HealthDay (11/15, Gray) reports, “The National Athletic Trainers’ Association (NATA) estimates that about one in four US youths meets the criteria for having a” psychiatric disorder. Recently, “to help professionals working with college athletes recognize and refer students with psychological issues, the NATA…published guidelines in the Journal of Athletic Training” that underscore “the need to take away the stigma of mental health issues and teach people working with student-athletes how to spot psychological concerns early.”

Related Links:

— “Even Football Heroes Can Be Laid Low by Depression, “Barbara Bronson Gray, HealthDay, November 14, 2013.

HealthDay (11/14, Preidt) reports that, according to research presented at an autism policy summit, US “adults with autism face a shortage of housing and support services.” After polling some 10,000 people, including 400 people with autism and their caregivers, researchers found that “more than 84 percent of caregivers said they had an adult with autism living at home, and only 24 percent of those adults were currently on a waiting list to receive housing and” services for residential support. About “70 percent of caregivers said they did not have outside help to care for their loved ones with autism; and more than half of caregivers said they need assistance.”

Related Links:

— “U.S. Adults With Autism May Face Housing Crisis, “Robert Preidt, HealthDay, November 13, 2013.

Reuters (11/14, Seaman) reports that according to a study published online Nov. 13 in JAMA Psychiatry, the risk for depression in women may fall after they undergo natural menopause. Researchers arrived at this conclusion after following 203 women ranging in age from 35 to 48 from 1996 through 2010. At study start, the women had not experienced menopause, and about 40 percent of them displayed some depressive symptoms. Two years after menopause, the risk for depression lowered considerably. The study authors noted that women’s scores for depression appeared to be tied to hormone levels.

Related Links:

— “Depression risk may fall after women’s periods end, “Andrew Seaman, Reuters, November 13, 2013.

An analysis piece published in the Journal of the American Medical Association contradicts the perception that an aging population is responsible for raising US healthcare costs. Rather, the analysis points to the burden of chronic diseases, not just in seniors but also in people under the age of 65. The analysis also reveals that despite the huge amounts of money it spends on healthcare, the US system lags behind healthcare systems in other countries in producing better outcomes.

Bloomberg News (11/13, Pettypiece) reports that, according to an analysis piecepublished in the Nov. 13 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association, “the $2.7 trillion US health-care system lags behind other nations in improving its citizens’ health even as spending has doubled, increasing faster than any other industry over the past decade.”

Related Links:

— “Health Gains in U.S. Slow Even as Costs Rise, Study Finds, “Shannon Pettypiece, Bloomberg News, November 12, 2013.

The AP (11/12, Baldor) reports that, according to officials from the Department of Defense, US military suicides across all branches of the service “have dropped by more than 22 percent this year.” The drop has occurred “amid an array of new programs targeting what the Defense Department calls an epidemic that took more service members’ lives last year than the war in Afghanistan did during that same period.” Nevertheless, officials with the military expressed reluctance “to pin the decline on the broad swath of detection and prevention efforts, acknowledging that they still don’t fully understand why troops take their own lives,” particularly since some suicides occur in service members who have never been deployed to battle.

Modern Healthcare (11/12, Robeznieks, Subscription Publication) reports that the American Psychiatric Association (APA) “says moves by UnitedHealthcare and other insurance companies to drop physicians from Medicare Advantage networks may impede the Obama administration’s goals for healthcare reform.” In aletter (pdf) to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, the APA, along with 80 other physician groups, wrote, “The timing of the network modifications, the lack of accurate and reliable information, and lack of network transparency has significant negative ramifications for the administration’s goal of reducing fragmentation of patient care.” The letter cites evidence that the “proposed modification will disrupt long-established patient-physician relationships, interfere with existing physician referral networks, and undermine emergency department coverage in many hospitals.”

Related Links:

— “Apnewsbreak: Military Suicides Drop; Unclear Why, “Lolita C. Baldor, Associated Press, November 11, 2013.

NBC News (11/11, Dahl) reports on a study published in the journal Pediatrics finding that PG-13 movies of recent release “contain more violence than the R-rated films of the 1980s,” with gun violence having “tripled since 1985.” The study was based on a review of “945 popular films released from 1950 to 2012.”

The Washington Post (11/11, Dennis) reports that gun violence in PG-13 movies “more than tripled since the rating was introduced in the mid-1980s.” The reviewers “excluded violence not intended to harm anyone, such as accidents and run-of-the-mill sports aggression.” They concluded that “violence in films had more than doubled since 1950.”

The New York Times (11/11, Cieply, Subscription Publication) reports that gun violence appears “more than twice an hour in the best sellers” in both PG-13- and R-rated movies. The review’s “authors called for changes to the ratings system, which, according to some of its critics, is tougher on sex than on violence.”

Related Links:

— “PG-13 movies are now more violent than R-rated ’80s flicks -study, “Melissa Dahl, NBC News, November 11, 2013.

In a move that garnered extensive media coverage over the weekend, the Washington Post (11/9, Somashekhar) reported that the Obama Administration fulfilled a promise Friday when it issued a final rule on parity in mental health and substance-abuse treatment, a rule long in the making that also is part of the Administration’s response to mass shootings and mental illness. HHS Secretary Sebelius said in announcing the rule Friday, “For way too long, the healthcare system has openly discriminated against Americans with behavioral health problems. In the past, it was legal for insurance companies to treat these disorders differently than medical and surgical needs,” but “we are finally closing those gaps in coverage.” The rule will give patients information on insurance treatment standards and will provide coverage typical of any physical condition for some “gray-area treatments.” The rules will apply to almost all forms of insurance.

APA Applauds Final Rule. Modern Healthcare (11/8, Subscription Publication) reported that advocates for people with mental illnesses praised Friday’s “long-awaited” final rule on the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008 “requiring insurers to cover mental healthcare on the same basis as physical healthcare services.” Modern Healthcare quoted American Psychiatric Association president Jeffrey Lieberman, MD, who said, “The final rule provides a crucial step forward to ensure that patients receive the benefits they deserve and are entitled to under the law.”

Related Links:

— “Insurers directed to treat mental health issues the same as physical ailments, “Sandhya Somashekhar, The Washington Post, November 8, 2013.

Medscape (11/8, Brauser) reports that, according to a 30-study review published in the November issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, “even low levels of physical activity may reduce the risk of developing depression.” In fact, 25 of the “30 large studies examined in the systematic review, which included participants between the ages of 11 and 100 years” found “a ‘negative risk’…between baseline physical activity (PA) and the future development of depression.”

Today, the Obama Administration is expected to issue its long-anticipated and final regulations defining parity in mental health benefits and treatment. Only one major newspaper, the New York Times, has covered the story. The Times is also the only source pointing out how the Administration believes the new parity regulations to be essential to the President’s program to counteract gun violence, saying that better access to mental health treatment may help reduce shootings and mass murders.

In a 1,300-word article on its front page, the New York Times (11/8, A1, Calmes, Pear, Subscription Publication) reports that today, the Obama Administration “will complete a generation-long effort to require insurers to cover care for mental health and addiction just like physical illnesses when it issues long-awaited regulations defining parity in benefits and treatment.” An unnamed senior official said, “Here we’re doing full parity, and we’ve also taken steps to extend it to the people covered in the Affordable Care Act.” What’s more, the White House, according to the Times, sees the regulations “as critical to President Obama’s program for curbing gun violence by addressing an issue on which there is bipartisan agreement: Making treatment more available to those with mental illness could reduce killings, including mass murders.”

Related Links:

— “Rules to Require Equal Coverage for Mental Ills, “Jackie Calmes, The New York Times, November 8, 2013.

Several media outlets are reporting on projections that the United States is likely to face a shortage of physicians in coming years, attributable in part to the Affordable Care Act.

Reuters (11/5, Seaman) reports on a study that indicates that the United States will need more physicians by 2025. The additional doctors will be needed to account for three factors: the US population overall is projected to grow 9.5% by 2025, the population is getting older, and the Affordable Care Act will increase the utilization of medical services. The report was published in the journal Health Affairs. The severity of the shortage will vary based on doctor specialty and part of the country.

Related Links:

— “Doctor demand will grow by up to a third by 2025 – study, “Andrew Seaman, Reuters, November 4, 2013.