Monday, November 17, 2003

Overhauling the Nation's Mental Health System
Feature article in Clinician News at Medscape - " In its final report, the President's New Freedom Commission on Mental Health recommends 'a fundamental transformation' that, if achieved, will require stronger intervention on the part of primary care practitioners as well as a national commitment to making "recovery" from mental illness the expected outcome in these patients. The report targets several aspects that need to be addressed. These include enhanced clinician education, early diagnosis and intervention, elimination of disparities in mental health care (eg, age, race, ethnicity, geography), and more widespread use of telemedicine and electronic medical technologies..." [Viewing Medscape resources requires registration, which is free].  
  

A mental-health safety net, frayed and torn
Feature story in the Christian Science Monitor - "States, facing their worst fiscal crises since World War II, have been making drastic cuts - and are considering more. And since healthcare programs such as Medicaid constitute roughly 20 percent of state budgets, they are often targets. In the last legislative session, 29 states cut their mental-healthcare systems, according to the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill. But experts say lawmakers will regret their choices. The mentally ill need treatment one way or another - and prevention is far less costly than crisis care. A 24-hour hospital stay for a mentally ill patient in crisis can cost a state the same as six months of outpatient care. Jailing the same person for a misdemeanor, such as trespassing or panhandling, can cost as much as a year of outpatient care."  
  

Medicaid cost 'crisis' still plagues state (New York)
Albany Times Union story - "... County legislators and administrators have been engaged this month in the grim task of proposing their budgets for 2004. In almost every case, they're contemplating double-digit tax increases, sales tax increases or extensive service cuts. Their most often-cited reason is the need to pay for the state-mandated local share of Medicaid costs. The executive director of the state Association of Counties, Robert Gregory, is talking about the "crisis" counties face because of Medicaid and public pension costs."