Monday, May 02, 2005
House halves governor's proposed Medicaid cuts (Vermont) Rutland Herald story - "A key House committee halved many of the cuts that the governor wanted to make in the Medicaid public health insurance program Friday as it moved closer to adopting recommendations for resolving a pending $80 million deficit. The Appropriations Committee relied on the hope for improving state tax revenue, a number of accounting maneuvers and the potential that a still-pending deal with the federal government would shore up Washington's falling commitment on Medicaid. 'We have proposed no new taxes,' said Rep. Mark Larson, D-Burlington, who helped craft the compromise proposal. 'We also have proposed no cuts in eligibility or services.' But neither have provided the long-term solution to the runaway costs of Medicaid, which left unchanged could lead to a cumulative deficit of $545 million by 2010."
Committees agree to expand mental health funding (Nevada) Nevada Appeal story - "Members of legislative money committees Friday agreed to increase the budgets for Mental Health and Developmental Services by nearly 40 percent - most of it already in Gov. Kenny Guinn's proposed budget. The program would add more than $133 million in general fund money and $144.8 million total to the existing two-year budget, dramatically improving services in a long list of programs Guinn said have fallen desperately behind over the years. Assemblywoman Sheila Leslie, D-Reno, said the increases go a long way to fix damage caused to division programs in 1991 when a recession forced the state to chop back agency budgets. A disproportionate share of those cuts were made in mental health programs and advocates have complained for a decade that little has been done to restore the programs since."
National Eating Disorders Association Urges Congress and State Legislatures to Provide Insurance Coverage for Eating Disorders MarketWire story reprinted at
PsycPORT - "In light of the Terri Schiavo case, the National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA) urges Congress and state legislatures to move forward on approving legislation that requires insurance policies to cover the treatment of eating disorders. While members of Congress scrambled this past week to intervene in the tragic case of Terri Schiavo, millions have asked why Congress and state legislatures have ignored individuals with eating disorders, long before their health is as seriously compromised as Schiavo's. It has been reported that the potassium deficiency which triggered Schiavo's cardiac arrest and resulted in her present state was the result of an eating disorder."
Words Fail Them HispanicBusiness.com story on Nicholas Torres and his organization, Philadelphia-based Congreso de Latinos Unidos, which "...hasn't figured out how to provide behavioral health services on the scale of current demand. 'We did a study two years ago about services for the Latino community, and it was very apparent that, when referring people, there weren't enough culturally competent and lingually capable individuals in the mental health professions,' Mr. Torres says. 'Finding qualified bilingual individuals is next to impossible. Basically, you're stealing [personnel] from someone else who is providing those services.' ... In 2004, Congreso spent more than $3.7 million on behavioral counseling and $2.5 million on crisis intervention. Drug and alcohol counseling account for the largest share of the 21,000 people who received behavioral health assistance from Congreso last year. The organization ranks number 10 on the 2005 Hispanic Business Top 25 Nonprofits directory with total expenditures of $14.7 million."
People certainly can help mentally ill family members Response to an opinion column in the
Register-Guard (Eugene OR) - "What does the average family do when a family member becomes ill with any disease? Most likely, they become educated. Perhaps they ask their doctor for information, or consult Web MD, or ask friends who have had the illness, or even attend a support group. It is no different for the family that has a member who becomes mentally ill. Today, the average family has options, as never before, to help with the problems associated with mental illness. More than 100,000 family members have taken the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill's Family-to-Family Education Program. It is free, and it is offered virtually everywhere..."
Crisis unit fills mental health need (Alabama) Montgomery Advertiser story - "A crisis unit to treat people with mental illness and to help keep them out of jails and emergency rooms is open for area patients. The Montgomery Area Mental Health Authority is operating the nine residential crisis beds at Greil Memorial Psychiatric Hospital. The beds opened in the middle of March and have served about 15 clients. 'The indications are we're having an impact,' said Tommy Wright, executive director of the Montgomery Area Mental Health Authority. 'We are getting people out of the emergency room beds at Jackson Hospital much quicker. People in psychiatric crisis don't need to be in an emergency room.' "
Where sanity doesn't prevail (Oregon)Story in
The Oregonian - "As many as a dozen people without mental disease are still confined to the overwhelmed Oregon State Hospital. ... Oregon is holding as many as a dozen men ... in the rundown state hospital bursting with patients. These men committed serious crimes, but they were not sent to prison. They were sent to the hospital because doctors and prosecutors confused their drug and alcohol abuse with mental disease. They are still hospitalized because the state has refused to admit its mistakes, adhere to the law and make the politically hard decision to let them go."
Mental health advocate wins Heinz Foundation award Chicago Sun-Times article on Joseph Rogers who, after "years of homelessness and stays in psychiatric hospitals....used those experiences to lead a large mental health association and champion a new way of helping people with mental illness. Today, Rogers is being given a Heinz Award, an annual $250,000 prize given to people making notable contributions in five areas: the arts and humanities, the environment, the human condition, public policy, and technology, the economy and employment. ... Rogers should be considered 'the Martin Luther King of mental health's consumer movement,' said Mary Hurtig, the policy director at the Mental Health Association of Southeastern Pennsylvania. Rogers joined the group in 1984 and rose through the organization to become its CEO, promoting the idea that people with mental illness should play an active role in their treatment. He created the Self-Help and Advocacy Resource Exchange project, an umbrella organization for support groups, drop-in centers, homeless outreach and other programs."
