It’s important, however, to check specifics. Self-insured college plans — those in which the school pays claims directly, instead of hiring an insurance company to do so — don’t have to meet the law’s essential-benefits requirement, said Sara Collins, a health insurance expert at the Commonwealth Fund. But again, some colleges are meeting them anyway. […]

The senseless killing of Christopher Lane, a 22-year-old senior attending college in Oklahoma on a baseball scholarship, has sent shock waves around the world, especially in the victim’s homeland of Australia. While out for a run on the afternoon of August 16, Lane was shot in the back during an unprovoked attack. It isn’t just the randomness […]

Mersen and Northeastern University in Boston have formed a joint partnership that aims to study the translation of smart fault detection methods for photovoltaic (PV) installations. The findings will narrow the technology gap by helping to identify and protect against dangerous electrical faults in solar PV installations, according to Mersen. The team’s research in the development of these […]

The decline in youth employment is part of a broader shift in working patterns. Americans are entering the workforce later and staying in it longer than at any time in history. Andrew Sum, a Northeastern University economist and expert in youth employment, points to a remarkable statistic: A decade ago, a 16- or 17-year-old boy was twice as […]

Fast-food workers have long struggled to form unions, according to Ed Wertheim, an associate business professor at Northeastern University. Employees cycle in and out of the industry at “tremendously high” rates — greater than 75% turnover each year, he said. “The mind-set among the vast majority of these workers is that they’re not going to be […]

Also on BPR: How much vacation time is enough? Margery and Sue asked callers how much they need, and how much they get. The Boston Globe’s Alex Beam joined Margery and Sue for Open Mic. Diane Valle joined the show to talk about her ambitious plan to plant daffodil bulbs along the Boston Marathon route — all the […]

Andrew Sum, director of the Center for Labor Market Studies at Northeastern University, said it now takes typical jobless workers about 30 weeks to land a new one. “We have never seen anything like this,” he told us recently. And the jobs people are find are often part-time positions. Sum noted that the spike in […]

They are at it again. Republicans in the Senate are taking the unsupportable position that three existing D.C. Federal Circuit Court vacancies should not be filled. They claim that President Obama wants to “pack” the court, FDR style. But their real concern is about the ideological direction of the court, not its size. Back home […]

Andrew Sum, director of the Center for Labor Market Studies at Northeastern University in Boston, said the weak teen job situation is worsening existing racial and socioeconomic disparities in the labor market. Just one in four Hispanic teens worked this summer, and just one in five African-American ones. “Kids from low-income, minority backgrounds on the […]

Researchers at Northeastern University have found that people feel more empathy towards hurt or battered dogs than for an adult human. But when it comes to babies, the playing field is level. The findings are from a study conducted by Northeastern University sociology professors Jack Levin and Arnold Arluke that was presented at this month’s […]

There’s a reason peoples’ hearts melt when they see big, brown puppy dog eyes. According to a study conducted by Northeastern University sociology professors Jack Levin and Arnold Arluke, people feel more empathy towards a hurt, or battered dog, than they do for an adult human. The study also showed that people have the same […]

But the decision has created problems for the researchers using the sensors. “You create a technology out of necessity, you do good science with it, you make it widely available, and when the company decides to cease manufacturing, it stalls the science,” said Matthew Goodwin, an assistant professor at Northeastern University and founding member of […]