Healthcare Finance News (8/18, Lagasse) reports, “Overall customer satisfaction with Medicare Advantage plans has increased this year, thanks largely to improvements in billing and payments, cost and provider choice.” However, according to the “J.D. Power 2022 U.S. Medicare Advantage Study, some concerning trends are brewing beneath the surface of those positive numbers.” Specifically, “a majority of Medicare Advantage plan members are saying they don’t have enough coverage for mental health and substance use disorder services.”

Related Links:

— “Medicare Advantage lacking for mental health coverage “Jeff Lagasse, Healthcare Finance News, August 18, 2022

Bloomberg Law (8/18, Subscription Publication) reports, “About $12.4 million in federal funding will go to grants for 99 new coalitions for the Drug-Free Communities Support Program…announced” White House Office of National Drug Control Policy Director Dr. Rahul Gupta. These “coalitions will provide education on illicit fentanyl and counterfeit pills as well as prescription drugs, marijuana, tobacco, and alcohol, the ONDCP said in a Thursday news release.”

Related Links:

— “White House to Fund $12.4 Million in Drug-Free Community Grants, Bloomberg Law, August 18, 2022

Medscape (8/18, Crist, Subscription Publication) reports, “Siblings of children with chronic health conditions could be at an increased risk for depression,” researchers concluded in a 34-study systematic review and meta-analysis, the findings of which were published online July 7 ahead of print in the Journal of Pediatrics.

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— Medscape (requires login and subscription)

mHealth Intelligence (8/17, Melchionna) reports, “While exploring methods for virtually treating older and underserved patients, a study…found that audio-only telehealth produced similar benefits and was not inferior to video-based telehealth.” For the study published in the American Journal of the Medical Sciences, “researchers gathered a diverse group of participants; 43% were Black, and 68% were women,” and “they also considered factors such as age and insurance status when drawing conclusions.”

Related Links:

— “Audio-Only Telehealth Effective in Treating Underserved Patients “Mark Melchionna, mHealth Intelligence, August 17, 2022

MedPage Today (8/17, George) reports, “Up to 2 years after infection, people who had COVID-19 continued to face increased risks of neurologic and psychiatric sequelae compared with people who had other respiratory infections, a retrospective study showed.” The “health records of nearly 1.3 million people…showed that risks of cognitive deficit (brain fog), dementia, psychotic disorders, and epilepsy or seizures were increased at 2 years for adults who had COVID, reported” researchers online in The Lancet Psychiatry. Also, “children who had COVID…were more likely to be diagnosed with neurologic and psychiatric sequelae than their matched counterparts, but their likelihood of most diagnoses was lower than that of adults.”

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— MedPage Today (requires login and subscription)

Psychiatric News (8/17) reports, “New mothers who have a family history of psychiatric disorders appear to have almost double the risk of postpartum depression than new mothers without such a family history,” investigators concluded in a 26-study systematic review and meta-analysis encompassing some 100,877 postpartum women. The findings were published online Aug. 17 in JAMA Psychiatry.

Related Links:

— “Postpartum Depression More Likely in New Moms With Family History of Psychiatric Disorders, Psychiatric News , August 17, 2022

Healio (8/16, Hornick) reports, “Children with vision impairment were more likely to experience symptoms of depression and anxiety, which significantly improved after strabismus surgery, according to a” 36-study systematic review and meta-analysis, the findings of which were published online ahead of print in the journal Ophthalmology.

Related Links:

— “Vision impairment linked with symptoms of depression, anxiety in children “Isabella Hornick , Healio, August 16, 2022

Medscape (8/16, Yasgur, Subscription Publication) reports, “A new ‘comprehensive’ model integrating a variety of factors may help flag individuals at risk for recurrence or persistence of panic disorder (PD),” investigators concluded in a study that “analyzed data for almost 800 patients with DSM-IV-diagnosed” panic disorder. The study revealed that “having a ‘general psychopathology factor,’ defined as the shared effects of all comorbid conditions, or PD liability, significantly and independently predicted three-year recurrence or persistence of PD symptoms.” Additionally, “having a lower physical health-related quality of life…a greater number of stressful life events,” and “not seeking treatment at baseline were…significant and independent predictors.” The findings were published online July 25 in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry.

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— Medscape (requires login and subscription)

HealthDay (8/16, Reinberg) reports, “Methamphetamine is driving an epidemic of drug overdoses in rural America,” researchers concluded in a more than 3,000-participant study attributing “the surge to meth laced with fentanyl or combined with an opioid that contains fentanyl.” The findings were published online Aug. 15 in JAMA Network Open.

Related Links:

— “Meth Plays Big Role in Drug ODs in Rural America “Steven Reinberg, HealthDay, August 16, 2022

MedPage Today (8/15, Monaco) reports, “Use of antipsychotics during pregnancy didn’t negatively impact a child’s intelligence,” investigators concluded in a study that compared “the standardized test scores of over 600,000 Danish schoolchildren.” That study revealed that “average language scores were not significantly different for those born to mothers who filled a prescription for an antipsychotic during pregnancy,” and the same applied to math scores. The findings were published online Aug. 15 in JAMA Internal Medicine.

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— MedPage Today (requires login and subscription)