Hogg Foundation for Mental Health News and Grants
Hogg Foundation for Mental Health
April, 2012
Public, private Texas hospitals spar over Medicaid
Houston Chronicle
April 2, 2012
Texas' public hospitals are asking the state to make some taxpayer money now spent on Medicaid care instead pay for the uninsured, a group that soon may be mostly illegal immigrants. The proposal, under consideration by the Texas Health and Human Services Commission, is pitting public and private hospitals against each other for hundreds of millions of dollars allocated annually in a supplementary Medicaid program. The public hospitals argue the program favors private hospitals.
http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/Public-private-Texas-hospitals-spar-over-Medicaid-3451564.php
El Paso medical school offers lessons for Austin's effort
Austin-American Statesman
April 1, 2012
...El Paso's experience could offer lessons for efforts in Austin to land a medical school and expand the capital city's footprint in health care. ... The Foster School of Medicine, a unit of the Texas Tech University System's Health Sciences Center, is in many ways the jewel of what officials have dubbed the Medical Center of the Americas, a public-private complex east of downtown that could eventually encompass 440 acres. ... Longstanding elements of the complex include Texas Tech medical clinics in various specialties, a state-run psychiatric hospital, the El Paso County coroner's office and the county hospital, University Medical Center of El Paso.
http://www.statesman.com/news/education/el-paso-medical-school-offers-lessons-for-austins-2276493.html
FEMA awards $90M for repairs at UTMB
Galveston Daily News
March 30, 2012
GALVESTON - More than $90.1 million has been awarded to the state of Texas by the Federal Emergency Management Agency for work on the University of Texas Medical Branch's Healthcare Core Complex in the aftermath of Hurricane Ike.
http://galvestondailynews.com/story/303090
Methodist's investment in health services to top $70 million
San Antonio Buisiness Journal
March 30, 2012
The San Antonio-based nonprofit plans to invest $72 million, an unprecedented sum of money, this year to help dozens of South Texas organizations care for hundreds of thousands of the state's most vulnerable individuals.
http://www.bizjournals.com/sanantonio/print-edition/2012/03/30/methodists-investment-in-health.html
Riverside General Hospital of Houston's Third Ward faces latest struggle
Houston Chronicle
March 31, 2012
...In the nearly 50 years since desegregation, Riverside clamored to continue its legacy, offering its medicine to everyone, including drug addicts and mental patients, the young and the old. But today, its long story is tainted by corruption: One of the hospital's key administrators is in federal custody, guilty by his own account of engaging in a $116 million Medicare claims and kickback scheme involving Riverside patients. And while Riverside's top executive claims the hospital knew nothing of the fraud, investigators from the FBI and the Texas Attorney General's Office have seized patient records - not just from the hospital, but from its small empire of mental health clinics that stretch from Dallas to southeast Houston.
http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/Riverside-General-Hospital-of-Houston-s-Third-3450283.php
Naked man crashes car in downtown Fort Worth
Star-Telegram
March 30, 2012
FORT WORTH - A man was taken to John Peter Smith Hospital for a mental evaluation Friday after police say he stripped off his clothes at a downtown Fort Worth church, sped off in his car and crashed.
Read more here: http://www.star-telegram.com/2012/03/30/3848244/naked-man-crashes-car-in-downtown.html#storylink=cpy#storylink=cpy
http://www.star-telegram.com/2012/03/30/3848244/naked-man-crashes-car-in-downtown.html#storylink=cpy
NATIONAL NEWS
Fewer U.S. Med Students Choose Psychiatry: Report
HealthDay
March 30, 2012
The declining number of U.S. medical students who choose psychiatry as a specialty is cause for concern because there's already a shortage of psychiatrists, experts warn. The overall downward trend has occurred for the past six years, according to a National Resident Matching Program report. Medical schools need to provide more information and training to medical school students so they know psychiatry can be a profitable and rewarding career, the American Psychiatric Association (APA) said.
http://consumer.healthday.com/Article.asp?AID=663212
HHS and Education launch new Stop Bullying website
HHS News
March 30, 2012
...Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and Education Secretary Arne Duncan today unveiled a revitalized Stop Bullying website - www.stopbullying.gov - to encourage children, parents, educators, and communities to take action to stop and prevent bullying. The website provides a map with detailed information on state laws and policies, interactive webisodes and videos for young people, practical strategies for schools and communities to ensure safe environments, and suggestions on how parents can talk about this sensitive subject with their children.
http://www.hhs.gov/news/press/2012pres/03/20120330b.html
Vt. routinely violates law on moving mentally ill
Houston Chronicle
April 1, 2012
MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) - Mentally ill Vermonters who are involuntarily put in state care are still mostly being moved from place to place in shackles, seven years after the state decreed that they should be transported with "the least restrictive means necessary," according to documents and interviews.http://www.chron.com/default/article/Vt-routinely-violates-law-on-moving-mentally-ill-3451001.php
Virginia plans changes in prisoner isolation process
Washington Post
April 1, 2012
...The state will appoint a team of experts to examine each prisoner and design personalized case plans, add more levels of review before inmates are placed in solitary confinement, and transfer some inmates to a nearby prison, the officials said in advance of a formal announcement.http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/dc-politics/virginia-plans-changes-in-prisoner-isolation-process/2012/03/30/gIQAMzpFmS_story.html
HEALTHCARE REFORM
Are all mandates equal? Other federal health care requirements raise questions for high court
Washington Post
April 2, 2012
WASHINGTON - The individual insurance requirement that the Supreme Court is reviewing isn't the first federal mandate involving health care. There's a Medicare payroll tax on workers and employers, for example, and a requirement that hospitals provide free emergency services to indigents. Health care is full of government dictates, some arguably more intrusive than President Barack Obama's overhaul law. It's a wrinkle that has caught the attention of the justices. Most of the mandates apply to providers such as hospitals and insurers. ... One mandate affects just about everybody: Workers must pay a tax to finance Medicare, which collects about $200 billion a year.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/federal_government/are-all-mandates-equal-other-federal-health-care-requirements-raise-questions-for-high-court/2012/04/02/gIQAJj8JqS_story.html
Health Exchanges Have Fans in Some States
Wall Street Journal
March 30, 2012
A handful of states say they are planning to press ahead and voluntarily implement a key part of the 2010 federal health-care law even if it is wiped out by the Supreme Court. ... The health-care overhaul requires that all states have a new insurance exchange where consumers can comparison-shop for policies. The exchanges, set to take effect in 2014, are one of the most popular parts of the new law. States can run their own exchanges or let the federal government do it for them.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304177104577314030983468536.html
Officials ponder how to ensure healthcare reform in California
Los Angeles Times
April 1, 2012
As doubts grow about the survival of the federal healthcare law, state officials are considering ways to keep key elements of the legislation alive in California. ...Even if the whole law is scrapped nationally, many of its consumer protections, such as guaranteed coverage for children, are expected to survive in California. But a massive expansion of coverage for the poor and the uninsured would be doubtful without tens of billions of dollars in federal aid.
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-0402-healthcare-law-calif-20120402,0,2720251.story
OPINIONS
Dallas needs group homes standards
Dallas Morning News
March 30, 2012
The situation in group homes in Dallas often varies from house to house. Some provide decent food, kitchens, bedrooms and caring staff for their residents, most of whom suffer from drug addiction or mental disabilities of one kind or another. The residents in those facilities usually stay for a long time, and the homes become like their families. But other homes offer meager quarters, minimal kitchens, few services and staff who would just as soon work someplace else. Those facilities are also the ones where you hear tales about drug abuse and violence. No wonder their residents clamor to find other places to live, even if it's on the streets. ... City officials and Griggs now are ironing out a set of regulations that he wants the council's housing committee to consider and pass to the full City Council this month.
http://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/editorials/20120330-editorial-dallas-needs-group-homes-standards.ece
As the Supreme Court took up the Affordable Care Act this week, the Texas congressional delegation did its best to save us from a lifetime of tyranny
Texas Observer
March 30, 2012
The Texas Republican congressional delegation has always put the health of Texans first, as evidenced by its consistent opposition to expanding the Children's Health Insurance Program, funding Medicaid and protecting women's health. ...In the meantime, be grateful that your Texas representatives in Congress are fighting for you by fighting against the tyranny and oppression inherent in the Affordable Health Care Act. You can thank them when your insurance company drops you.
http://www.texasobserver.org/capitolletters/handle-without-care
After the mandate, government-run health care would grow
CNN
April 2, 2012
... The famous individual mandate is just one piece of the new health care law enacted in 2010. Take away the mandate, and here are two principal elements left behind: -- A huge expansion of the Medicaid program. ... -- Tough new rules on insurance companies. Now let's war-game what happens post-mandate. 1. The private insurance market will crash in a spectacular train wreck. ... 2. The Medicaid program will grow. ...3. Meanwhile, the Medicare time bomb will continue to tick.
http://www.cnn.com/2012/04/02/opinion/frum-government-health-care/index.html?iref=allsearch
RESEARCH
Postpartum depression tied to domestic violence
Chicago Tribune
March 29, 2012
Mothers with postpartum depression are more likely to be in a violent relationship than moms without depression, and new mothers in abusive relationships are more likely to suffer postpartum depression, according to a new survey of women with infants.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/health/sns-rt-us-postpartumbre82s16n-20120329,0,955450.story
Link between PTSD and violent behavior is weak
Washington Post
March 31, 2012
Post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury can increase a person's anger and hostility and diminish his or her self-control. But the link between those disorders and outright violent behavior is weak and hard to pin down with certainty.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/link-between-ptsd-and-violent-behavior-is-weak/2012/03/31/gIQApYFZnS_story.html
Obstructive Sleep Apnea May Be Linked to Depression
HealthDay
March 30, 2012
There appears to be a link between the common sleep disorder known as obstructive sleep apnea and major depression, a new study suggests.
http://consumer.healthday.com/Article.asp?AID=663229
Link Between Fast Food and Depression Confirmed
ScienceDaily
March 30, 2012
A new study along the same lines as its predecessors shows how eating fast food is linked to a greater risk of suffering from depression. This study has been published in the Public Health Nutrition journal.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/03/120330081352.htm
FEATURES & RESOURCES
National Mental Health Consumers' Self-Help Clearinghouse Key Update
March 29, 2012
In this issue:
- SAMHSA Is Seeking Nominations for Voice Awards
- Deadline Approaches for Workshop Proposals for MHA's Annual Conference
- TU Collaborative Seeks Mothers with a Psychiatric Diagnosis for Research Study
- "Two Years In, A Consumer Guide to Health Reform Law" Clears Up Complex Questions
- Mental Health America Offers "Dialogue for Recovery" Website
- "Give an Hour" Seeks Mental Health Professionals to Donate Time to Help Veterans and Families
- Free Tool Helps Promote Student Mental Health and Prevent Suicide
- Participants Sought for Teleconference on Connecting Peers with Communities of Faith
- Altered States of the Arts Website Launches New Features
- SAMHSA Appoints New Director of the Office of Policy, Planning and Innovation
- Research Brief on "Discourse Analysis" Available for Free Download
- Robert Whitaker, Jim Gottstein and Jackie McKinney to Speak in Philadelphia on May 6, 2012
- You Are Invited to a Monthly National Networking Teleconference!
- Do You Operate, or Know of, a Warm Line?
- Consumer-Driven Services Directory
http://www.mhselfhelp.org/pubs/newsletter_view.php?newsletter_id=90
Home Front: Soldiers Become Civilians Again
KERA News
March 31, 2012
... Before soldiers can go home, the Army has to check them out and say they're OK. ...Newsome doesn't ignore the big issues like PTSD or depression. Over the past couple of years, the Army has put a heavier focus on mental health - especially in the demobilization process. Newsome says these war wounds should be treated like any other.
http://keranews.org/post/home-front-soldiers-become-civilians-again
Airlines and Mental Health: Issues to Think About
NAMI blog news
March 29, 2012
The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) today released the following statement concerning the recent incidents aboard American Airlines and JetBlue flights: ...The incidents have raised concerns about public safety and mental health issues in aviation and other workplace settings. To-date, there is no information confirming that mental illness was involved in the JetBlue incident. There are many potential causes of sudden changes in behavior, ranging from diabetes to medication side effects to extreme sleep deprivation. Because of this, a thorough assessment is essential for anyone experiencing a rapid change in behavior. Nonetheless, there are broad points and principles that are relevant for discussion by the public.
http://www.nami.org/Template.cfm?Section=Whats_New43&template=/ContentManagement/ContentDisplay.cfm&ContentID=136991
PHILANTHROPY
Drexel University Receives $1.5 Million for Autism Institute
Philanthropy News Digest
April 1, 2012
Drexel University has announced a gift of $1.5 million from the Charles and Barbara Close Foundation in Radnor, Pennsylvania, to help establish the A.J. Drexel Autism Institute. The gift from the Close Foundation, whose founder was a Drexel alumnus, will help the institute recruit faculty and develop new facilities, including dedicated clinical and lab space, offices, and public areas.
http://foundationcenter.org/pnd/news/story.jhtml;jsessionid=LPN1JHLH0L5DZLAQBQ4CGW15AAAACI2F?id=375400006
