Thursday, October 17, 2002

Managing 9/11-Related Stress
Managed Care article - "September 11 underscored the prevalence of post-traumatic stress disorder. Screening could ultimately reduce utilization. But who should be screened?"  
  

Profusion of Health Care Laws Creates Compliance Problems for Health Plans
Feature article in Managed Care magazine - "For MCOs operating in more than one state, the push for local legislation has led to a complex patchwork of regulations, often rigged to explode with expensive fines for violators. Seeking to stay within the law, MCOs responded by constructing an expensive review process that often pits a state law against federal rules -- or one state law against another."  
  

How Families That Left Welfare Are Doing: A National Picture
A report from the Urban Institute based on the 1997 National Survey of America's Families (NSAF)—a large nationally representative sample that overrepresents low-income families. Please note that if you wish to print the report, you may prefer the Adobe Acrobat version.  
  

Mental Health Bill Languishing
ABC News story on legislation that would require insurance companies to cover mental illnesses the same as physical ones. Despite presidential support, it appears now that there is "little chance for congressional action this year."  
  

States cut social services in down economy
United Press International story - "Budget cuts, the traditional government response to the kind of budget shortfalls now occurring in 43 states, place low-income beneficiaries of social services at risk and delay economic recovery, according to analysts at a recent think tank forum in Washington, D.C."