Monday, August 01, 2005
Dual Eligibles: Medicaids Role for Low-Income Medicare Beneficiaries Fact sheet (in PDF format) from the Kaiser Family Foundation - "This fact sheet describes the over 7.5 million 'dual eligibles,' the low-income elderly and persons with disabilities who are enrolled in both Medicare and Medicaid, why this population needs Medicaid, what services they receive from Medicaid, and the current policy challenges related to dual eligibles, including the new Medicare prescription drug benefit."
Mental health courts require access to effective community mental health services Item in CMHA/Ontario
Mental Health Notes - "People who were diverted through a mental health court did not experience reductions in psychiatric symptoms, suggesting the need for more effective and adequate community mental health services, according to a recent study in Psychiatric Services. According to the authors, a variety of studies have demonstrated that diverting defendants with mental illness from the criminal justice system into mental health treatment result in increased access to treatment and better quality of life. The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether the increased access to mental health services achieved through diversion resulted in improved clinical outcomes for defendants with mental illness."
Homelessness, mental illness and substance abuse increase incarceration time Item in CMHA/Ontario's
Mental Health Notes based on an article in the July Psychiatric Services - " A study published in Psychiatric Services suggests that individuals who are homeless and have severe mental disorders with co-occurring substance-related disorders stay longer in jail than others charged with similar crimes. This study was designed to assess the relationships between homelessness, mental disorder and amount of time spent incarcerated..."
Premiums for the Poor Washington Post editorial - "The notion of asking Medicaid recipients to pay more toward their health care has a lot of intuitive appeal. Rapidly growing costs for the health care program for the poor are straining state budgets across the country, as well as the federal government's. In private insurance programs, co-payments, deductibles and other cost-sharing mechanisms have helped make patients more informed and cost-conscious consumers. It's not surprising, then, that the nation's governors are pressing for more flexibility to require Medicaid recipients to pay more for their care as well. But the evidence from states that have adopted such cost-cutting measures suggests that any changes should be made only with extreme caution. Those considering changes in the program must make certain that the payments -- even if they don't appear burdensome -- don't prevent recipients from getting needed services and don't backfire by resulting in more expensive emergency room and hospital care."
Ruling leaves fate of sickest TennCare enrollees uncertain (Tennessee) Story in
The Tennessean - "A federal judge's ruling yesterday afternoon leaves unclear what will happen to about 97,000 of the sickest TennCare enrollees who are due to lose access to state-paid prescription-drug coverage come Monday. Saying he was ruling as quickly as possible before those changes are to take effect, U.S. District Judge John Nixon gave the go-ahead to part of the state's plans to enact cost-saving drug-management tools. State officials have said those tools are key to overhauling TennCare and sparing 97,000 people from cuts. However, Finance Commissioner Dave Goetz said last night that he was unsure whether yesterday's partial ruling will help avert the changes to come for the "medically needy" a special category of TennCare enrollees whom Gov. Phil Bredesen has said are the sickest people on the program."
