaths of the southeastern US work to recover from the recent spate of hurricanes, they won’t be reliant on local health care providers alone. Since Hurricane Harvey began threatening the Houston area in late August, telemedicine vendors and healthcare providers alike have opened up their lines to receive emergency calls and support relief efforts free of charge.

This isn’t the first time that telemedicine providers have pitched in during a disaster, but it’s clear that the technology is now enjoying a much warmer reception. For Hurricane Irma, Nemours Children’s Health System told MobiHealthNews that downloads of its CareConnect telemedicine app increased 554 percent between September 8th and September 12th, while Florida Hospital told the Orlando Sentinel that its eCare service received 2,700 new users between September 8th and September 10th. In addition, Nemours noted that its social media posts describing the free services spread among followers like wildfire, and quickly became the system’s most widely shared posts.

“We decided once a state of emergency was called in the state of Florida that we could really provide the care and access that might be needed to parents across the state, and also to southern Georgia,” Carey Officer, administrator of telehealth at Nemours, told MobiHealthNews. “There were a lot of doctor’s offices that were closing due to the storm, and so parents were scrambling. Kids get sick when they want to get sick — they don’t wait for a storm to pass when they do. I think it brought a lot of relief to parents as they were [encountering] certain situations where they couldn’t leave their house.”

Teladoc — who along with American Well, Click-A-Clinic, Cure Companion, Doctor on Demand, MDLive, the Rowe Network, Vidyo, and other telemedicine vendors opened up their services during the disasters — saw a similar increase in use. Over the course of Harvey and Irma, its emergency line served more than a thousand people, Anne Stowell, Teladoc’s vice president of member experience, told MobiHealthNews. While the volume of callers was undoubtedly driven by the severity of the storms, Stowell she felt that these numbers could also represent a turning point for the maturing telemedicine industry.

“Telemedicine is reaching a critical mass of people being aware of what it is, and how it can help,” Stowell said. “It’s been a lot easier to help people understand how that fits into their life when they are displaced and need care. Five years ago it was much less of a known quantity. I think now that people know what it is, and when we make it available, it’s something people are inclined to trust and use, just because there’s a wider public awareness.”

Learning to prepare

Medical literature has long viewed telemedicine as an an opportunity to expand and support care during disasters — in fact, disaster medicine experts have been singing the praises of telecommunications as far back as 1995. However, understanding how best to leverage the developing technology and meet its growing demand has been a continuous learning experience.

“It’s an extremely important service in times of disaster,” Officer said. “We’re looking at it very closely to find ways that we can be proactive [in the event of] another storm, and learn from these lessons.”

Officer said that one of her organization’s major takeaways from its Harvey and Irma relief program was the value of raising awareness through various media channels prior to the event. Whether through social media or mainstream news, Officer and Stowell both stressed the need to connect with potential patients, and the impact doing so had on call volume.

“We have kind of an engagement engine running here at Teladoc,” Stowell said. “We’re working to get our members aware and registered using our service. With this, it’s really easy for us to switch that engine over to making people in Texas, or in Florida, or in Louisiana aware of the hotline itself. … There’s been much more uptake as well as much more chatter for the Harvey and the Irma relief efforts, and I think that has to do with our ability to push that message out in an effective way.”

Meet this demand and the numerous challenges of a natural disaster also requires extensive planning. Stowell said that her company’s experience providing service during prior emergencies led Teladoc to develop a multi-phase internal emergency preparation and response plan. In the weeks before, a team will gauge the expected severity of an event and, if it’s deemed to be a significantly pressing emergency, begin reaching out to partners and sending out awareness messages to the public. Then, once the storm hits, Stowell said, their teams will have their infrastructure prepared for the influx of callers.

“Because we have such a robust technology infrastructure, we were able to turn that on within a day and our network was able to support the volume of the thousand-plus people who were coming to us well above our normal volume,” Stowell said. “We couldn’t do this — turn it on quickly and do it well — without the groundwork.”

Disaster preparedness plans are not unusual for telemedicine vendors. MDLive told MobiHealthNews last month that it also had a pre-drafted plan ready prior to Hurricane Harvey. However, it still pays to be flexible, Officer said, as their service had to quickly increase the number of providers on-call to meet the growing demand.

Telemedicine can benefit larger relief efforts

Beyond securing their own infrastructure, telemedicine services must also coordinate with relief organizations, local and federal government, and other emergency responders. As a system of pediatricians, Officer said that much of Nemours’ role during the storm involved supporting shelters or other healthcare providers on the ground who may not be fully equipped to provide the appropriate specialty care.

“Talking to the leaders of the special needs shelters, they didn’t even think about having an iPad,” Officer said. “Having the opportunity to have an app ready to go, and ensuring that there are lines of communication that can handle that type of video conferencing — that would be tremendous, and that really solves a lot of the equation when you start to think about having the right expertise at the right place. That’s a part of the conversation today, and I think that has to become a very important piece of how we prepare for disaster moving forward.”

Teladoc, on the other hand, has a standing partnership with the American Red Cross that allows the company to assist shelter staff and those who have evacuated but may not have a working mobile device. The arrangement, Stowell explained, is an example of how telemedicine can be integrated into organized relief efforts.

“Our partnership with the Red Cross is a really good model for that, and I think it’s extendable to any other relief agency, or governmental agency, or support infrastructure [after] an event like Harvey or Irma,” she said. “We have worked to make sure that they have the information they need in shelters, so when people evacuate and stay in a Red Cross shelter, the Red Cross staff there has information about the available Teladoc services and hotline, and then they are able to deploy it in the shelter.”

Dedi Gilad, cofounder and CEO of telemedicine vendor TytoCare, also sees larger-scale collaborations between telemedicine providers and relief efforts as the future of disaster relief. He argued that while telemedicine companies are “being nice” by distributing services to disaster evacuees, the relatively low number of government-backed emergency telemedicine programs is a missed opportunity that needs to be amended.

“[We] really should do it in a more organized way, and be better ready to support these kinds of situations,” he told MobiHealthNews. “I’m not part of any governmental or state board, but if I were I’d say it is relatively simple and low-cost to get ready with this kind of tool. We basically only need communication, and maybe some very basic tools.”

Such preparations may be sparse now, but telemedicine’s growing adoption during these emergencies could improve its chances of being noticed. In an story published on FierceHealthcare.com following Harvey, Nathaniel Lacktman, a partner and chair of the telemedicine industry tream at Foley & Lardner LLP, said he expects public and government officials to appreciate telemedicine’s support during emergencies, and suspected that many “forward-looking hospitals” may look to integrate telehealth into their disaster preparations. For Officer, though, the case has already been very clearly made.

“What we saw during Hurricane Irma is confirmation that telehealth can also be a very important channel for connecting families with providers when traditional means of accessing care are blocked,” Officer said. “Reviews from families who used Nemours CareConnect during the storm were very positive and our providers felt they were truly able to help. I expect this will be an important solution as our country responds to future disasters."

Overcoming telemedicine's shortcomings

Telemedicine does have its shortcomings when it comes to providing disaster relief, however. Perhaps the most stark limitation is the inability to treat life-threatening injuries or other critical conditions that require hands-on attention.

“The first challenge is really what we can help with and what can’t we help with,” Stowell said. “Someone has a broken leg in Houston — telehealth definitely can’t help that.”

Still, the technology can provide indirect help to these patients by reducing the number of patients flooding emergency departments with low-priority issues, Gilad explained. And in many cases, the capacity to provide prompt, personalized triage alone will provide the best outcomes for those weathering the storm.

“When someone is very physically hurt, even a good quality camera to be able to look at a cut, or a bruise, or any issue that requires attention [is useful],” Gilad said. “The diagnostic side is important just to tell you if this is serious and you have to run to the hospital, or if just putting on some bandages and getting some rest [is enough].”

Officer agreed that, for many, telemedicine’s primary role may simply be diagnostic. However, she stressed that this benefit cannot be understated when people are displaced and in need of more information.

“There was a lot of great triage because parents have a lot of questions,” she said. “You know, you’re hearing across the state ‘Stay in, stay in, don’t go out, it’s too dangerous.’ So, you have a lot of nervous people, a lot of families that were moving across the state thinking they were escaping the storm and then having to move again, so not necessarily in their normal communities.”

Another issue comes with infrastructure and connectivity. Winds and water can frequently knock out power, telephone, and internet services, meaning that many of those taking shelter in boarded-up homes are effectively cut off from the outside world. Further, those who do leave their houses to seek care or shelter may not have a mobile device with them, or might lose their source of communication after the first few days of traveling.

For these particular storms, Officer said that she was surprised at how many people maintained connectivity despite any service outages. Regardless, she admitted that Nemours and other telemedicine providers need to challenge themselves to find a good way for the technology to overcome these roadblocks. Conversely, Stowell said that in Teladoc’s experience with these storms and those prior, well-equipped relief shelters with a sturdy connection have served as the best means for expanding access. Gilad took this approach one step further, and argued that more should be done to make access ubiquitous outside of major shelters.

“You can deploy this kind of low-cost solution in schools, in malls, and other shelters,” he said. “You can have a few rooms with very good service tools and communications where people can come in. You can put it in many, many areas … and maybe as part of the more governmental or state-wide strategy you can define locations that have high-quality networking.”

Additional logistical issues arise as other services in disaster-struck communities, such as local pharmacies, begin to close their doors. Officer said this is a key concern that comes with storms, and ensuring that patients who need antibiotics or specialized treatments for chronic diseases can find an open distributor is a top priority for telehealth services. The issue is only exasperated by evacuees seeking shelter in unfamiliar communities, Stowell noted, leading her company to tap outside resources when helping patients.

“The ways that we solve that is working with third parties who publish lists of pharmacies that are still open and making sure that that is available on social media and available through our provider networks,” Stowell explained. “So, if someone is providing care to someone in the moment, they can also help advise where to go.”

Telemedicine fills gaps in disaster care

Despite these challenges, the recent relief efforts have been a showcase of telemedicine’s specific strengths, including its capacity to provide continuous support in the days and weeks following a disaster. Dr. Deborah Mulligan, chief medical affairs officer for MDLive, explained last month that virtual physicians are capable of diagnosing the various infections that come from upended sewage systems, for example, and using video consultation can examine bites marks from feral animals. Her company — along with Teladoc, Doctor on Demand, and others — also provides behavioral and mental health treatment, which normally might be pushed to the wayside when local providers have their hands full with physical conditions.

“Roughly 20 percent of the population suffers from a mental health diagnosis at some point in their life,” Mulligan said in an earlier interview with MobiHealthNews. “A hurricane of this gravity may exacerbate pre-existing conditions, as well as increase stress levels, anxiety and depression in those affected.”

The back-to-back storms have also better demonstrated the benefits of a decentralized physician network. Whether it’s due to a wide-sweeping power outage or an emergency evacuation, local doctors frequently find themselves unable to handle patients, Stowell and Officer explained. In these situations, providers who are unaffected, or are easily able to resume their services after a blackout, are an invaluable advantage.

“We have our providers in multiple states and locations,” Officer said. “Once we lost power, it was wonderful to have consistent service from our clinicians who were in a different state. So the fact that we do have physicians sitting in multiple states was a wonderful advantage — that we could bring the same level of pediatric care, the same protocols, the same quality of care to our patients and families, not relying on all of our physicians being in Florida in a storm.”

While Florida and other states have allowed out-of-state practitioners to lend their services through telemedicine for some time, Texans recovering from Harvey would have been left in the cold if not for a new Texas telemedicine law that went into effect earlier this year. The law, signed on May 27, made Texas the last state to abolish the requirement that patient-physician relationships be established with an in-person visit before telemedicine can be used.

Even during an emergency, though, complications remain when coordinating cross-state care. According to the American Telemedicine Association’s resource page for disaster relief, “most states” have existing statutes for out-of-state providers that waive the need for additional licensure. As of Sept. 29, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, Puerto Rico, South Carolina, and Texas have all declared States of Emergency and are still seeking outside assistance (although the ATA still suggests that providers contact state licensing boards to ensure appropriate practice in the affected area).

That being said, many of these restrictions would primarily apply to professionals interested in volunteering their services through telemedicine without specific licensure. Teladoc, Nemours, and the long list of other established providers who have opened up their services will have a collection of cross-state practitioners ready for action. It’s just another part of the planning and groundwork whose importance Stowell says becomes more clear to telemedicine providers with every disaster.

“The lesson learned, at least for me, is that preparation pays off,” she said. “Making sure you have a plan, and making sure that you have the technology infrastructure, and the people, and the processes, and the awareness mechanisms in place to be able to help people quickly in the right way is really critical.”

Or, in fewer words:

“Prepare for the worst, and you’ll be a little better when the worst comes.”

Output: Telehealth services in the US may have turned a pivotal corner after they were successfully used in the relief operations of back-to-back hurricanes Harvey and Irma. Companies including Teladoc, MDLive and Nemours deployed action plans to offer crucial triage in the wakes of the storms. Telehealth firms were able to provide other services such as mental health support and access to clinicians outside affected states. Industry insiders said they hoped the experience would lead to more government officials and hospitals embracing the fast-growing sector.


Instruction: create a high quality summary of the given input

Input:
Texas homebuyer loses $23,000 in fake account email scam
 Krista Johnson

San Angelo Standard-Times

Homebuyers beware: An email scam this week cost a soon-to-be San Angelo homeowner over $23,000 — and the house they were trying to buy.

“A buyer went to his closing only to find out that his down payment and closing cost funds had not been received by the title company,” said Kandi Pool, executive vice president of the San Angelo Association of Realtors.

“We’ve been seeing this particular situation happen around the country,” Pool wrote in an email, adding that the Texas Association of Realtors has been warning the realtors community about these scams moving into the state.

Title companies generally give buyers instructions on where to wire their money shortly before closing on the property; however, scammers are hacking into the emails of title companies, lenders, buyers and real estate agents. Using the information in those emails, the scammer will then set up a fake email account similar to the title company’s, then send the buyer fraudulent wiring instructions.

“In our local case, the FBI and local authorities have been notified and are working the case, but, there’s no expectation of recovering the funds,” Pool wrote. “So, the loss of closing funds is now affecting not only the buyer, who has lost his savings/funds, but the seller, whose property is now not sold and mostly likely it will have to be put back on the market to wait on another buyer.”

She said that those who have worked on the property, such as the appraiser, surveyor and termite company, might not be able to be paid now either.

“It’s a really sad situation, especially for home owners that get duped,” she said.

To avoid falling victim to these scams, Pool said that buyers should always verify the source of the email by calling the title company or their real estate agent and confirming the wiring instructions are legitimate.

Output: An email scam in Texas has cost a homebuyer his new house after he sent $23,000 to a fake account purporting to belong to his seller's title company. The executive vice-president of the San Angelo Association of Realtors, Kandi Pool, urged buyers to verify the source of any emails dealing with payment instructions, following reports of scam companies operating in Texas. In the scam, criminals hack into emails sent by title firms and use the details to set up fake accounts, before sending the account information to would-be buyers with requests for payment. The FBI is investigating the case.


Instruction: create a high quality summary of the given input

Input:
UAV swarms close to being controlled via brain-computer interface
 Panagiotis Artemiadis, professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering at Arizona State University, with two drones in his Human-Oriented Robotics and Control (HORC) Lab at the ASU Tempe campus. Credit: Deanna Dent/ASU Now

Single unmanned autonomous vehicles (UAVs) directed by joysticks, radio controllers, and mobile phones are already accomplishing a variety of useful tasks, such as aerial photography and security patrols. But using multiple drones requires multiple human operators, and this presents a coordination problem.

Now a single operator using emerging human-brain interfaces can control a swarm of drones, making possible new classes of applications, according to Panos Artemiadis, director of the Human-Oriented Robotics and Control (HORC) Lab at Arizona State University.

Artemiadis is available to discuss how drone swarms using human-brain interface mechanisms will, in the next three to five years, make inroads where individually controlled UAVs cannot. Here are a few of the drone applications that are now within reach:

Search and Rescue Missions

Humans will collaborate with swarms of robots in search and rescue scenarios. The brain-robot interface enables control of many robots at the same time, and it scales the ability of a robotic team to cover larger areas in less time. If the controller detects something in the video stream that warrants closer surveillance, the swarm can be directed to close in on that area.

Fire Fighting

Armed with infrared imaging equipment, a drone swarm can be used to track the spread of a forest fire over large areas in real time, allowing firefighters to adjust their plans accordingly. The human controller can follow a reported change in weather conditions, such as a shift in wind direction, with a swarm of drones to determine if the fire has jumped to a new area.

Agriculture Analysis

Teams of drones will oversee and analyze large agricultural fields – creating topographic maps for soil analysis and irrigation planning. In addition to being outfitted with cameras, aerial drones will use sensors to identify necessary irrigation adjustments and scanners that can identify crop infections or infestations. Some drone systems are already being used for crop spraying – swarms will be able to accomplish the task more quickly and efficiently.

Entertainment

As drones enter the entertainment arena, we will begin to see mind-controlled drone swarms for events. For example, a single person could operate a fleet of drones shooting photos and videos at an outdoor concert or sports venue, narrowing in on spectator activities for display on the Jumbotron. And while Lady Gaga's Super Bowl drones were controlled by a central computer (and filmed in advance of the show), smaller swarms can be managed by a single human for smaller light displays or to drop gifts (t-shirts or CDs, for example) into a crowd.

Cyber-physical surveillance systems

Understanding brain-drone interfaces allows building cyber-physical surveillance systems that combine human intuition and experience with the sensing capabilities of multiple drones. This would allow more efficient and accurate surveillance systems than what is now available – especially for large, security sensitive events like bowl games, marathons and political rallies.

Output: The notion that swarms of drones could be controlled by a brain interface mechanism is inching closer to becoming a reality, according to Panos Artemiadis, the director of the Human-Oriented Robotics and Control Lab at Arizona State University. He cited several examples of projects that could be operational within the next three to five years, including groups of drones being deployed in a search-and-rescue capacity, swarms helping fight forest fires, or even snapping aerial photos at large-scale entertainment events.


Instruction: create a high quality summary of the given input

Input:
Rapid expansion of build to rent needed to meet demand: Savills
 More homes urgently to rent needed to boost rental affordability, according to international real estate adviser, Savills.

Rising numbers of renters unable to access home ownership and low interest rate payments for those with their own homes mean that the total rent bill is now more than double the total interest being paid by mortgaged homeowners for the first time on record.

Renters are now paying over £54 billion in rent to private landlords across Britain. This is more than twice the £26.5 billion mortgage interest paid by owner occupiers - a figure which excludes capital repayments being made on mortgages.

The total private rental bill has risen by £14 billion over the past 5 years. This is a 35 per cent increase, while the number of homes in the private rented sector have risen just 21 per cent.

By contrast, the amount of mortgage interest fell by £6.4 billion, largely due to low interest rates. Also, older homeowners have continued to pay down debt, thus reducing the interest rate bill. Just five years ago, the gap between the private rental bill and the mortgage interest rate bill was just £7.4 billion. It now stands at £28 billion.

The increase in private rental bill has been greatest in London, where stretched affordability and constrained mortgage lending, has prevented more aspiring home owners accessing the market, creating greater competition for homes to rent. Here, the total rental bill has risen by 42 per cent over the past five years, to over £20 billion and now accounts for over a third (35%) of the total GB private rent bill and almost four times the total mortgage interest paid by owner occupiers in the capital.

Rental need is growing rapidly as the housing market becomes less accessible due to house price growth and lending constraints. This is particularly impacting younger households, with those under the age of 35 now paying some 44 per cent of the total rent bill, equivalent to 4.5 times the mortgage interest paid by this cohort.

“It is widely accepted that the solution to the affordability crisis in home ownership is to build many more homes,” says Lucian Cook, Savills head of residential research. “The same is true in the private rented sector. Savills analysis for the British Property Federation shows that there are now almost 100,000 build to rent homes under construction or in planning across the UK, up from 48,000 last year.

“This is real progress, but we need policy that encourages the rapid expansion of build to rent.”

Private rents (at over £54bn across GB) now twice owner-occupiers mortgage interest, due to rising levels of renting and falling mortgage interest rates

Output: There is an urgent need for more build-to-rent homes to meet rising demand and boost affordability in the UK, according to estate agents Savills. For the first time, the total rent paid by tenants is double the total cost of mortgage interest paid by homeowners. Private landlords received £54bn ($72bn) in rent in a year, while £26.5bn in mortgage interest was paid by homeowners. The rental bill has risen by £14bn in the past five years, a 35% increase. "We need policy that encourages the rapid expansion of build to rent," said Lucian Cook, Savills' head of residential research.


Instruction: create a high quality summary of the given input

Input:
Monarch customers' insurance may not provide coverage
 Travellers affected by the collapse of Monarch may not be covered for cancelled flights under their travel insurance policies.

Some 300,000 future bookings have been cancelled after the airline went into administration this morning, with 110,000 customers currently overseas.

A spokesman for the Association of British

Output: The Association of British Insurers has warned the approximately 300,000 travellers who had booked future flights with Monarch to check their insurance providers' websites, as most policies "do not cover for the failure of a scheduled airline". The advice follows the collapse of the Luton-based carrier, which left around 110,000 customers stranded overseas. The UK government is working with the Civil Aviation Authority to bring them home.


Instruction: create a high quality summary of the given input

Input:
Hotels, hospitality and leisure product revamped by Axa
 The policy is part of Axa’s revamped Vantage mid market proposition.

Axa Insurance has refreshed its hotels, hospitality and leisure proposition to include loss of wedding and civil partnership licenses and full theft protection for hotels with permanent occupancy.

The revamp is part of Axa’s shake up of its mind market proposition Vantage.

According to the insurer the policy is aimed at businesses in the sector with premiums of between £10,000 and £100,000 and policyholders can claim up to £1m for public liability and environmental clean-up costs.

The

Output: Axa Insurance has revamped its Vantage offering, covering the hotels, hospitality and leisure industry. Aimed at businesses with premiums of between £10,000 ($13,200) and £100,000, the new proposition includes full theft protection for hotels with permanent occupancy, and increased protections against profits in the event of an employee's death or disablement, among other additions. The changes, which Jon Walker, MD, commercial intermediary said: "recognise some of the recent changes in this extremely diverse market sector", are part of a broader initiative by Axa to update its mid-market policies.


Instruction: create a high quality summary of the given input

Input:
XL Catlin boosts Italian operation with hire
 Milan, ItalyThu Sep 28, 2017-

Milan, Italy - XL Catlin's insurance operation in Italy today announced the appointment of Antonio Invernici as Senior Client & Distribution Leader for Italy. In his new role, Mr. Invernici will support the profitable growth of XL Catlin's insurance business. He is based in Milan and reports into Simona Fumagalli, Country Manager for XL Catlin's insurance operation in Italy.

Commenting on the appointment, Simona Fumagalli said: 'I am very pleased to have Antonio join us. He combines a considerable experience in underwriting, broking and client management with a thorough understanding of the Italian market. He is ideally positioned to help us extend our reach to the broker community and further strengthen our existing relationships with brokers. Antonio's appointment sees us not only making our broad product suite available to more clients, but also adding talent in a critical area of our business.'

Antonio Invernici has more than 20 years experience working in the insurance industry. He joins XL Catlin from AIG where he was Broker Channel Manager since 2012. He previously worked in leadership roles at Groupama Assicurazioni, Phenix Soleil and Zurich International. In 2008, he received the Master qualification Formation Supérieure des Managers from Paris' ESSEC Business School.

About XL Catlin's Insurance Operations

XL Catlin insurance companies offer property, casualty, professional, financial lines and specialty insurance products globally. Businesses that are moving the world forward choose XL Catlin as their partner. To learn more, visit xlcatlin.com.

About XL Catlin

XL Catlin is the global brand used by XL Group Ltd's (NYSE:XL) insurance and reinsurance companies which provide property, casualty, professional and specialty products to industrial, commercial and professional firms, insurance companies and other enterprises throughout the world. Clients look to XL Catlin for answers to their most complex risks and to help move their world forward. To learn more, visit xlcatlin.com.

Output: XL Catlin has appointed former AIG broker channel manager Antonio Invernici as senior client and distribution leader for Italy. Based in Milan, Invernici will report to Simona Fumagalli, country manager for XL Catlin's insurance operation, and "will extend our reach to the broker community and further strengthen our existing relationships," said Fumagalli.


Instruction: create a high quality summary of the given input

Input:
Eucalyptus and pine trees could provide aviation fuel
 By Brett Stav, College of Engineering and Architecture

PULLMAN, Wash. – A research team led by Hongfei Lin, associate professor from Washington State University’s Gene and Linda Voiland School of Chemical Engineering and Bioengineering, has developed a novel process for synthesizing dense jet fuel from mint, pine, gumweed, eucalyptus or other plants.

The research is a significant step towards making high-energy density biofuels affordable in the aviation industry.

Jet fuel from numerous plants

The process, known as biphasic tandem catalytic process (biTCP), synthesizes cyclic hydrocarbon compounds for jet fuel from terpenoids, the natural organic chemical compounds found in many plants. Cyclic hydrocarbons are molecular compounds with structures that can store high levels of energy. The researchers were able to create a high yield of the cyclic hydrocarbon p-menthane from eucalyptus oil.

Collaborating with the University of Nevada-Reno, the researchers’ work was recently published in the journal Green Chemistry.

Cost effective process

Lin’s research focus is on developing highly efficient, cost-effective, sustainable catalytic processes for synthesizing fuels and chemicals from renewable resources.

“When creating biofuels, a big challenge is keeping them cost-effective,” Lin said. “We are developing catalytic processes that will use special biomass materials to create a specialty fuel product that could be more price-competitive than petroleum-based fuels.”

Petroleum-based super dense jet fuels, which can make airplanes fly faster, further and with bigger payloads, are expensive to produce. For instance, Lin says, refining the molecule in JP-10 fuel, exo-tetrahydrodicyclopentadiene, from crude oil is comparable to “processing diamonds from dirt.” Because of their structure, terpenoids are an attractive economic alternative to petroleum fuels.

Lin is currently investigating catalytic methods to synthesize super dense bio-jet fuels with colleagues from the Australian National University, who have studied ways to boost terpenoid production of eucalyptus trees.

Media Contact:

Output: Researchers from Washington State University’s Gene and Linda Voiland School of Chemical Engineering and Bioengineering and the University of Nevada-Reno have developed a low-cost method for synthesising jet fuel from plants such as eucalyptus and pine. Using a biphasic tandem catalytic process to create cyclic hydrocarbon compounds, they have been able to create structures capable of storing large quantities of energy. The team said their process could make a dense jet fuel that could compete with petroleum-based fuels for cost.


Instruction: create a high quality summary of the given input

Input:
States go it alone on drug price legislation
 Lawmakers in Maryland are daring to legislate where their federal counterparts have not: As of Oct. 1, the state will be able to say “no” to some pharmaceutical price spikes.

A new law, which focuses on generic and off-patent drugs, empowers the state’s attorney general to step in if a drug’s price climbs 50 percent or more in a single year. The company must justify the hike. If the attorney general still finds the increase unwarranted, he or she can file suit in state court. Manufacturers face a fine of up to $10,000 for price gouging.

As Congress stalls on what voters say is a top health concern — high pharmaceutical costs — states increasingly are tackling the issue. Despite often-fierce industry opposition, a variety of bills are working their way through state governments. California, Nevada and New York are among those joining Maryland in passing legislation meant to undercut skyrocketing drug prices.

Maryland, though, is the first to penalize drugmakers for price hikes. Its law passed May 26 without the governor’s signature.

The state-level momentum raises the possibility that — as happened with hot-button issues such as gay marriage and smoke-free buildings — a patchwork of bills across the country could pave the way for more comprehensive national action. States feel the squeeze of these steep price tags in Medicaid and state employee benefit programs, and that applies pressure to find solutions.

“There is a noticeable uptick among state legislatures and state governments in terms of what kind of role states can play in addressing the cost of prescription drugs and access,” said Richard Cauchi, health program director at the National Conference of State Legislatures.

Many experts frame Maryland’s law as a test case that could help define what powers states have and what limits they face in doing battle with the pharmaceutical industry.

The generic-drug industry filed a lawsuit to block the law from taking effect, arguing it’s unconstitutionally vague and an overreach of state powers. A federal court judge on Friday denied their request for an injunction.

The state-level actions focus on a variety of tactics:

“Transparency bills” would require pharmaceutical companies to detail a drug’s production and advertising costs when they raise prices over certain thresholds.

Cost-limit measures would cap drug prices charged by drugmakers to Medicaid or other state-run programs, or limit what the state will pay for drugs.

Supply-chain restrictions include regulating the roles of pharmacy benefit managers or limiting a consumer’s out-of-pocket costs.

A New York law on the books since spring allows officials to cap what its Medicaid program will pay for medications. If companies don’t sufficiently discount a drug, a state review will assess whether the price is out of step with medical value.

Maryland’s measure goes further — treating price gouging as a civil offense and taking alleged violators to court.

“It’s a really innovative approach. States are looking at how to replicate it, and how to expand on it,” said Ellen Albritton, a senior policy analyst at the left-leaning Families USA, which has consulted with states including Maryland on such policies.

Lawmakers have introduced similar legislation in states such as Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Tennessee and Montana. And in Ohio voters are weighing a ballot initiative in November that would limit what the state pays for prescription drugs in its Medicaid program and other state health plans.

Meanwhile, the California legislature passed a bill earlier in September that would require drugmakers to disclose when they are about to raise a price more than 16 percent over two years and justify the hike. It awaits Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown’s signature.

In June, Nevada lawmakers approved a law similar to California’s but limited to insulin prices. Vermont passed a transparency law in 2016 that would scrutinize up to 15 drugs for which the state spends “significant health care dollars” and prices had climbed by set amounts in recent years.

But states face a steep uphill climb in passing pricing legislation given the deep-pocketed pharmaceutical industry, which can finance strong opposition, whether through lobbying, legal action or advertising campaigns.

Last fall, voters rejected a California initiative that would have capped what the state pays for drugs — much like the Ohio measure under consideration. Industry groups spent more than $100 million to defeat it, putting it among California’s all-time most expensive ballot fights. Ohio’s measure is attracting similar heat, with drug companies outspending opponents about 5-to-1.

States also face policy challenges and limits to their statutory authority, which is why several have focused their efforts on specific parts of the drug-pricing pipeline.

Critics see these tailored initiatives as falling short or opening other loopholes. Requiring companies to report prices past a certain threshold, for example, might encourage them to consistently set prices just below that level.

Maryland’s law is noteworthy because it includes a fine for drugmakers if price increases are deemed excessive — though in the industry that $10,000 fine is likely nominal, suggested Rachel Sachs, an associate law professor at Washington University in St. Louis who researches drug regulations.

This law also doesn’t address the trickier policy question: a drug’s initial price tag, noted Rena Conti, an assistant professor in the University of Chicago who studies pharmaceutical economics.

And its focus on generics means that branded drugs, such as Mylan’s Epi-Pen or Kaleo’s overdose-reversing Evzio, wouldn’t be affected.

Yet there’s a good reason for this, noted Jeremy Greene, a professor of medicine and the history of medicine at Johns Hopkins University who is in favor of Maryland’s law.

Current interpretation of federal patent law suggests that the issues related to the development and affordability of on-patent drugs are under federal jurisdiction, outside the purview of states, he explained.

In Maryland, “the law was drafted narrowly to address specifically a problem we’ve only become aware of in recent years,” he said. That’s the high cost of older, off-patent drugs that face little market competition. “Here’s where the state of Maryland is trying to do something,” he said.

KHN’s coverage of prescription drug development, costs and pricing is supported in part by the Laura and John Arnold Foundation.

Kaiser Health News, a nonprofit health newsroom whose stories appear in news outlets nationwide, is an editorially independent part of the Kaiser Family Foundation.

Image: mattjiecock, Getty Images

Output: Lawmakers in Maryland are daring to legislate where their federal counterparts have not: As of Oct. 1, the state will be able to say “no” to some pharmaceutical price spikes.


Instruction: create a high quality summary of the given input

Input:
On Medi-Cal And Feel Shut Out Of Nursing Homes? Here Are Tips To Claim Your Bed.
 Most everyone agrees it can be very difficult — next to impossible, really — for Medi-Cal enrollees to snag a spot in a nursing home, especially if they’re transferring from their homes or assisted living facilities rather than going straight from the hospital.

Not everyone agrees on the reasons, however.

“There’s massive, systemic Medi-Cal discrimination,” says Pat McGinnis, executive director of California Advocates for Nursing Home Reform. She believes some nursing homes illegally turn away enrollees because they don’t want to accept Medi-Cal’s lower reimbursement rates.

“If they can get more money with private pay or Medicare, they would rather accept one of them,” she says.

Use Our Content This story can be republished for free ( details ).

Deborah Pacyna, director of public affairs for the California Association of Health Facilities, which represents most of the state’s standalone nursing homes, says it’s illegal for nursing homes to discriminate based on payment type. She blames access problems on the state’s rapidly aging population.

“Projections are that we will run out of nursing home beds by 2020,” Pacyna says. “That is putting even more pressure on the Medi-Cal population.”

No matter what you believe, the situation amounts to a crisis for Californians who desperately need a nursing home and are covered by Medi-Cal, the state’s version of the federal Medicaid program for low-income residents, says Susan Geffen of Hermosa Beach, an elder law attorney, gerontologist and author of the book “Take That Nursing Home and Shove It!”

If you think low-income doesn’t mean you, think again. Many middle-class Californians need Medi-Cal to help pay for their long-term care because they run out of money paying the bills on their own, she says.

Despite the access challenges many Medi-Cal enrollees face, about two-thirds of California’s nursing home residents rely on the program to cover all or part of their costs.

The state Department of Health Care Services (DHCS), which oversees Medi-Cal, says that nearly 90 percent of California’s 1,400 nursing homes accept its enrollees. The department is the only entity I interviewed that “is not aware of Medi-Cal members who are having difficulty finding a nursing home that will accept them.”

Today, I’m offering some advice if you or a loved one needs a nursing home for a long-term stay. It will be easier if you’re already in the hospital, which I realize is cold comfort.

Email Sign-Up Subscribe to California Healthline's free Daily Edition. Your Email Address Sign Up

Finding a bed if you’re not in the hospital — especially a bed in your community — might mean you’ll have to pay out of your own pocket initially. Or it might require some creative maneuvering, like working with your doctor to get you admitted to a hospital. Even then, “a hope and a prayer” might be necessary, says Derrell Kelch, executive director of the California Association of Area Agencies on Aging.

If You’re Coming From the Hospital

More than 90 percent of nursing home admissions last year came directly from hospitals, according to data from the Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development.

If you or a loved one is in the hospital and may not be able to return home afterward, “start working with the hospital discharge planner immediately” and ask for a list of nearby nursing homes, Kelch advises.

If you have fee-for-service Medi-Cal, you will require prior authorization, and the request must be made by the hospital or the nursing home, says DHCS spokeswoman Carol Sloan. If you’re in a Medi-Cal managed care plan, it will help determine where you go, she says.

You may want to visit the facility first before committing your loved one to it, Pacyna suggests. Also check out Nursing Home Compare on the Medicare website for quality ratings.

Medicare, the publicly funded health insurance program for older Americans, is often the first payer when you move into a nursing home. Under certain conditions, it will cover you for a limited time — up to 100 days.

The traditional form of Medicare will pay 100 percent for the first 20 days, after which you will owe $164.50 a day for up to 80 additional days. But you can qualify for this coverage only if you enter a Medicare-approved nursing facility within 30 days of an inpatient hospital stay that lasted at least three days. Beware: “Observation” care in the hospital won’t count as an inpatient stay.

Medicare does not cover long-term nursing home stays.

So, once you are in the nursing home, don’t wait to apply for Medi-Cal if you’re not already enrolled in it, Geffen says. Medi-Cal can help cover your Medicare copays, if you’re eligible, and then take over when your Medicare coverage ends, she says.

“They can’t just discharge somebody [from a nursing home] because they’re going on Medi-Cal,” McGinnis says.

If the nursing home balks and says it can’t keep you after you’ve switched to Medi-Cal, you can seek help from McGinnis’ organization (www.canhr.org or 800-474-1116) or another advocacy group, including legal services organizations or your local Long-Term Care Ombudsman, she says.

Be sure to let the facility know that you know it can’t discriminate against Medi-Cal enrollees, McGinnis adds.

If You’re Coming From the Community

Just because a small percentage of patients admitted to nursing homes last year came from their homes or assisted living facilities doesn’t mean people aren’t trying, says Mike Connors, an advocate for McGinnis’ group.

“It’s just extraordinarily difficult,” he says. “People end up waiting for months. … They get sick and get hospitalized.”

To find a facility that is certified for Medi-Cal, go to the state Department of Public Health’s database at hfcis.cdph.ca.gov. You might need to target larger nursing homes that have higher turnover, McGinnis says.

If it’s financially possible, consider starting out as a private-pay client.

Instead of getting rid of all of your money ahead of time to become eligible for Medi-Cal long-term care coverage, Geffen suggests keeping some in reserve so you can gain entry as a cash customer.

Then, once you’re a resident and run out of money, “they’re not allowed to kick you out,” Kelch says.

Geffen also knows of people who have gone to the hospital in the hope of getting admitted, so they can be discharged directly into a nursing home. “Some people have had to go to extraordinary feats in order to get into a nursing home on Medi-Cal,” she says.

You can also consult with your doctor to devise a plan. If she agrees that you need to be in a facility, request documentation that you can take to the nursing home as proof, Pacyna says. Or, “if you’re ill, it may be appropriate to be admitted to the hospital,” Connors says.

I wish there were more support for individuals and families struggling through this.

Placement services, such as A Place for Mom, can help you find a nursing home with openings. You can also talk to an elder law attorney.

You can even ask your county social services department for help, says Benson Nadell, director of the San Francisco Long-Term Care Ombudsman program. “People cannot navigate this complex system on their own,” he says.

Output: Most everyone agrees it can be very difficult — next to impossible, really — for Medi-Cal enrollees to snag a spot in a nursing home, especially if they’re transferring from their homes or assisted living facilities rather than going straight from the hospital.


Instruction: create a high quality summary of the given input

Input:
Replacing Faulty Heart Devices Costs Medicare $1.5 Billion in 10 Years
 WASHINGTON — Medicare paid at least $1.5 billion over a decade to replace seven types of defective heart devices, a government watchdog says. The devices apparently failed for thousands of patients.

A report released on Monday by the inspector general’s office for Health and Human Services said officials needed to do a better job tracking these costly product failures to protect patients from harm. More detailed reporting could lead to earlier recognition of serious problems with medical devices and faster recalls of all types of “poorly performing” ones, the inspector general’s office said.

The report marks the first effort by anyone in government to assess the losses to taxpayers and patients 65 and older from medical gear that proves faulty.

Officials said the $1.5 billion lost from the seven devices from 2005 through 2014 was a “conservative estimate.” Patients also paid $140 million in out-of-pocket costs for this care, the report noted.

Output: Medicare paid at least $1.5 billion over a decade to replace seven types of defective heart devices, a government watchdog says. The devices apparently failed for thousands of patients.