Thursday, May 26, 2005

Mental health insurance requirement becomes law (South Carolina) AP story at Myrtle Beach Online - "Health insurers in South Carolina will be required to include coverage for depression, anxiety, schizophrenia and other mental illnesses under a new law. Gov. Mark Sanford allowed the legislation to become law without his signature Tuesday night. The legislation doesn't cover drug or alcohol addiction treatments and would not be required on policies for businesses with 50 or fewer workers. But they would be required to cover treatments for illnesses ranging from bipolar disorder to post-traumatic stress disorder to adolescent and childhood depression. The legislation is similar to laws now on the books in 33 states, according to the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill of South Carolina..."  
  

Local legislator pushes mental health reform (North Carolina) Citizen-Times story on recently introduced legislation that would "...require the state Health and Human Services Department to create an online registry of available mental health beds. This would allow case managers, social service workers and law enforcement officers dealing with involuntary commitments to go online and see what services were available. ... The state Health and Human Services Department opposes the legislation. In a May 24 letter to Apodaca, Mike Moseley, the director of the state Division of Mental Health, Developmental Disabilities and Substance Abuse Services, said that Apodaca’s solution might not solve the problem," as nothing in the bill "requires all facilities to cooperate with the registry."  
  

Bill could help families find kin in mental health facilities (Oregon) Story in The Oregonian on state Senate Bill 1064, which "would require the Oregon Department of Human Services to tell patients in mental-health facilities that a family member is trying to contact them. The Senate Committee on Health Policy unanimously approved the measure Wednesday, moving the bill to the Senate for a vote. There was no organized opposition. The bill would allow families to register with the department as wanting to find a patient. The department then would notify patients and allow them to choose, with a guardian or representative's help if needed, whether to re-establish family contact. Families testifying before the committee said finding mentally ill loved ones is often a long and difficult process."