Friday, March 25, 2005

Mental health centers debated (Maryland) Delmarva Daily Times story - "A new law that would open wider the doors to Maryland's state-run mental health centers was both praised and disparaged in Annapolis on Wednesday. The legislation has the backing of several Eastern Shore lawmakers. If signed into law, it would give families of developmentally disabled people more leeway to place them in residential institutions like Salisbury's Holly Center. There are an estimated 7,600 people in Maryland waiting to be placed into sought-after smaller group homes and other treatment centers. The state, citing U.S. Supreme Court rulings that counsel against institutionalization most of the time, has for years been reluctant to place patients in the four state-run facilities still in operation."  
  

Senate passes parity in mental health coverage (Oregon) Register-Guard editorial - "There will come a time when people will shake their heads in disbelief upon hearing that mental health was once considered less important than physical health. The Oregon Senate did its part to hasten that day with a bipartisan vote Monday that requires insurers to cover mental illness and substance abuse the same way they cover physical ailments. With five Republicans joining all 18 Democrats, the Senate voted 23-6 to send Oregonians an overdue signal that the stigmatizing disparity in insurance coverage must be eliminated. Now it's up to the Republican-dominated House to follow suit, allowing Oregon to become the 35th state that requires some form of parity between mental health and physical health coverage. The bill faces a hard road in the House, where powerful opponents in the insurance industry and the business lobby will do their best to damn the measure with faint praise..."