Hogg Foundation for Mental Health News and Grants
September, 2011
| Today's Clips - September 29, 2011
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HOGG FOUNDATION
The one year anniversary of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act
Hogg Blog
September 29, 2011
After a year-long struggle, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act was passed by the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives and then amended by the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010. The intended purpose of the law was to insure the uninsured, decrease Medicare spending, expand Medicaid and allow for the inclusion of preexisting conditions. This past week, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services released a report outlining the law's successes. How has this law affected you?
TEXAS NEWS
SAMHSA announces grants awards totaling up to $13.2 million to build on Health Information Technology investments
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
September 23, 2011
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) is announcing up to $13.2 million in new grants to support the expansion of health information technology (HIT) in health care settings that serve people with mental and substance use disorders. Montrose Counseling Center in Houston received $200,000.
http://www.samhsa.gov/newsroom/advisories/1109231204.aspx
Data breach exposes 4.9 million Tricare patients
San Antonio Express-News
September 29, 2011
One of the Pentagon's largest contractors said late Wednesday it had discovered a data breach affecting as many as 4.9 million patients who have received care from military facilities in San Antonio since 1992.
http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/military/article/Tricare-patient-data-exposed-2194067.php
'Aversive' procedures ruffle feathers in KISD
Katy Times
September 29, 2011
Residents concerned about the treatment of special education students in Katy Independent School District asked for the board's consideration of an alleged case of abuse at Exley Elementary as evidence for a new plan of treatment of special education students. ..."The vast majority of education and mental health professionals agree that these techniques are not therapeutic, evidence-based practices," Phillips said. "They are not an effective means to calm or teach children, and ... cause loss of skills or regression."
http://katytimes.com/news/article_59aac256-e9e9-11e0-b127-001cc4c03286.html
Serious Juvenile Offenses Spark Counseling Need
News West 9 - Midland
September 28, 2011
MIDLAND COUNTY - With only one regular counseling service that Midland County Juvenile Probation officers can rely on, getting the more than 100 kids they see back on the straight and narrow is getting harder and harder. Not only that, officers are seeing a rise in more serious offenses. ....Now officers are seeking a contract with the Midland Centers for Children and Families to help them.
http://www.newswest9.com/story/15574423/serious-juvenile-offenses-spark-counseling-need
Budget Cuts Hit Home: A clinic in Gonzales struggles to deal with Texas' health care cuts
Texas Tribune
September 29, 2011
... Caldwell's clinic is run by Community Health Centers of South Central Texas, a nonprofit with an $8 million budget that runs three full-service rural clinics, as well as the Women's Wellness Center. With so much less money from the state, the clinics will almost certainly have to reduce services.
http://www.texasobserver.org/cover-story/budget-cuts-hit-home
School mentors Hispanic medical students; UTHSC med school, students extend a helping hand from outset
San Antonio Express-News
September 28, 2011
... From the breakfast and LMSA itself, to the number of minority faculty members, to early acceptance programs for students graduating from area universities, the local medical school makes great efforts to attract, support and mentor its Hispanic student body through the grueling, four-year medical program.
Soldiers Testify Leaders Ignored Concerns About Stovall
KCENTV
September 28, 2011
FORT HOOD - SGT David A. Salas was so worried about his soldier's mental state that he approached his first sergeant a dozen times. Nothing was ever done. Salas knew from the first time he met PFC Carl T. Stovall III in the spring of 2008 that something "didn't seem right." Aside from his odd behavior, he was late 50 percent of the time, his uniform was always out of sorts and his temper was out of control.
http://www.kcentv.com/story/15574278/soldiers-made-leaders-aware-of-stovalls-problems-nothing-done
NATIONAL NEWS
As State Issues Layoff Notices, Union's Leaders Stand by Vote Against a Contract
New York Times
September 28, 2011
LATHAM, N.Y. - ... The hardest-hit agencies would be the Office of Mental Health, with 643 layoffs; the Department of Correctional Services, with 446; and the Office for People With Developmental Disabilities, with 386.
Mental-Health Firm, State Battle Over $4 Million
News Service of Florida
September 28, 2011
Contending that not enough money was spent on patient care, the state Agency for Health Care Administration is trying to recoup $4 million from a firm that manages Medicaid mental-health services.
http://www.sunshinestatenews.com/story/mental-health-firm-state-battle-over-4-million
California's New Prison Policy Has Some Skeptics
NPR
September 29, 2011
... Starting in October, the state will redirect tens of thousands of nonviolent felons away from state prisons to local facilities. The state's plan is called "realignment." It shifts certain functions from the state to the counties, says Barry Krisberg, who teaches criminal justice at the University of California, Berkeley, law school. "It covers not only criminal justice, but it covers child welfare, mental health, jobs programs," he said, "and it's the largest shift that we've ever seen in the state's history."
http://www.npr.org/2011/09/29/140901846/californias-new-prison-policy-has-some-skeptics
Study: Closing Chester Mental Health Center would cost $45 million to economy
Bellville News Democrat (Illinois)
September 27, 2011
CHESTER -- ... Chester is the state's only maximum-security mental health center. The center is a forensic unit, meaning it houses criminal defendants who were found not guilty by reason of insanity or mentally unfit to stand trial. It has about 250 beds and is next to Menard Correctional Center in Randolph County.
http://www.bnd.com/2011/09/27/1877468/study-closing-chester-mental-health.html
Michigan to close Mound prison in Detroit
Chicago Tribune
September 29, 2011
... In another cost-cutting move, the department plans to accept bids to explore letting private companies run Woodland Center Correctional Facility in Whitmore Lake and the prison health care and mental health care systems. Woodland houses prisoners with serious mental health issues and employs 346 people. ... Mel Grieshaber, executive director of the Michigan Corrections Organization, said he was shocked the state's considering hiring a private contractor to run Woodland Center, which houses some of the state's most dangerous and mentally volatile prisoners.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-ap-mi-prisonclosing-mic,0,3515048.story
Mentally ill inmates languish in local jails
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
September 29, 2011
Detention Officer Terroyanne Harris considers the inmates she oversees on 3 North as much patient as prisoner. They suffer from schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, post-traumatic stress and other mental illnesses. Some walk aimlessly around their cell block. Some are lost in hallucinations. Most are in the Fulton County jail because they are more of a nuisance than a danger in the free world.
http://www.ajc.com/news/mentally-ill-inmates-languish-1190801.html
Proposed Milwaukee County mental health funding up; 2012 Abele budget has $3 million more for community care
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
September 29, 2011
Milwaukee County Executive Chris Abele's 2012 budget includes a $3 million increase to bolster community mental health care and lay the groundwork for a future downsizing of the Mental Health Complex. ... The idea for a new building bubbled to the surface in 2010, when 12 county supervisors and then-County Executive Scott Walker endorsed it. That followed publication of a series of articles in the Journal Sentinel, "Patients in Peril," that told of botched care at the complex.
http://www.jsonline.com/news/milwaukee/130744853.html
Poll: Young people say online meanness pervasive
Austin American-Statesman
September 27, 2011
WASHINGTON - ... A new Associated Press-MTV poll of youth in their teens and early 20s finds that most of them - 56 percent - have been the target of some type of online taunting, harassment or bullying, a slight increase over just two years ago.
With NY teen's suicide come spotlight, caution
Austin American-Statesman
September 28, 2011
BUFFALO, N.Y. - ... But what the incomplete and conflicting portrait of Rodemeyer's life did not convey were the complexities of the teenage mind and the reality that bullying is rarely the sole factor at work. It also highlighted the risk of creating an icon at the price of glamorizing suicide as an option for other bullied or attention-seeking teens.
Recent state anti-bullying laws: http://www.statesman.com/news/nation/a-look-at-recent-state-anti-bullying-laws-1885048.html?cxtype=rss_ece_frontpage
Pa. high court: Killer not competent for execution
Austin American Statesman
September 28, 2011
HARRISBURG, Pa. - A man convicted of murdering 13 people in northeastern Pennsylvania nearly three decades ago is mentally incompetent to be executed, Pennsylvania's highest court ruled Wednesday. ... The Supreme Court invoked "extraordinary jurisdiction" over the case because of the lack procedural rules for handling such case - a problem that Banks' lawyer said the latest ruling should help relieve.
Judge allows further treatment of Tucson shooting suspect
Los Angeles Times
September 29, 2011
A psychologist says Jared Lee Loughner, accused of killing six people and wounding 13, including Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, has made progress and shown remorse.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-jared-loughner-20110929,0,4016229.story
HEALTHCARE REFORM
Justice Dept. asks Supreme Court to review health-care law
Washington Post
September 28, 2011
The Obama administration moved aggressively Wednesday for Supreme Court review of the 2010 health-care act, making it likely a constitutional ruling on the president's signature and most controversial domestic achievement will come in the thick of the presidential campaign.
HHS Announces Coordinated Care Initiative
Kaiser Health News
September 28, 2011
If the Department of Health and Human Services has its way, hundreds of physician practices will follow the money and take up a coordinated model of health care. The Comprehensive Primary Care Initiative, announced Wednesday, will increase Medicare payments to primary care providers who adopt a coordinated care model. A four-year demonstration, overseen by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, begins next year in several health care markets.
http://capsules.kaiserhealthnews.org/index.php/2011/09/hhs-announces-coordinated-care-initiative/
Link to HHS news release: http://www.hhs.gov/news/press/2011pres/09/20110928a.html
Florida CHIP Program 'Treading Water'
Kaiser Health News
September 29, 2011
Despite the tough economy, Florida's Children's Health Insurance Program added just 2,000 children in the year ended June 30, for a growth rate of less than 1 percent. Among school-age kids, the program added just 700 children. Before last year, the Florida CHIP program was growing by about 8 percent a year.
http://capsules.kaiserhealthnews.org/index.php/2011/09/florida-chip-program-treading-water//
N.C. Insurer Invests $15M In Docs' Health IT
Kaiser Health News
September 28, 2011
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina planned to announce Wednesday that the insurer will spend $15 million to arm as many as 750 physicians in the state with state-of-the-art electronic medical records.
http://capsules.kaiserhealthnews.org/index.php/2011/09/n-c-insurer-invests-15m-in-docs-health-it/
OPINIONS
Budget trickery worsens in shortfall year
Austin American-Statesman
September 29, 2011
... Technically, these dollars don't get spent on other programs. But by sitting there unspent, they allow the state to show on paper that it has enough money to pay for the amount it budgets for education, health care and other high-cost programs. The problem for lawmakers is that there's no easy way out of this situation. Their first option, the one they have been choosing, is to let the money pile up.
http://www.statesman.com/news/texas-politics/budget-trickery-worsens-in-shortfall-year-1885238.html
Help stop waste, fraud in state government
San Antonio Express-News
September 29, 2011
...With budget cuts in many areas of state government, it is more important than ever for Texans who suspect or know of waste and fraud to report it. Among the most common complaints I hear is fraud or waste in health and human services programs. This includes Medicaid, the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP), and the food stamp program, now called SNAP. It may also include mental health and substance abuse services and Medicaid providers.
Healthcare's rising costs
Los Angeles Times
September 29, 2011
AB 52 would enable California regulators to examine insurers' cost projections and, if they're excessive, reject any proposed premium increases.
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/opinionla/la-ed-health-20110929,0,5878815.story
RESEARCH
Practice-based research meet set for Oct. 22 in S.A.
San Antonio Express News
September 29, 2011
South Texas health care clinicians who are pursuing research based on observations in their practices will convene Oct. 22 in San Antonio for the third annual Practice-Based Research Network Convocation, called "Discovering the Power and Potential of Translational Research." ... Community clinicians, academic investigators, medical students and health professionals, along with interested patients, are invited to attend.
Happiness should be a top government priority, expert says
Los Angeles Times
September 29, 2011
... There's a growing movement among economists and other researchers to make the psychological well-being of citizens a major government priority. The first step, they say, is to come up with a way to measure a nation's happiness. Ideally they'd like to be able to boil it all down into a single statistic that will resonate with voters - think of it as a mental health equivalent of GDP or the unemployment rate.
http://www.latimes.com/health/boostershots/la-heb-happiness-statistic-20110928,0,4554373.story
Remitted BD patients have high levels of social anxiety
MedWire News
September 29, 2011
Patients with bipolar disorder (BD) who are in remission have high levels of social anxiety, which is associated with self-stigmatization and low self-esteem, say Turkish researchers.
Mortality rates increased among ATPD patients
MedWire News
September 29, 2011
Patients with acute and transient psychotic disorders (ATPD) have increased all-cause mortality rates compared with the general population, research shows. This excess mortality among ATPD patients was particularly high for suicide, note Augusto Castagnini (University of Cambridge, UK) and Aksel Bertelsen (Aarhus Psychiatric University Hospital, Risskov, Denmark) in the journal Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology.
http://www.medwire-news.md/47/94882/Psychiatry/Mortality_rates_increased_among_ATPD_patients.html
FEATURES & RESOURCES
National Alliance on Mental Illness plans mental health forum
Lubbock Avalanche-Journal
September 28, 2011
The National Alliance on Mental Illness Lubbock will host a public forum, "Our Mental Health Community," with representatives of the various agencies, hospitals and clinics Oct. 4 at noon at the Texas Tech Health Sciences Center.
National Council Invites Applications for a Co-Occurring Disorder Learning Community
National Council for Community Behavioral Healthcare
September 29, 2011
The National Council for Community Behavioral Healthcare, in partnership with MTM Services and Hazelden, is pleased to announce the launch of the Co-Occurring Disorder Learning Community. This exciting initiative is an opportunity for mental health and substance use organizations to improve care for individuals with co-occurring mental health and substance use disorders. Through this learning community, participating organizations will enhance their ability to provide effective integrated and comprehensive care.
National Council Magazine Directs National Attention on Trauma
National Council for Community Behavioral Healthcare
September 27, 2011
Washington, DC-The National Council for Community Behavioral Healthcare issued a magazine devoted entirely to 'trauma-informed behavioral healthcare' to direct national attention to trauma's pervasiveness and impact on individuals' recovery from mental illnesses and addictions. Trauma has profound implications for mental health and addictions care, and trauma-informed behavioral health services and systems are at the epicenter of healing for trauma victims.
http://www.thenationalcouncil.org/cs/about_us/national_council_magazine
I AM H·E·R·E News
I AM H·E·R·E Coalition
September 2011
In this issue:
- Bullying Conference Draws Crowd
- School-Based Screening Effective
- Mental Illness Leading Cause of Adolescent Disability
- Suicide Prevention Legislation Implementation
- ADHD and Writing Difficulty
- TeenAge Communication Theatre
http://www.iamherecoalition.org/newsletters/vol3no4.html
PHILANTHROPY
Charity Fundraising Saw No Change During First Half of 2011, Report Finds
Philanthropy News Digest
September 29, 2011
During the first half of 2011, fewer than half of surveyed nonprofits reported fundraising increases year-over-year, a report from the Nonprofit Research Collaborative finds.