Category Archives: In The News

AMA chairwoman urges insurers to expand coverage for opioid addiction

Patrice A. Harris, MD, chairwoman of the American Medical Association, writes in a letter to the editor of the Hartford (CT) Courant (8/1) that the AMA concurs “with Aetna medical officer Dr. Mark Friedlander that we need to increase access to medication-assisted treatment for patients with substance use disorders.”

She says the AMA is also urging “Aetna, Cigna and all other payers in Connecticut to remove barriers to evidence-based care, including limits on physical therapy, cognitive behavioral therapy, psychiatric care and other multimodal therapies that may be appropriate.”

Harris adds that in order to effectively combat the opioid epidemic, “physicians must continue to play an active role in treating our patients using evidence-based care, and that also means insurance policies must provide our patients with the benefits, coverage and access necessary for that care.”

Related Links:

— “AMA: Insurers Must Broaden Opioid Addiction Coverage,” Patrice A. Harris, M.D., , August 1, 2016.

Seniors Living Alone Describe Health Very Good More Than Those Living With Others

Kaiser Health News (7/29, Bluth) reported a new study exploring the connection between older people’s health and their living arrangements published recently in the Journal of Applied Gerontology found that “people over 65 who live alone were more likely to describe their health as excellent or very good than were seniors who live with others.” The study’s results notwithstanding, the researchers said they were unable to draw any conclusion “about whether keeping a solitary household in old age leads to a longer life.”

Related Links:

— “Seniors Who Live Alone Likeliest To Rate Their Health Highly, Study Says,” Rachel Bluth, Kaiser Health News, July 29, 2016.

WPost Hails Maryland Plan For Mental Health Courts As An “Excellent Idea.”

In an editorial, the Washington Post (7/31) observed that the number of people with mental illnesses “in many detention facilities – local jails, especially – has been soaring, forcing the institutions into the role of treatment centers, for which they are unprepared.” To prevent strain on its jail and to stop incarcerating people with mental illness “who commit relatively minor crimes,” Montgomery County, MD “is moving swiftly to establish mental-health courts.” The goal “is to divert qualified defendants charged with nonviolent crimes…from jail to supervised treatment regimens.” The Post hailed the plan as an “excellent idea.”

Related Links:

— “A step forward for mentally ill defendants,” Editorial Board, Washington Post, July 31, 2016.

Locked Wards Appear Not To Reduce Suicide Attempts, Unauthorized Absence

MedPage Today (7/29, Harris) reported, “Locked inpatient wards do not reduce suicide attempts or unauthorized absence among patients with mental illness,” researchers found after conducting “a 15-year observational study of approximately 145,000 cases.” The findings were published online July 28 in The Lancet Psychiatry. An accompanying commentary “agreed that ‘the authors are surely justified in concluding that locked doors do not seem to provide the anticipated protection.’”

Related Links:

— “Locked inpatient wards do not reduce suicide attempts,” Scott Harris, MedPage Today, July 29, 2016.

Insurers Accused Of Finding Ways To Avoid Covering Mental Health Conditions

Kaiser Health News (7/28, Dembosky) reports that some 43 million people in the US “suffer from depression, anxiety and other mental health conditions,” according to data from the Federal government, but more than 50 percent of those “who felt like they needed help last year, never got it.” Even those with insurance “complained of barriers to care.” The article says the 2008 Mental Health Parity Act and the Affordable Care Act were supposed to address this problem. Under the laws, insurers must provide comparable benefits for mental health and physical health conditions. Yet, “advocates say insurance companies are still finding ways to keep people who need care from getting it.”

Related Links:

— “Single Mom’s Search For Therapist Foiled By Insurance Companies,” April Dembosky, Kaiser Health News, July 28, 2016.

Inpatient Psychiatric Facilities To Receive $100 Million Medicare Raise Next Year

Modern Healthcare (7/28, Dickson, Subscription Publication) reports inpatient psychiatric facilities will see a 2.2 percent increase in Medicare reimbursement, a “$100 million raise” that exceeds the 1.5 percent or $80 million increase they received this year. According the most recent federal data available, Medicare payments to inpatient psychiatric facilities were estimated to be $4.4 billion in 2012, up from $3.9 billion in 2008. Facilities should expect an increase in Medicaid payments in 2017 “now that a 50-year ban on mental health institutions was successfully repealed earlier this year.”

Related Links:

— “Psych facilities get $100 million Medicare raise next year,” Virgil Dickson, Modern Healthcare, July 28, 2016.

Healthy Lifestyle Best Alzheimer’s Defense, Studies Show

USA Today (7/27, Weintraub) reports several new studies presented at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference in Toronto confirmed that “living a healthy, non-smoking, socially active and interesting life remains the best way to prevent dementia.” Moreover, research shows there are currently no “medications that can prevent the fatal disease, or extend the lives of the more than 5 million Americans currently suffering from Alzheimer’s.”

Related Links:

— “Best way to combat Alzheimer’s is a healthy lifestyle, studies show,” Karen Weintraub, USA Today, July 28, 2016.

People In Affluent Countries More Likely To Suffer From PTSD

The Guardian (UK) (7/27, Boseley) reports, “People living in affluent countries are more likely to suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder than those in poorer nations,” researchers found. The large study revealed that “Canada has the highest levels of PTSD, followed by the Netherlands, Australia, the US and New Zealand,” while “the lowest levels were found in Nigeria, China and Romania.” The findings were published in the July issue of the British Journal of Psychiatry.

Related Links:

— “PTSD more likely to affect people in affluent countries, scientists say,” Sarah Boseley, The Guardian, July 27, 2016.

Study of Teen Brains Offers Clues to Timing of Mental Illness

HealthDay (7/27, Preidt) reports, “Changes that occur in teens’ brains as they mature may help explain why the first signs of mental illness tend to appear during this time,” a magnetic resonance imaging scan study suggests. Investigators found not only that the “cortex becomes thinner” as adolescents grow older, but also that “the brain regions that undergo the greatest changes during the teen years are also where genes associated with schizophrenia risk are most strongly expressed.” The findings of the nearly 300-participant study were published July 25 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science.

Related Links:

— “Study of Teen Brains Offers Clues to Timing of Mental Illness,” Robert Preidt, HealthDay, July 27, 2016.