Monday, September 15, 2003

State and Local Drug Indicator Profiles
"The Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) Clearinghouse has developed Drug Indicator Profiles as a resource for State/city policymakers, law enforcement officials, researchers, and the general public. Profiles have been developed for every State and more than 80 cities across the United States."  
  

2003 State-by-State Medicaid Fact Sheets
"The National Association of Children's Hospitals and Related Institutions (NACHRI) and the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) have updated their series of one-page, state specific fact sheets about the issue of children and Medicaid. Medicaid Fact Sheets are available for all 50 states, the District of Columbia and a national fact sheet is also available. Medicaid provides health insurance for three in every 10 American children, making it the largest children's health program in the country. We have provided these fact sheets as an education tool to make it easier for others to understand the importance of the Medicaid program for children and children's hospitals...."  
  

Recovery Month 2003
A SAMHSA web site - "Recovery Month provides a platform to celebrate people in recovery and those who serve them. Each September, thousands of treatment programs around the country celebrate their successes and share them with their neighbors, friends, and colleagues in an effort to educate the public about treatment, how it works, for whom, and why. Substance abuse treatment providers have made significant accomplishments, having transformed the lives of untold thousands of Americans. These successes often go unnoticed by the broader population; therefore, Recovery Month provides a vehicle to celebrate these successes." See especially the page on Wednesday's webcast (Business Community Voices for Recovery) and the page for adding your organizations's events.  
  

Experts view Vermont plan as a blueprint for insurance parity laws
Story in the Idaho State Journal - "Opponents told Ken Libertoff the Vermont legislation he helped draft in 1997 would raise insurance premiums by at least 10 percent and force employers to drop insurance plans. Libertoff, director of the Vermont Association for Mental Health, argued the price tag of his proposal, which would cover mandating equal insurance coverage for physical and mental illnesses, wouldn't be nearly as steep as they feared. Vermont passed the bill and now has what mental illness advocates call the nation's best insurance parity law. Vermont's law has been heavily scrutinized, and parts of a national parity bill still pending in the U.S. Senate were patterned after it..."  
  

Are Dean, Kerry Mental Health Plans Ignoring Reality?
Story at TownHall.com - "Democratic presidential rivals Howard Dean and John Kerry have both come forward with their blueprints for federally mandated mental health insurance parity, despite the fact that Americans now have unprecedented access to prescription drug treatment. The Mental Health Parity Act of 1996 already restricts group health plans from placing annual or lifetime dollar limits on mental health benefits, if they're offered by the plan, that are lower than medical and surgical benefits. Dean's plan would go further by prohibiting private insurance companies from charging more for individuals seeking mental illness treatment because, the former governor of Vermont said, too many Americans are denied quality health care. The plan put forth by Sen. Kerry (D-Mass.) alluded less directly to a federal mandate on insurers, saying he would close "unnecessary loopholes that allow insurers to skirt their responsibility." The story also quotes Devon Herrick, a health economist at the National Center for Policy Analysis, who cautions that "higher health insurance costs will be passed on to workers in the form of higher premiums" and notes that "the biggest breakthroughs in mental health in the last, say, 20 years have been with drugs." See also the news stories Gov. Dean Unveils Vision for Mental Health Care in America (U.S. Newswire) and John Kerry Releases Mental Health Policy Statement (Ascribe Newswire). [Editor's note - From time to time, readers will find links here to news stories and articles on proposals and positions put forth by various political candidates. The inclusion of such material is not intended to advocate for or against any particular candidates or views, and should not be understood as such, but rather as part of an effort to distribute information of interest to readers and to help contribute to the overall quality of discourse on issues related to mental health. - BD]