Monday, May 16, 2005

Mother's Serious Mental Illness and Substance Use among Youths New report from SAMHSA - "Although substance use and serious mental illness (SMI) tend to occur together among adults and parental substance use is associated with an increased risk of substance use in the offspring,research findings are not conclusive about whether substance use among youths is associated with parental mental illness.This report focuses on the association between mother's SMI and substance use among youths aged 12 to 17." Principal findings include: "In 2002 and 2003, an annual average of 2 million (12 percent) mothers living with youths aged 12 to 17 had serious mental illness (SMI) during the past year; among youths aged 12 to 17, 3 million (12.1 percent) youths lived with a mother who had SMI; youths living with a mother who had SMI had an increased risk of past month alcohol or illicit drug use compared with youths living with a mother who did not have SMI." See also the page at the SAMHSA site linking to related resources.   
  

Vilsack signs state Medicaid reform bill (Iowa)Quad City Times story - "Gov. Tom Vilsack signed into law an unprecedented reform of the state’s Medicaid program Thursday, an overhaul that will make scores more Iowans eligible for health-care coverage under the program. Iowa is the first in the nation to attempt such reforms, and state officials are optimistic the changes to the health-care program for the poor and disabled will be successful. ... State officials were forced to take a look at the program when they faced a loss of close to $65 million each year in federal funding, as officials cracked down on an accounting practice used by Iowa and other states to qualify for more federal dollars. To keep from losing that money, the reforms would qualify Iowans getting health care at state expense for Medicaid. That would mean a share of the cost for their care would picked up by the federal government. Vilsack said the new program will help take some of the burden of charity care off Iowa hospitals and clinics that provide it. "  
  

States face "meltdown" over Medicaid American Medical News story - "Lawmakers' resolution to shave $10 billion in savings from Medicaid likely means that further cuts to physician reimbursement, patient rolls and benefits are ahead. The recently passed fiscal year 2006 budget resolution calls for a $10 billion reduction in projected Medicaid spending over five years. While a significant sign of congressional intent, the measure is only a blueprint for the final budget. Now lawmakers in various committees must fill in the details of how budget targets will be reached. The Bush administration has proposed finding Medicaid savings by curbing what it sees as inappropriate use of state cost-shifting mechanisms and cracking down on waste, fraud and abuse. It's hard to believe that the government will be able to find $2 billion in savings a year through those measures alone, said Stephen Edwards, MD, past president of the American Academy of Pediatrics and chair of AAP's access subcommittee..."  
  

Mental health court to get trial run (Maine) Kennebec Journal story - "A special new court geared to steer mentally-ill criminal defendants to treatment rather than jail will debut in Maine's capital city by early June if lawmakers support the concept next week. Supreme Court Chief Justice Leigh Saufley will appear before the Legislature's Judiciary Committee Monday to ask for support of the project, which has been led by Superior Court Justice Nancy D. Mills and District Attorney Evert Fowle. If the effort -- known as mental-health court -- is a success, Saufley hopes it would expand."  
  

A Public Health Crisis: Children and Adolescents with Mental Disorders Kansas City Infozine story - "A school superintendent whose daughter once attempted suicide, a, college student, a social worker, a board-certified child psychiatrist, and a member of President Bush's New Freedom Commission on Mental Health warned today that children's lives will be lost without programs for early identification, evaluation and treatment of mental disorders. In briefings for the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives, the Campaign for Mental Health Reform (CMHR) addressed misinformation and distortions surrounding a critical need identified by the Surgeon General and the President's Commission-as well as by the medical and public health communities."  
  

DHS to be audited for mental health service (Arizona) Arizona Republic story - "The Arizona Department of Health Services will undergo a state audit to determine how it is providing public mental health services in the Valley. DHS hires contractors around the state to provide care for people with mental illnesses who are indigent or needy. But the agency is ultimately responsible for how that care is delivered. DHS has been under fire the past year because of a critical report revealing inadequate patient treatment and two publicized suicides of people enrolled in the Valley's mental health system. The problems have drawn scrutiny from the Governor's Office and a Maricopa County judge overseeing a lawsuit to improve care for people with serious mental illnesses."  
  

Substance-abuse funds cut, hiked (Utah) Deseret News story - "A new bidding process coupled with state and federal funding shortfalls has some Salt Lake County substance abuse treatment providers absorbing big financial hits and others rolling in new money. The cutbacks and windfalls take effect July 1, the start of the new fiscal year, and affect 17 nonprofit providers, including Salt Lake County's own Division of Youth Services. ... this year, with three-year contracts now open to negotiation, the county decided to embrace a new approach, dropping entrenched providers to a zero-based budget and putting everything out to bid for five-year contracts, starting from ground zero."  
  

Integrated chemical-dependency and mental-health treatment best for adolescents Story at Medical News Today (UK) - "Adolescents with alcohol- and drug-use disorders often have co-occurring mental-health disorders. 'Dual-diagnosis' patients - those with co-occurring substance-abuse and mental-health problems - tend to have less successful chemical-dependency (CD) treatment outcomes. Findings indicate that dual-diagnosis adolescents in private, managed-care CD treatment who receive psychiatric services have better CD-treatment outcomes than those not receiving these services. Adolescents with alcohol- and drug-use disorders often have co-occurring mental-health disorders. Furthermore, patients with co-occurring substance-abuse and mental-health problems tend to have less successful chemical-dependency (CD) treatment outcomes. A recent study of adolescent patients in private, managed-care CD treatment has found that those individuals who receive needed psychiatric services are more likely to be abstinent from both alcohol and drugs than those not receiving these services. Results are published in the May issue of Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research."