Friday, February 14, 2003

What Drove Private Health Insurance Spending on Mental Health and Substance Abuse Care, 1992-1999?
A Health Affairs article at Medscape based on employer claims data from approximately 1.7 million covered lives in each year - "The analysis finds that employer-based private insurance spending on MH/SA treatment did not keep pace with total employer-based private insurance spending or general price inflation." [Viewing Medscape resources requires registration, which is free].  
  

Dispensing Errors Reported for Serzone and Seroquel
A February 13 Medscape Alert - "The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced today notice of confusion between the drugs Serzone and Seroquel. Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS), which manufactures Serzone, an antidepressant, warned healthcare professionals in a Dec. 9 letter about the potential for confusion with Seroquel, used to treat schizophrenia. AstraZeneca, the maker of Seroquel, sent a similar letter to healthcare professionals in May 2002."  
  

State ordered to hire expert to help kids (Maine)
Kennebec Journal story - "A federal court ordered state officials Wednesday to hire an outside expert to remedy problems with Maine's system of tracking the hundreds of children who need psychiatric services. The order shows that the state Department of Behavioral and Developmental Services has failed to comply with aspects of its agreement to provide timely in-home treatment to mentally ill and disabled children."  
  

Cuts for mental health criticized (Oklahoma)
NewsOK.com story - "Gov. Brad Henry's proposal to cut about $4 million more out of next fiscal year's mental health budget means more of the mentally ill will end up in emergency rooms and hospitals, state Mental Health Commissioner Terry Cline said Wednesday."  
  

Mental health funding at issue in Medicaid fight (Michigan)
Muskegon Chronicle story focused on the Muskegon County Community Mental health department which, like other county mental health agencies around the state, has refused to sign the standardized contract due to certain provisions - "But there's a chance the other county agencies could sign their contracts soon, while Muskegon County, and perhaps Ottawa County, carry on the fight alone."  
  

Mental Health Measure Advances (Kentucky)
Brief item in a Lexington Herald-Leader legislative roundup on a bill that would entitle Kentuckians to sign an advance directive indicating what kinds of mental health treatment they prefer.  
  

Mental health plan lacks funds for drugs (Montana)
Billings Gazette story - "A new funding plan for mental health services unveiled Thursday in the Joint Appropriations Subcommittee on Health and Human Services leaves pharmacy benefits for the state's Mental Health Services Plan unfunded."  
  

Hospital seeks care from state (Maryland)
Baltimore Sun story on legislators considering the option of closing Crownsville Hospital Center as a means of cutting costs.  
  

State mental health coverage for children may be added (Virginia)
Pilot Online story - "The state's health insurance for children is hardly recognizable from the version launched in 1998, and more changes are coming. A bill that passed the House of Delegates and the Senate and awaits Gov. Mark R. Warner's signature would expand coverage to include mental health services for children who qualify for the program, called Family Access to Medical Insurance Security."