Sunday, July 10, 2005

The Fiscal Survey of States  Report from the National Association of State Budget Officers and the National Governors Association - "While the revenue shortfalls facing states in recent years have subsided and short run forecasts are sunnier, most states still face budgetary challenges driven by a backlog of expenditure demands and Medicaid, finds the newest edition of the Fiscal Survey of States. Revenues exceeded original budget projections in 42 states and three others met their target. Only five states revenue were below their budget projections. For the first time in several years, 2005 aggregate state spending aligned with the historical state spending trends with a growth at 6.6 percent. The 27-year average is 6.5 percent." See also the 2003 State Expenditure Report from NASBO, which found that "Medicaid expenditures continue to grow, crowding out other categories of state spending... The data show that in fiscal 2003, Medicaid accounted for 21.4 percent of all state spending, closing in on K-12 education spending, which was 21.7 percent."  
  

New Mexico First in Nation to Consolidate Publicly Funded Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services  A Value Options press release at Join Together - "The New Mexico Interagency Behavioral Health Collaborative (Collaborative) with ValueOptions New Mexico today (July 1) highlighted the new behavioral health system of care during a news conference in Albuquerque. Beginning today public mental health and substance abuse services provided and/or funded by 15 separate state agencies will be managed through a single Statewide Entity (SE): ValueOptions New Mexico. 'We've come a long way in redesigning the behavioral health system for New Mexico and are looking forward to seeing real results in recovery and resiliency for behavioral health consumers,' said Pamela Hyde, Human Services Department Secretary and Co-chair of the Collaborative."  
  

Racial and Ethnic Differences in Utilization of Mental Health Services Among High-Risk Youths  American Journal of Psychiatry article reprinted at BlackEnterprise.com, which concludes that "Significant racial/ethnic group differences in likelihood of receiving any mental health service and, specifically, formal outpatient services were found after the effects of potentially confounding variables were controlled. Race/ethnicity did not exert a significant effect on the use of informal or 24- hour-care services."  
  

Florida mental health advocates go on offensive to protect patient rights Sun-Sentinel story - "Advocates for the mentally ill in Florida are finding it hard to keep quiet. Actor Tom Cruise, a fervent disciple of the Church of Scientology, caught recent national attention for railing against psychiatry and antidepressants. Mental health advocates say they might ordinarily dismiss the outbursts of the War of the Worlds star as ravings of an eccentric celebrity. Not this time, they say, because his views -- or at least sentiments much like them -- found unexpectedly strong support in this year's Florida legislative process. State legislators alarmed mental health advocates nationwide this spring by approving bills backed by an offshoot of the Church of Scientology that aimed to discourage public school students from seeking mental health services. The legislation, which Gov. Jeb Bush vetoed, surfaced as patient advocates were distracted by another legislative battle -- a separate state move to cut costs in the Medicaid budget by restricting access to certain name brand drugs used to treat mental illnesses."