Thursday, October 30, 2003
Medicaid Benefits: Services Covered, Limits, Copayments and Reimbursement Methodologies for 50 States, District of Columbia and the Territories From the Kaiser Family Foundation Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured - "The new online database on Medicaid benefits in the 50 states, DC, and the U.S. territories is comprehensive, with information about benefits covered by each state, for what populations the benefits are available, and the limitations, co-payments and payment rules that apply to the benefits. The database is searchable by Medicaid benefit as well as by state." The link above is to a page that indexes links to the
database, KFF's
Medicaid Resource Book and other related resources.
Drug Prices Relative to National Income: Study
Reuters Health story at
Medscape - "Manufacturers' prescription drug prices, which vary by country and have been criticized as too expensive in the United States, generally correspond to differences in each nation's income, according to a study released on Wednesday. Researchers compared prices drug makers charged to wholesalers for the 249 most frequently used drugs in the United States in 1999 with prices in eight other countries. Average prices were highest in Japan, while prices in other countries were between 6 percent and 33 percent less than those in the United States, the study found. Canada's prices were lowest..." [Viewing
Medscape resources requires registration, which is free].
Insurance Legislation Dead? Article in
Psychology Today - "Two years ago, President Bush named a commission to study gaps in the mental health care system and pledged to work with Congress to pass a bill in 2002. Since then the so-called parity bill has apparently dropped off the White House agenda..."
Center for mentally ill gets cool reception (Washington)
Story in
The Olympian - "While elected officials agree there's a gap in Thurston County's mental health services, they don't think a 100-bed treatment center is the solution. That's according to a statement released Wednesday by the mayors of Olympia, Lacey, Tumwater, Yelm, Tenino and Rainier, along with Thurston County Commission Chairwoman Cathy Wolfe and Superior Court Judge Thomas McPhee. Representatives from the Thurston and Mason counties chapter of the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill have suggested the 100-bed treatment center as an alternative to a proposed 640-bed jail scheduled for a public vote in the spring."
University Blues: A Crisis Time magazine story reprinted at the NAMI web site - "...A growing number of students arrive on campus suffering from depression and other emotional disorders--some diagnosed, some hidden. So that traditional moment of new beginnings is haunted by deep anxiety and gloom. ... Data from a 2001 survey of college mental-health counselors, when compared with past findings, revealed that the percentage of students treated at college counseling centers who have had psychological problems diagnosed and are taking psychotropic drugs increased from 7% in 1992 to 18% in 2001, according to Greg Snodgrass, director of the counseling center at Texas State University. The survey also found that during the previous five years, 85% of North American student counseling centers reported an increase in students with 'severe psychological problems.'"
Improving Outcomes in Schizophrenia: Recent Advances in the Treatment of Cognitive and Affective Domains A new CME unit at
Medscape - "Tremendous gains in the treatment of this illness have been realized, but much remains to be done. Psychiatry has traditionally focused on the positive symptoms of schizophrenia, such as delusions or hallucinations, from both a phenomenologic and a treatment perspective. In recent years, researchers and clinicians have realized that understanding and treating the negative symptoms, the cognitive and the affective domains, are equally -- if not more -- important to improving the long-term outcome in patients with this illness." [Viewing
Medscape resources requires registration, which is free].
Group: Ban the Anti-Depressant Serzone
AP story at
Yahoo - "The antidepressant Serzone, about to be pulled off the market in Canada and long gone in Europe, should be banned in the United States because of cases of deadly liver failure, a consumer advocacy group told the government Wednesday. It's impossible to predict which patient will develop liver failure, an unacceptable risk considering Serzone works no better than older antidepressants that don't come with that side effect, Dr. Sidney Wolfe of Public Citizen told the Food and Drug Administration..."
Mental Health Symposium Plots Strategies for Implementing Presidential Commission Recommendations
Ascribe Newswire press release - "On Nov. 5-6, a national group of health experts and policy-makers will meet at The Carter Center in the most significant effort to implement recommendations from the final report of the President's New Freedom Commission on Mental Health to date. In July 2003, after a year of study, the New Freedom Commission reported several barriers that needlessly impede Americans' access to care and mental health services including: a lack of quality services for adults and children; inadequate funding for existing mental health services; treatment limitations; the tendency for mental health services to focus on dependency rather than recovery; and a lack of support for new and effective treatments. Click here for more details." See also
The Carter Center web site, where there's a
complete symposium agenda.
Mental health bill 'will instil fear' (UK) Guardian story - "Britain's mental health system is "broken" and will deteriorate further if the government presses ahead with its plans to widen the powers to compulsorily detain people for treatment, healthcare experts warned today. Proposals in the much criticised draft mental health bill to detain people with untreatable mental disorders and to compulsorily treat patients in the community would breach human rights and deter those in distress from seeking help, according to experts at a mental health summit organised by the Conservative party..."
