Tuesday, September 28, 2004

Medicare Chief Challenges Predictions of Out-Of-Pocket Costs
Reuters Health story at Medscape - "The head of the U.S. Medicare program Tuesday said that newly released estimates showing that patients' out-of-pocket spending on services covered by Medicare will consume an ever-larger share of retirement income are being taken out of context. ... The chart, which the Bush administration chose not to publish as part of the annual Medicare trustees' report last March, was released to Rep. Pete Stark, D-Calif., in August, and parts were published in a front-page story in Tuesday's editions of the newspaper USA Today." "med"  
  

Guidelines Raise Questions About Drug Availability
Page at the NAMI web site - "The New York Times reports that changes to Medicare have set off a battle over which medications will be available to Medicare recipients. The new law requires Medicare benefits to be administered by private health plans but does not specify which drugs will be covered, leaving each plan to draw up its own list of approved medications, known as formularies. Consequently, Medicare consumers find themselves caught between the drug companies, who want as many drugs as possible included on the formularies, and the health insurers, who want to limit the formularies to contain costs..." The page includes links to the Times story and other related NAMI resources.  
  

Lawmakers Take FDA to Task on Antidepressants
September 24 Los Angeles Times story - "Members of Congress on Thursday accused the Food and Drug Administration of suppressing information, for as long as eight years, about the increased risks of suicidal thought and behavior in children and teenagers taking antidepressants. ... During a House subcommittee hearing on the FDA review of clinical trials involving the widely prescribed drugs, the legislators also criticized FDA officials for withholding information from clinical trials about the lack of benefit for children from most antidepressants." [Viewing Los Angeles Times stories requires registration, which is free]. See also the Washington Post  story, FDA Told Its Analyst to Censor Data on Antidepressants. [Viewing Washington Post stories requires registration, which is free.]  
  

Words, Actions at Odds on Children's Health Care
Washington Post story - "In his convention address in New York, President Bush announced a new $1 billion initiative to enroll "millions of poor children" in two popular government health programs. But next week, the Bush administration plans to return $1.1 billion in unspent children's health funds to the U.S. Treasury, making his convention promise a financial wash at best. The loss of $1.1 billion in federal money means six states participating in the State Children's Health Insurance Program face budget shortfalls in 2005; it is enough money to provide health coverage for 750,000 uninsured youngsters nationwide, according to two new analyses by advocacy organizations..." [Viewing Washington Post stories requires registration, which is free.]  
  

Resolution raises key veterans' issue
Letter to the editor in The Reporter (Vacaville, CA) - " Thanks to Assemblywoman Lois Wolk and her outstanding staff for authoring and pushing Assembly Joint Resolution No. 71, which calls upon the president and Congress to provide a guaranteed level of funding for veterans health care. The resolution recognizes the large expenditure of taxpayer dollars in providing health care by state welfare and Medicaid programs, local mental health providers and the safety net of hospitals to veterans who are either unable to access or are unaware of their eligibility Veterans Affairs health care and benefit entitlements..."  
  

Psychiatric center proposal gets boost (Colorado)
Durango Herald story - "The county commissioners approved on Monday a $500,000 grant application by La Plata County to the Governor's Rural Health Care Initiative for a proposed inpatient psychiatric facility to be built on an acre of land donated by Mercy Medical Center on its new Grandview campus. ... Heath and the mental-health center have been key players in laying the groundwork for the proposed inpatient psychiatric facility. Heath points out that Southwest Colorado is the only region in the state without such a facility within two hours by ground transportation. If it's determined a patient needs to be hospitalized in a mental-care facility, the patient is transported to Denver, Grand Junction or Pueblo."