Thursday, June 30, 2005

House Level-Funds Most Community Mental Health Programs Story at the Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law - "The House of Representatives on June 24 passed an appropriations bill (H.R. 3010) for fiscal year 2006 funding Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) programs and services. Members essentially ignored the need for more dollars to meet the increased treatment needs of children and adults with serious mental illnesses. The President’s budget had proposed no new funding for SAMHSA’s Center for Mental Health Services (CMHS) and deep cuts to its discretionary budget, referred to as the Programs of Regional and National Significance (PRNS). The House went along with the President on level funding, but restored the cuts to the PRNS..."  
  

SAMHSA Awards 30 Grants Totaling $59.5 Million to Provide Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services for Homeless People SAMHSA press release - "The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) today announced 30 grants totaling $59.5 million over five years to provide substance abuse and mental health services to homeless individuals. These grants will enable communities to expand and strengthen their treatment services for homeless individuals with substance abuse disorders, mental illness, or co-occurring substance abuse disorders and mental illness."  
  

Survey Shows Strong Support for Medicaid Newsday story - "The public's attitude toward Medicaid remains positive despite the big impact the program is having on state budgets and lawmakers' frequent calls for reform, an opinion survey released Wednesday shows. Nearly three-quarters of adults say the nation's health insurance program for the poor is a "very important" government program, ranking it close to Social Security (88 percent) and Medicare (83 percent), equal to aid to public schools, and ahead of defense (57 percent) and foreign aid (20 percent)." See also National Survey of the Public's Views About Medicaid at the Kaiser Family Foundation web site.  
  

Senate Votes for $1.5 Billion In Extra Veterans Affairs Funds Washington Post story - "The Senate, after a series of angry partisan exchanges, unanimously approved yesterday $1.5 billion in emergency funds for the Department of Veterans Affairs' health care programs. The action is the first step in what now appears to become a total increase of at least $2.5 billion in fiscal 2005 and 2006. Hours before the Senate's 96 to 0 vote, the last opponents in the House and Bush administration to boosted VA spending told reporters that they have abandoned their resistance. ... Virtually all veterans groups -- including the American Legion, the Disabled American Veterans and the Veterans of Foreign Wars -- have complained bitterly that the administration and the Republican leadership have abandoned a commitment to treat VA health care as an integral 'cost of war.' " [Viewing Washington Post stories requires registration, which is free.]  
  

As more get help, stigma of mental illness fades  Story in The Tennessean - "It looks like some progress is being made in erasing the stigma of mental illness. Not enough yet but some, which is good news. 'Stigma is only ignorance,' I remember hearing Kathy Cronkite, the daughter of the famed television newsman Walter Cronkite, say back in February 1997 during a symposium at the Freedom Forum First Amendment Center at Vanderbilt University. 'The problem with stigma isn't that it hurts people's feelings. Stigma keeps people from getting help.' ...'"  
  

Cruise and lawmakers battle in a war of the words on mental health  Story at The Hill - "Tom Cruise’s erratic behavior on his recent worldwide publicity tour has been fodder for gossip columnists and late-night talk-show hosts for weeks, but now the movie star’s comments on mental-health issues last week are attracting serious criticism from members of Congress. Appearing on NBC’s Today show to promote his upcoming movie "War of the Worlds," Cruise called psychiatry "a pseudoscience' and dismissed the effectiveness of antidepressants. The Congressional Mental Health Caucus this week criticized his remarks, saying that the celebrity has reinforced negative perceptions." See also Psychiatrists condemn Cruise mental health remarks (Reuters) - "The American Psychiatric Association on Monday sharply criticised actor Tom Cruise for televised remarks ..."   
  

Polk saves in privatization of mental health program (Iowa) Des Moines Register story - "Polk County taxpayers will save up to $250,000 when a private firm takes over a program designed to provide mental health care for the homeless, officials said Wednes- day. Primary Health Care Inc. of Des Moines will take control of the program, which helps about 200 homeless people each year. Spending on mental illness is a top driver of rising public health care costs, officials said. It trails only heart disease, according to a 2004 study that noted people with mental illnesses are more likely to lack health insurance and rely on public health plans."  
  

Mental-health drug wrangling raising anxiety (Florida) Story at the Daytona Beach News-Journal - "Faced with soaring drug costs, Florida officials have toyed for years with restricting mental-health drugs for Medicaid patients. But now, as the state starts to move forward with the controversial idea, a dispute with one of the nation's largest pharmaceutical companies is helping stoke fears that the restrictions could disrupt the treatment of low-income people with severe mental illnesses..." See also Critics decry plan to limit prescription drugs on Medicaid (Sun-Sentinel), State criticizes drug maker for avoiding discount deal (Miami Herald), Medicaid Changes May Be Costly, Some Claim (The Ledger) and State raps Eli Lilly for attacks on drug plan (Palm Beach Post).  
  

Mental health director is no longer resigning (Hawaii) Hawaii Advertiser story - " A key state mental health official who had said he would resign will now remain on the job. Thomas Hester, head of the Department of Health's Adult Mental Health Division, told staff members and others last week that he would resign. Hester said last week he was resigning because a state attorney told him that he would be losing his authority over the community mental health plan being developed by the state. The change came after discussions among state and federal lawyers. But Hester said yesterday that the lawyer didn't make it clear how definitive that course of action would be..." See also Mental Health Advocates, Patients Decry Resignations (KHNL).