Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.

A specially trained individual who works under the supervision of an ophthalmologist in testing- for certain eye muscle imbalances and teaching the patient exercises to correct eye coordination defects. According to the American Orthoptic Council there were approximately 450 orthoptists employed in 1973. The majority work in the private offices of ophthalmologists, while others are…

Services which may be provided or covered by a health program or provider and, if provided, will be paid for in addition to any required services which must be offered. In addition to the required services under Medicaid, if States elect to include any of the optional services in their programs, matching funds under title…

In health economics, the value that resources, used in a particular way, would have if used in the best possible or another specified alternative way. When opportunity costs exceed the value the resources have in the way they are being used, they represent lost opportunities to get value from the resources. One opportunity cost of…

In the Federal budget, entitlement programs for which eligibility requirements are determined by law, e.g., Medicaid. Actual obligations and resultant outlays are limited only by the number of eligible persons who apply for benefits and the actual benefits received.  

A program administered by the Social Security Administration which provides monthly cash benefits to retired and disabled workers and their dependents and to survivors of insured workers; it also provides health insurance benefits for persons aged 65 and over, and for the disabled under age 65. The health insurance component of OASHDl was initiated in…

A measure of inpatient health facility use, determined by dividing available bed days by patient days. It measures the average percentage of a hospital’s beds occupied and may be institution wide, or specific for one department or service. The number of beds occupied in a hospital, shown as a percentage of all the beds.  

In the Federal budget, amounts of orders placed, contracts awarded, services rendered, or other commitments of Federal budget authority made by Federal agencies during a given period which will require outlays of Federal funds during the same or some future period.