Wednesday, February 05, 2003

Judicial notebook: Determining trial competency
Article in the new APA Monitor on the US Supreme Court agreeing to decide "whether the government may force a nonviolent mentally ill defendant to take psychotropic medication in order to render him competent to stand trial."  
  

FY 2004 Budget Fails to Prioritize Mental Health
An NMHA News Release - "In today’s uncertain times, Congress must act to preserve the Medicaid safety net and provide much needed increases for mental health funding. The National Mental Health Association is deeply concerned that the Administration’s budget for FY 2004 encourages states to cut benefits provided by Medicaid, while proposing virtually no increase in overall funding for community mental health programs under the Substance Abuse Mental Health Services Administration."  
  

Coverage of State Budget Proposals for Health Programs
Roundup of recent coverage regarding state budget action affecting health programs at the always excellent Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report. States mentioned include Florida, Massacusetts, Missouri, New York and Ohio.  
  

Medicaid Proposal Receives Mixed Reaction
February 3 Hartford Courant story - "The Bush administration Monday cited its sweeping new proposal to overhaul health care for the poor as an example of its commitment to improving that care, but reaction elsewhere ranged from noncommittal to hostile. Administration officials, who first announced the proposal Friday, said the new Medicaid plan would give states greater flexibility to target scarce dollars at poor people who need health care the most. Critics said the plan could cause some poor people to lose crucial services."  
  

Two mental health agencies to merge (Ohio)
Cincinnati Business Courier story - "Two of Hamilton County's largest mental health agencies, CRI and Queen City Case Management Inc. (QC/M), are merging operations in hopes of providing better service and reducing administrative costs."  
  

State looks for places to help mentally ill (Massachusetts)
Daily News Tribune story - "State officials yesterday were trying to determine where 4,900 severely mentally ill people would go for intensive therapy now that they've been taken off the Medicaid rolls in a cost-cutting move by the governor. Roseanne Pawelec, spokeswoman for the office of Health and Human Services, said the Department of Mental Health was reviewing how many of the 4,900 people would be eligible for DMH services."  
  

Advocates: Cuts will be disaster for mentally ill (Massachusetts)
Boston Herald story - "Thousands of patients with mental illness will be on their own April 1 as a result of Gov. Mitt Romney's decision to cut funding for day treatment centers. About 40 such centers around the state, each serving about 50 patients, will be forced to shut down."