Friday, March 21, 2003

Medicaid and SCHIP: States Use Varying Approaches to Monitor Children’s Access to Care
Item on a GAO report (Adobe Acrobat format) available at the Open Minds web site - "Over 25 million children have health insurance coverage through Medicaid or the State Children’s Health Insurance Progr(SCHIP). Coverage alone, however, does not guarantee that services will be available or that children will receive needed care. GAO was asked to evaluate states’ efforts to facilitate and monitor access to primary and preventive services for children in these jointly funded federal-state programs. The study surveyed 16 states, covering over 65 percent of the Medicaid and SCHIP population."  
  

ADHD in adults
Item from the Canadian Medical Association Journal reprinted at InteliHealth - "Although classically known as a disorder of childhood, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder also affects between 2%-6% of adults, sometimes with serious ramifications. Margaret Weiss and Candice Murray provide a review of the developmental course of ADHD in adults that focuses on diagnostic assessment and management of the disorder."  
  

Coping With Disaster-Related Trauma
Transcript at InteliHealth of a chat with Jenifer L. Wood, vice president of research and services at the National Mental Health Association.  
  

Comprehensive Mental Health Parity Legislation
Mental Health Weekly article at Medscape - "Legislation to enact comprehensive mental health parity officially landed in the 108th Congress last week, marking yet another attempt to bring mental health insurance coverage more in line with medical and surgical coverage." [Viewing Medscape resources requires registration, which is free].  
  

Mental health facilities' new funding just a 'drop in the bucket' (South Carolina)
Greenville Online story - "Four community mental health centers around the state will share nearly $400,000 to provide crisis intervention services to mentally ill people who have substance abuse problems. The state hopes the funds will take some of the pressure off hospital emergency rooms and jails, where mentally ill patients have been warehoused with increasing frequency because of budget cuts and the reduction of psychiatric beds."  
  

Green light for mental health bill (UK)
BBC story - "The biggest overhaul of mental health legislation for 40 years has been passed unanimously by MSPs. The decision followed two days of debate in the Scottish Parliament on more than 750 amendments to the Mental Health Care and Treatment Bill."  
  

Closing gets closer for mental health center (Nebraska)
Story in the Omaha World Herald on Omaha's Richard Young Center, which stopped admitting psychiatric patients Monday and is on schedule to close April 1.