Monday, March 28, 2005

Iowa Makes Deal to Retain Medicaid Money  AP story at Yahoo - "Iowa has struck a deal with federal officials that allows the state to retain $66 million in Medicaid funding it would have lost next summer because of a government crackdown on an accounting gimmick. Iowa is the first state to reach such an agreement with Washington. For years, Iowa and other states used an accounting practice — awarding state money to hospitals and nursing homes, and then moving it back again — to boost federal Medicaid matching funds. However, Medicaid officials have told states that such transfers will not be allowed past July 1."  
  

Update on the Treatment of Depression A Medscape CME - "During the International Congress of Biological Psychiatry, the treatment of depression was of particular focus. Despite the advent of newer antidepressant medications, including the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), over the past 15 years, depression continues to be a costly burden to both the individual patient as well as to society as a whole. The following presentations addressed the newest thoughts about the treatment of depression." [Viewing Medscape resources requires registration, which is free].  
  

Mental Illness Often Ends Soldiers' Careers  Psychiatry News story - "Soldiers with a serious mental illness are more likely to have difficulty conforming their behavior to military expectations and thus more apt to be discharged involuntarily than their peers with nonpsychiatric disorders. Active-duty soldiers in the Army who are hospitalized because of a psychiatric disorder are far more likely to leave the military involuntarily within six months of that hospital stay than are soldiers with other medical conditions. These involuntary separations usually stemmed from the soldiers' inability to perform their work duties and were attributed to "behaviors not considered conducive to further service," according to a study reported in the March American Journal of Psychiatry."