Flood forecasting takes a big leap forward
As Louisiana battles with the devastation from the weekend’s storm, the forecasting of floods just got a major boost across the US with the announcement of a new tool from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
The National Water Model taps into data from more than 8,000 US Geological Survey gauges, simulating conditions at 2.7 million locations to generate hourly forecasts for the entire river network.
“The National Water Model will improve resiliency to water extremes in American communities. And as our forecasts get better, so will our planning and protection of life and property when there’s either too much water, too little, or poor water quality.”
The improvement is huge as NOAA’s previous capability was to forecast streamflow at 4,000 locations every few hours.
Private health insurance may improve cancer outcome
Two studies reveal the impact of private health insurance for those diagnosed with cancer.
The US research shows that those who are not insured or rely on Medicaid are likely to have a later diagnosis and survive for shorter periods than those who are privately insured.
“The thought is, and the data support, that patients are presenting with more advanced disease if they don’t have insurance,” senior author Christopher Sweeney of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston told Reuters Health. “This would suggest that they are delaying their presentation, presumably because they have a fear of seeing a doctor because of the financial implications.”
Sweeney’s study revealed that uninsured men had an 88 per cent higher risk of dying from testicular cancer than those with insurance.
In a second study, Dr. Judy Huang of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore considered thousands of brain tumor cases and concluded that although there may be other factors in play, patients covered by Medicaid tended to be older, male, with larger tumors and shorter survival times.
It should be noted that those without private health insurance are likely to be of lower income groups and other lifestyle factors will have an impact.
UPC, American Coastal to merge
United Insurance Holdings Corp. and RDX Holding, the parent of American Coastal Insurance Company, have agreed to merge subject to shareholder and regulatory approvals.
“I am excited to join the UPC Insurance team and believe this merger will build on the excellent platform they have created, providing more opportunities for growth and profit with our valued trading partners,” said Dan Peed, CEO of American Coastal. “John Forney and his team bring an extensive amount of energy and knowledge, and we share a vision to create one of the strongest specialty cat underwriters in the U.S.
UPC president and CEO John Forney will become CEO of the combined firm while RDX majority shareholder and American Coastal CEO Dan Peed will be non-executive vice-chair of the UPC board and will be able to appoint two board members.
