Tuesday, April 12, 2005

Friends and family first port of call for people with mental health problems Story at Psychiatry Matters, based on an article published in the British Journal of Psychiatry - "People with minor mental health problems are more likely to seek help from friends and family than from health professionals, reveal study findings that also show many people, particularly males, choose not to seek any form of help. ... 'People suffering from psychiatric symptoms, even if severe, often do not seek professional help,' observe Maria Isabel Oliver (Health Protection Agency South West, Gloucestershire) and colleagues. ... The researchers therefore sought to investigate whether patients with mental health problems, if not seeking help from their physician, are turning to other sources of help."  
  

New data on Medicaid spending Data at StateHealthFacts.org, a site maintained by the Kaiser Family Foundation. See State Medicaid Spending, SFY2003 and Federal Medicaid Spending, FY2004. See also the source of the data, the 2003 State Expenditure Report (Adobe Acrobat format) by the National Association of State Budget Officers and Grants to States for Medicaid, Budget of the United States Government, Fiscal Year 2006, Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.  
  

CQ HealthBeat Obtains HHS List of States Using Accounting Tactics To Boost Federal Medicaid Funding Item in the Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report - "CQ HealthBeat has obtained a document that HHS 'is using in a federal crackdown on dubious Medicaid accounting tactics.' The document 'names 15 states as potentially using the techniques, 20 as having agreed to drop them and 12 more whose use of the controversial techniques is still unknown,' according to CQ HealthBeat ...  
  

HMOs in Unstable Condition: Members Bolt to Other Plans Los Angeles Times story - "HMOs, once the top choice for Americans who get healthcare as a job perk, are so last century. Tightly controlled health maintenance organizations have steadily lost ground over the last decade to preferred provider organizations, which offer greater choice of physicians and hospitals and direct access to specialists — though at a higher price. HMOs garnered only 25% of the employer-based health benefits market last year, down from a high of 31% in 1996, according to a recent survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation... During the same period, PPOs nearly doubled their market share to 55%." [Viewing Los Angeles Times stories requires registration, which is free].  
  

Once too slow, FDA approvals called too fast... April 10 Boston Globe story - "Over 15 years, the Food and Drug Administration has swung from taking too long to get medicine to dying AIDS patients to drawing fire for rushing drugs to market that wound up killing people. The agency's troubles were highlighted last week, when it asked Pfizer Inc. to suspend sales of Bextra because the painkiller can cause fatal heart and skin problems. Bextra was the latest casualty in a drug safety controversy that began last fall with Vioxx, an arthritis drug quickly approved by the FDA and then taken off the market..."  
  

FDA Calls for Warning on Antipsychotic Drugs Brief Reuters story at Yahoo - "The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Monday ordered new warnings on antipsychotic drugs, alerting physicians to a higher death rate when the medicines are prescribed for atypical use of treating dementia in elderly patients. The black box warning affects Eli Lilly and Co.'s Zyprexa and Symbyax, AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals LP's Seroquel, Johnson & Johnson's Risperdal, Novartis AG's Clozaril, Pfizer Inc.'s Geodon, and Bristol-Myers Squibb Co.'s and Otsuka America Pharmaceutical's Abilify. "  
  

Hospitals sue Oregon about patient care Statesman-Journal story - "Fallout from Oregon's budget crisis has hospitals suing the state for unpaid bills. Five Oregon hospitals say the state broke agreements to reimburse them for the care they provided to patients ordered into psychiatric care by a court. The hospitals have sued in Marion County Circuit Court for breach of contract. They are demanding a total of about $1.85 million, court papers show. The five related suits, including one filed by Salem Hospital, deal with so-called 'waitlisted patients' who are temporarily placed in private hospitals until space opens at the Oregon State Hospital. The hospitals allege that in late 2002, the Oregon Department of Human Services abruptly terminated contracts to pay for the care of waitlisted patients."  
  

DeLauro's proposal for better mental health services for military personnel and families Brief WTNH story - "The issue of the mental health of men and women serving over seas in the war on terror was front and center today. Connecticut Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro says this is a topic that should be looked at as an emergency. DeLauro says providing for our servicemen and women both on the battlefield and when they return home is a moral obligation of government. She has drawn up legislation called the Military Mental Health Services Improvement Act. It would ensure that all soldiers would receive mental health screening before and after they return from service, that any health care they would need would be provided..."  
  

Business's next challenge: tackling mental health in the workplace Story in The Globe and Mail - "Mental health problems, such as stress and depression, have reached such crisis proportions in the workplace that a coalition of senior business leaders will announce its backing tomorrow for comprehensive research aimed at creating healthier work environments. With mental disability now accounting for an estimated 30 to 40 per cent of the disability claims being recorded by Canada's major insurers and employers, the Global Business and Economic Roundtable on Addiction and Mental Health is poised to announce two major research initiatives aimed at identifying management practices that lead to -- or exacerbate -- depression and mental illness among employees."  
  

Senate Dems will support mental health parity bill (Iowa) Sioux City Journal story - "Lawmakers are near agreement on a plan requiring employers that offer health insurance to cover mental health conditions. The so-called mental health parity bill passed the Iowa House in February, but was stalled in the Senate because Democrats wanted the plan expanded to include coverage of substance abuse treatment and some Republicans objected to any plan. But on Monday, Senate Democratic Leader Mike Gronstal of Council Bluffs said his party will support the House version of the bill..."