82nd LEGISLATIVE SESSION
Health Care Advocates Offer Emotional Pleas
Texas Tribune
February 2, 2011
From patients and parents to nurses and practitioners, the many faces of Texans affected by potential health care budget cuts gathered at the Capitol today to give an earful to lawmakers on the Senate Finance Committee.
http://www.texastribune.org/texas-state-agencies/health-and-human-services-commission/health-care-advocates-offer-emotional-pleas/
Texans voice concerns over budget cuts to panel
Houston Chronicle
February 2, 2011
AUSTIN -- Senate Finance Committee Chairman Steve Ogden on Wednesday suggested a new use for Gov. Rick Perry's business-deal-closing Enterprise Fund: supporting a San Antonio charity that finds jobs for homeless people. Ogden, R-Bryan, made the suggestion on the same day a parade of witnesses testified before his committee about the devastation to vulnerable Texans that would come from relying solely on budget cuts to meet a massive revenue shortfall.
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/7410424.html
Texas businesses serving frail warn cuts would close their doors
Dallas Morning News
February 2, 2011
AUSTIN - Business owner after business owner warned Wednesday that proposed cuts would shutter their operations serving Texas' disabled children and frail adults. The grim warnings came as the Senate Finance Committee opened two days of public comment on GOP leaders' two-year, $158.7 billion budget proposal. The spending blueprint would reduce payments to some social service providers by more than 30 percent.
http://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/texas-legislature/headlines/20110202-texas-businesses-serving-frail-warn-cuts-would-close-their-doors.ece
Unfunded mandates taking toll on county
The Sealy News
February 3, 2011
In a day of financial uncertainty, the last thing that is needed is a withdrawal of financial support, coupled with a demand to spend more money. Yet, this is a reality being faced by Austin County officials, tax districts, school districts and every agency subordinate to state government.
http://www.sealynews.com/news/article_80847616-2f0d0in0-811b0in4c03286.html
TEXAS NEWS
UTMB prisoner health costs, raises scrutinized: Audit of University of Texas System hospital in Galveston critical of spending at time hospital was claiming massive deficit
Austin American-Statesman
February 2, 2011
Texas taxpayers are spending more on treating convicted criminals at a Galveston hospital than they are on law-abiding citizens in other parts of the state, a critical audit of spiraling prison health care costs reveals.
http://www.statesman.com/news/texas-politics/utmb-prisoner-health-costs-raises-scrutinized-1228969.html
A court program worth saluting
Houston Chronicle
February 3, 2011
... The original goal was to help veterans whose charge could be linked to brain injury or mental illness developed as a result of their military service. And those veterans still get priority in being selected for the small program, which takes only 20 at a time. But prosecutor Shannon Davis, a JAG reservist and adjunct professor of criminal law at the JAG school, said the program also considers veterans who can't draw a clear line between their alleged crime and their military service.
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/falkenberg/7410322.html
NATIONAL NEWS
Spending on behavioral health is a shrinking portion of overall health expenditures
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
February 3, 2011
Spending on psychiatric drugs grew by 5.6 percent from 2004 to 2005, down from the 27.3 percent growth from 1999 to 2000 according to a study published today in the February issue of Health Affairs. The study conducted by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration analyzed healthcare costs from 1986 to 2005 to determine patterns in expenditures for behavioral health services.
http://www.samhsa.gov/newsroom/advisories/1102024442.aspx
ONC announces launch of "Direct Project" pilots
U.S. Department of Health & Human Services
February 2, 2011
The Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT (ONC) announced today that providers and public health agencies in Minnesota and Rhode Island began this month exchanging health information using specifications developed by the Direct Project, an 'open government' initiative that calls on cooperative efforts by organizations in the health care and information technology sectors.
http://www.hhs.gov/news/press/2011pres/01/20110202a.html
Provider Shortage Leaves Parents Searching, Doctors Overwhelmed
WBUR Boston
February 3, 2011
BOSTON - More often than not what many parents hear when they're looking for a children's mental health care professional is a voice recording saying the doctor isn't in: "I will not be making calls back to new clients at this time due to the volume of calls I'm presently receiving." Accessing care is arguably the biggest problem in the children's mental health system.
http://www.wbur.org/2011/02/03/childrens-mental-health-iv
California ranks near bottom in kids' health care
San Francisco Chronicle
February 2, 2011
California fares poorly when it comes to delivering health care to children, especially those from low- and middle-income families, according to a report released today. The study, by the Commonwealth Fund, ranked the state 44th in comparison with the other 49 states and the District of Columbia.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/02/01/BASV1HGAGE.DTL#ixzz1CuXDRbWs
Link to Commonwealth Fund report: http://www.commonwealthfund.org/Content/Publications/Fund-Reports/2011/Feb/State-Scorecard-Child-Health.aspx
Dealing with a doctor who's biased: advice from Harvard author
Boston Globe
February 2, 2011
Thinking of having elective knee surgery, an organ transplant, treatment for heart disease? You might want to consider transforming yourself into a white, middle-class, thin, straight male -- if you aren't one already -- to get the best care from your doctor. That's the message conveyed in the new book Seeing Patients written by Dr. Augustus White. He's a Harvard Medical School professor of medical education and a former orthopedic surgeon who served as the first African-American department chief at a Harvard teaching hospital.
http://www.boston.com/lifestyle/health/blog/dailydose/2011/02/overcoming_doct.html
HEALTHCARE REFORM
Senate rejects GOP-led bid to repeal healthcare law
Los Angeles Times
February 2, 2011
Reporting from Washington - Senate Democrats on Wednesday turned aside a bid by Republicans to repeal the new healthcare law, in the first Senate test of the sweeping overhaul that President Obama signed in March. The 47-51 party-line vote on a procedural motion came two weeks after House Republicans pushed a repeal resolution through that chamber.
http://www.latimes.com/health/healthcare/sc-dc-healthcare-repeal-20110203,0,6567474.story
Health Law: No Big Deal Or Congressional Overreach?
National Public Radio
February 2, 2011
The U.S. Supreme Court in all likelihood will decide the constitutionality of the nation's 2010 health care law. But on Wednesday morning, the Senate Judiciary Committee got a preview of the arguments that justices will likely hear. Depending on which esteemed legal scholar was weighing in, the Affordable Care Act is either no big deal, constitutionally speaking, or an extraordinary congressional distortion of its powers.
http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2011/02/02/133437772/health-law-no-big-deal-or-congressional-overreach
With Health Care Reform, Income Swings May Mean Loss of Coverage
HealthDay News
February 3, 2011
Under the new Affordable Care Act, the health reform package signed into law by President Barack Obama last March, millions of Americans whose income fluctuates during the year may lose health insurance for periods of time as their eligibility for different programs changes. The authors of a new study appearing in the February issue of Health Affairs estimated that as many as 28 million U.S. adults might "churn" in and out of health insurance programs during the course of a year, sometimes losing coverage more than once.
http://health.usnews.com/health-news/managing-your-healthcare/insurance/articles/2011/02/03/with-health-care-reform-income-swings-may-mean-loss-of-coverage
House GOP Weighs Medicare Limits
The Wall Street Journal
February 3, 2011
House Republicans are debating whether to propose new limits on the growth of Medicare and other entitlement programs, weighing a gamble that voters are more concerned about trimming the federal deficit than holding on to promised benefits. Some Republicans are warning that the party faces a backlash if it fails to produce a budget that limits entitlement growth, given the anger at federal debt that drove the party's mid-term election gains.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704775604576120544123067576.html
24 consumer groups object to medical liability bill
Austin American-Statesman
February 2, 2011
Twenty-four consumer groups, including Texas Watch, sent a letter to U.S. Rep. Lamar Smith, R-San Antonio, objecting to proposed legislation that would cap malpractice awards and make it tougher for patients and families to sue doctors. ... The Texas Medical Association, which represents the state's doctors, endorses the legislation as long as it does not pre-empt liability laws in Texas and other states.
http://www.statesman.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/austin/health/entries/2011/02/02/24_consumer_groups_object_to_m.html?cxntfid=blogs_salud
Insurers, Consumer Groups Tussle Over Appeals Rule
Kaiser Health News
February 2, 2011
The health insurance industry and consumer groups are facing off over a much touted provision in the new federal health law that allows patients to seek independent reviews of denials in coverage.
http://www.kaiserhealthnews.org/Stories/2011/February/03/external-review-regs.aspx
OPINIONS
Babies and grandmas: Who will Texas' Medicaid cuts hurt? All of us - but the oldest and youngest most of all
Houston Chronicle
February 3, 2011
... The proposal to cut reimbursements paid to Medicaid providers by 10 percent is pure pound-foolishness. And its horrifying long-term costs will hit us all. For most of us, Medicaid seems far from our everyday lives; we think of it as a program that covers people who've been poor, or will be poor, all their lives. But actually, Medicaid generally winds up helping people who spend most of their days in the middle class.
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/editorial/7410555.html
Health care's federal future, brought to you by the GOP
The Washington Post
February 3, 2011
Who would have thought then - or later, when President Barack Obama's big health reform was overturned by the Supreme Court in a controversial 5 to 4 ruling in 2012 - that today's bipartisan bill would be the result? For some perspective on the twists and turns of history, we're joined by NBC's David Gregory. David, health reform seemed dead in the water in 2012. How did we get from that Supreme Court ruling to today?
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/02/02/AR2011020203149.html
Pennies and seed corn: Spending cuts that may cost more than they save
Midland Reporter-Telegram
February 2, 2011
...My firm has studied the economics of both Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) as well as mental health and substance abuse services on several occasions. The findings from these analyses have consistently shown that adequate funding can yield savings which are multiples of the state's investment.
http://www.mywesttexas.com/business/oil/article_348f1865-5d60-50d00in-b4dd4c2c4cfc.html
MHMR: CEO contract just part of problem
El Paso Times
February 3, 2011
Controversy surrounding the contract of Mental Health Mental Retardation CEO Gary Larcenaire wasn't made much clearer by a letter of clarification issued by the MHMR board. ...At any rate, we hope that the clarification letter puts the controversy to rest -- although other generous perks in the contract have raised some eyebrows. That's because MHMR is having severe financial problems.
http://www.elpasotimes.com/opinion/ci_17273837
Football: A Mind Game
National Alliance on Mental Illness
February 2, 2011
...Depression can, of course, arise for reasons unrelated to the incidence of a concussion-as it did for Terry Bradshaw. This former Steelers great and Hall of Famer is one of the most identifiable players living with depression. ... Consequently, he has become a mental health advocate, urging people to not shy away from receiving help.
http://blog.nami.org/
RESEARCH
Childhood adversity linked to mood disorder chronicity
Med Wire News
February 3, 2011
Exposure to family problems in childhood is associated with an increased risk for mood disorder chronicity in adulthood, study results show.
http://www.medwire-news.md/47/90985/Psychiatry/Childhood_adversity_linked_to_mood_disorder_chronicity.html
Early treatment reduces risk for second psychotic episode
Med Wire News
February 3, 2011
Early treatment is associated with a significantly reduced risk for further psychotic episodes in first-episode psychosis (FEP) patients, research shows.
http://www.medwire-news.md/47/90986/Psychiatry/Early_treatment_reduces_risk_for_second_psychotic_episode.html
Physiological Impacts of Homophobia
Science Daily News
February 3, 2011
Young adults who are lesbian, gay or bisexual (LGB) are at far higher risk for severe mental health problems than their heterosexual peers. New research from Concordia University suggests that the stress of being rejected or victimized because of sexual orientation may disrupt hormonal responses in lesbians, gays and bisexuals.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/02/110202114957.htm
Schizophrenia Gene Mutation ID'd, May Herald New Meds
Medical News Today
February 3, 2011
n a major advance for schizophrenia research, an international team of scientists, led by Jonathan Sebat, PhD, assistant professor of psychiatry and cellular and molecular medicine at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, has identified a gene mutation strongly linked to the brain disorder - and a signaling pathway that may be treatable with existing compounds.
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/215535.php
Therapy Better Than Drugs for Treatment of Eating Disorders
Internal Medicine News
February 2, 2011
LOS ANGELES - There is very little evidence - and in some cases none at all - to support common pharmacologic treatments for anorexia and bulimia nervosa, according to Michael Strober, Ph.D. ...For anorexia nervosa, evidence is stronger for family-based therapy in which families are taught to help a child eat and maintain weight. Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) is more effective than drugs for bulimia nervosa and remains its treatment of choice, said Dr. Strober, who estimated he's treated more than 8,000 eating disorder patients during a career dating back to 1975.
http://www.internalmedicinenews.com/news/mental-health/single-article/therapy-better-than-drugs-for-treatment-of-eating-disorders/6faa0d31de.html
FEATURES & RESOURCES
Phantoms of the Mind, No Longer Shocking But No Less Haunting
The New York Times
February 1, 2011
Judith Guest's 1976 novel, "Ordinary People," and the 1980 film adaptation starring Timothy Hutton, were groundbreaking because they underscored Ms. Guest's title. Mental illness could occur in the most ordinary families, these works suggested. It could happen to anyone. The appeal of the Irish journalist Patrick Cockburn's distressing new memoir, written with his son Henry, is quite the opposite, because the large Cockburn family is completely extraordinary. "Henry's Demons" is about how Henry Cockburn, in 2002, at the age of 20, received a diagnosis of schizophrenia.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/02/books/02book.html?ref=health
