Monday, August 08, 2005
Congress to Consider Major Medicaid Changes in September, Grassroots Advocacy Campaign Needed During Congressional Recess Action Alert at the NAMI web site - " This week the House and Senate began a month long summer recess, during which members of Congress will be in their states and districts across the country. One of the major issues Congress will confront upon their return to work in September is how to reduce future Medicaid expenditures by $10 billion over the next five years. These reductions to Medicaid will be considered as a part of a massive budget 'reconciliation' measure that Congress is supposed to complete sometime in the fall. This "reconciliation" legislation will include a number of programmatic changes to Medicaid that could have an enormous impact on beneficiaries (both children and adults) living with mental illness. NAMI is very concerned that these reductions to Medicaid do not adversely impact on access to treatment support services for Medicaid beneficiaries living with mental illness."
Thursday, August 04, 2005
Leavitt Praises Governors on Medicaid AP story in the
Las Vegas Sun - "The nation's governors likely will play an influential role in federal efforts to slow the growth of Medicaid, Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt said. Leavitt has appointed a commission that will recommend to Congress short- and long-term changes to the program, which serves about 52 million Americans. The commission's first report is due Sept. 1. It will focus on ways to slow the health insurance program's growth by $10 billion over the next five years. The commission just had its first meeting last week, raising the question of how extensive a review it can accomplish. Leavitt said in an interview Tuesday with Associated Press reporters and editors that governors have had some of the answers for a long time. .."
Monday, August 01, 2005
State of California Medi-Cal Redesign Report (in PDF format) called to our attention by
Open Minds - "California’s Medi-Cal Program provides medical assistance for qualified individuals with low income under Title XIX of the Federal Social Security Act. The California Department of Health Services (DHS) administers the program with the federal government providing a matching Medicaid reimbursement rate of 50 percent. Currently, Medi-Cal provides health care services to 6.6 million Californians – just under one in five Californians receive their health coverage through the Medi-Cal program. Medi-Cal has been providing health care services to Californians since 1965. It is the health care funding source for low-income children, their parents, pregnant women, and seniors and persons with disabilities. In addition to providing those benefits that are required by federal law, California is one of eight States that provide a wide range of optional benefits. "
State of Georgia Gap Analysis for Mental Health Services - Final Report Index of the final report to the state of Georgia from APS Healthcare, called to our attention by
Open Minds - "Established by a Federal mandate, Georgia’s Mental Health Planning and Advisory Council has the oversight responsibility for providing ongoing guidance to the Department of Human Resources, Division of Mental Health, Developmental Disabilities and Addictive Disease (DMHDDAD) on services and system design throughout the state. The Mental Health Planning and Advisory Council requested a Gap Analysis of the mental health delivery system that serves Georgia. This Mental Health Gap Analysis provides a comprehensive assessment of the state’s publicly funded mental health system, the system of care paid for by federal, state, and local tax dollars to support adults with Serious Mental Illness (SMI) and children and adolescents with Serious Emotional Disorders (SED)." The link above points to an HTML version. The report is also available in
PDF format.
Thursday, July 28, 2005
16 National Organizations Cite Crisis in Mental Health System, Release Roadmap for Reform PR Newswire press release - "Today at the U.S. Capitol, the Campaign for Mental Health Reform released "Emergency Response: A Roadmap for Federal Action on America's Mental Health Crisis." The coalition of 16 national organizations proposed 28 action steps as a "roadmap" for Congress and the Administration to transform the country's ailing mental health care system. Speaking at the press conference in support of the Campaign's efforts were Members of Congress from both political parties and both chambers: Senators Mike DeWine (R-OH) and Edward Kennedy (D-MA), and Representatives Sue Myrick (R-NC), Patrick Kennedy (D-RI), Jim Ramstad (R-MN), Grace Napolitano (D-CA), and Ted Strickland (D-OH)." See also the Campaign for Mental Health Reform
press release, the
executive summary (also available in
PDF format) and the
full 32-page report (in PDF format).
Tuesday, July 26, 2005
Medicare and Medicaid at 40 Page indexing a number of resources at the Kaiser Family Foundation site - "The Medicare and Medicaid health coverage programs were signed into law July 30, 1965. The Kaiser Family Foundation has some new resources that examine how Medicare and Medicaid came into existence and how they have evolved over the past 40 years. You will find new documentaries and extended interviews with key policymakers and government officials examining the origins of Medicare and Medicaid, new interactive historical timelines, a chart pack of key information and statistics, a webcast of a retrospective of the two programs with historian Robert Dallek and key government officials responsible for the programs over the past 40 years, and many other background resources on the two programs."
Governors Urge Focus on Medicaid Washington Post story - "As Congress and President Bush have sparred over Social Security and the federal judiciary this year, the top legislative priority of the nation's governors has not changed. Republican and Democratic state executives say nothing is more important to the states than restructuring Medicaid, and they worry that the federal government has not gotten the message. Medicaid was not part of the official agenda at the National Governors Association summer meeting in Des Moines earlier this month, but it was a regular topic of discussion at the governors-only sessions..."
Monday, July 25, 2005
The Efficiency and Quality of Commercial Mental Health Care in Southeastern Pennsylvania A 33 page report in
MS Word format, brought to our attention by
Open Minds, published by the Pennsylvania Psychological Association - "Magellan Behavioral Health (MBH) manages 99% of the HMO and most of the indemnity market for behavioral health in Southeastern Pennsylvania. The Pennsylvania Psychological Association (PPA) gathered data on MBH from the Pennsylvania Department of Health, Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council (PHC4), and personal reports and survey data from psychologists. With some exceptions, MBH does a good job in facilitating psychiatric hospitalizations when they are clinically indicated. PPA commended MBH for its innovative Assertive Community Treatment Program. However, MBH’s administrative procedures divert considerable resources away from and often disrupt patient care. These problems can be found primarily in authorizations, billing, credentialing, and appeals. The authorization process is expensive and cumbersome, contributes nothing to patient care, and often disrupts the continuity of patient care. The billing process is complicated by the frequency with which MBH or the insurer loses the authorizations or fails to process them on time. "
Unprecedented Federal Alignment Announced to Help Provide People with Mental Illness Opportunity for Recovery SAMHSA press release - " The federal government is aligning resources in an unprecedented collaborative effort to help ensure that people with mental illness have every opportunity for recovery. Six cabinet level departments – Education, Health and Human Services, Housing and Urban Development, Justice, Labor, Veterans Affairs and the Social Security Administration have detailed 70 specific steps in a mental health action agenda released today. 'Transforming Mental Health Care in America. The Federal Action Agenda: First Steps' is the beginning of a multi-year effort to alter the form and function of the mental health system. Also announced today is the creation of a Federal Executive Steering Committee to guide the work of mental health system transformation." See also
the full report.
Wednesday, July 20, 2005
Governors Seek Escape Route From Medicaid Funding Crisis Psychiatric News story - "Governors want more flexibility to decide who gets what in terms of Medicaid benefits and lower costs for prescription drugs. In testimony presented on Capitol Hill last month, the National Governors Association (NGA) offered a plan to reform the Medicaid program that seems to contain something to please and to offend nearly everyone. NGA Chair Mark Warner (D), governor of Virginia, and Vice Chair Mike Huckabee (R), governor of Arkansas, presented a bipartisan proposal that aims to restrain expenditures and provide governors more flexibility to administer the program. The NGA noted in written testimony that it is 'difficult to overstate the impact of Medicaid on state budgets.' On average, Medicaid accounts for about 22 percent of a state's budget and is the largest single item of expenditure."
