Tuesday, August 31, 2004
CMS Advises Medicaid Officials to Adopt Measures That Do Not Restrict Access to Psychiatric MedicationsAnnouncement at the NAMI web site - "On August 20, 2004, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a Technical Assistance Paper – 'Psychotropic Medications: Addressing Costs without Restricting Access.' CMS supports several state efforts to control the escalation in prescription drug costs while maintaining access to newer, effective medications. CMS has prepared and circulated this report to state Medicaid Directors and Regional CMS Medicaid Administrators addressing strategies to contain the costs of prescribing psychiatric medications without compromising quality or limiting access. We believe that this report can prove to be an effective tool in the ongoing advocacy fight to prevent restrictive formularies, fail first policies, and related cost containment efforts that compromise quality of care." See also the
CMS report.
APA Launches Redesigned Online Help Center APA press release - "The American Psychological Association (APA) will launch a redesigned online help center on August 23. Consumers will be able to navigate a more user-friendly web site with expanded free information, facts, and tips about mental health issues. The new site is designed to appeal to users with a magazine-like format that gives easy directions to featured topics and articles and information on mental health. Although the American Psychological Association is not able to provide direct referrals, consumers can obtain a referral to a psychologist in their area by calling 1-800-964-2000. The operator will use zip codes to locate and connect people with the referral service used by their state psychological association. Because psychology is relevant to so many areas of everyday life, the site is organized into areas that consumers say make sense for them.." See also the
APA Help Center web site.
Women with Co-Occurring Serious Mental Illness and a Substance Use Disorder Web page indexing a recent SAMHSA report in HTML and
Acrobat formats - "Based on SAMHSA's 2002 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, nearly 2 million women aged 18 or older were estimated to have both serious mental illness (SMI) and a substance use disorder during the past year. Women with co-occurring SMI and a substance use disorder were more likely than men with co-occurring SMI and a substance use disorder to have received treatment for a mental disorder and/or specialty substance use treatment during the past year.."
Teen Drug Treatment Jumps 65 Percent Over Decade, Federal Study Says PR Newswire press release - "The number of admissions to substance abuse treatment for adolescents ages 12 to 17 increased again in 2002, continuing a ten-year trend. These data were released today in the 'Treatment Episode Data Set: National Admissions to Substance Abuse Treatment Services 1992-2002' by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). The new data show that the number of adolescents ages 12 to 17 admitted to substance abuse treatment increased 65 percent between 1992 and 2002. In 1992, adolescents represented 6 percent of all treatment admissions. By 2002, this proportion had grown to 9 percent. This report expands upon data published in May in the 'Treatment Episode Data Set (TEDS) Highlights 2002.'"
Mental Illness Survivors Demand Parity in Medical Coverage Story in the
New Standard - "...a bipartisan group of lawmakers, advocates, doctors and people living with mental illness are calling for passage of a bill that would mandate comprehensive and equal mental health coverage on a national level. Last February, Senator Edward Kennedy (D-MA) and Senator Pete Domenici (R-NM) introduced the Senator Paul Wellstone Mental Health Equitable Treatment Act, which would would require companies with more than 50 employees to provide health insurance plans with equal coverage for mental and physical illnesses. Under the bill, named after the late Minnesota senator, himself a long-time advocate for mental health coverage, health plans that covered physical illness would be required to cover mental illness as well. Although the legislation has 69 Senate and 246 House co-sponsors and the support of over 300 health organizations, including the American Medical Association, it has languished in various committees..."
Better coordination of mental health services for kids needed (West Virginia)Herald-Dispatch story - "West Virginia needs to do a better job of coordinating services for children with mental illnesses and involving families in planning care, according to a report scheduled to be released Tuesday morning. State agencies that serve mentally ill children should be required to work together on a 'system of care' that is regularly reviewed by the Legislature, according to the report, 'System of Care Collaborative: A call to action.' "
