Tuesday, June 15, 2004

Tracking Health Care Costs: Trends Turn Downward in 2003
Report, in Adobe Acrobat format, in Health Affairs - "Health care spending per privately insured person increased 7.4 percent in 2003. While lower than the 2002 increase, it still outpaced growth in the overall economy by a margin that exceeds the historical average. The trend for drug spending decelerated the most. Meanwhile, hospital spending grew 9 percent in 2003—1.8 percentage points less than the 2002 increase. This reflected a sharp deceleration in growth of hospital use, while growth in hospital prices accelerated for the sixth year in a row. The trend for health insurance premiums fell in 2004. Employers raised patient cost sharing for the third year in a row." See also, in the same issue, U.S. Health Spending In An International Context.  
  

Lautenschlager to sue drug-makers over high prices (Wisconsin)
June 2 Journal-Sentinel story - "In a new state attack on high drug prices, Attorney General Peg Lautenschlager plans to announce today that she will sue about 20 major drug manufacturers on allegations that they violated Wisconsin's wholesale pricing laws. Wisconsin would become the 14th state whose attorney general has sued drug manufacturers for allegedly breaking wholesale pricing laws. Lawsuits filed in other states are still pending. Lautenschlager was to make the announcement at the Green Bay convention of the Coalition of Wisconsin Aging Groups, whose leaders welcomed the lawsuits and offered their event as a forum for the attorney general."  
  

For consumers, a bitter pill to swallow
Newsday story - "Antidepressants are back in the news, with Americans, as usual, being tormented by contradictory messages about the drugs, now prescribed to more than 10 million children and adolescents annually, largely without Food and Drug Administration approval. This month, the National Institute of Mental Health issued a study showing that one member of the family of antidepressants known as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, or SSRIs, was effective for treating adolescent depression. That was comforting. The next day, the attorney general of New York sued GlaxoSmithKline, the maker of another SSRI, Paxil, for fraud, saying the firm had covered up unappealing safety problems in kids who took the medication, including some who had experienced suicidal thoughts or committed suicidal acts. That wasn't so comforting. The reasons behind these conflicting messages can and do fill millions of pages of legal briefs and clinical trial reports, with varying levels of clarity and veracity in both domains."  
  

County health care cuts go to bone (California)
Contra Costa Times story - "A standing-room-only crowd of clients, parents and advocates put a face behind the numbers Monday as Contra Costa supervisors contemplated deep cuts in the county's Health Services Department. About 100 people addressed the board at an emotional hearing, urging the supervisors to maintain services at the county hospital, homeless shelters, mental health and substance abuse clinics and the George Miller centers."  
  

Mental health advocates fight House cuts (South Carolina)
Sun-News story - "Advocates for North Carolina's mentally ill and disabled raised their voices this past week outside the Legislative Building at their annual rally. Chanting 'No More Cuts,' the protesters' aggravation centered on a $5 million reduction in the House budget for community mental health programs. The reduction is but a small portion of a public mental health budget that clears $2 billion when Medicaid dollars are included. The cut was $10 million before it was reduced on the floor. Even critics acknowledged that the one-time reduction won't eliminate current services..."  
  

Rally urges more funds for mental health care (New Jersey)
Story at the Courier-Post - "More than 1,500 mental health consumers, caregivers and other advocates rallied on the State House steps Monday to urge New Jersey officials to spend more on a community mental health system they say is in shambles. Staff at the nonprofit agencies that make up the mental health safety net haven't had a raise in years, workers said, and turnover is extreme. Patients sometimes wait up to six months to get an appointment with a counselor. And - despite a nationwide focus on getting patients out of institutions - patients ready to leave state hospitals linger due to a severe lack of community housing."  
  

Mental health agencies to get $185M (Canada)
Toronto Star story - "Community based mental health services in Ontario will receive $185 million in new funding over the next four years, Health Minister George Smitherman says. The money for Ontario's community mental health centres is the first increase in 12 years and should help people with mental and addiction problems get treatment closer to home, Smitherman said yesterday. The money is earmarked for mental health agencies in communities so they can hire more staff to help the mentally ill find and get treatment, which is cheaper and more effective than sending them to institutions..."