The Hill (9/9, Disipio) reported that on Sept. 9, “members of the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health pushed for insurers to do more to ensure parity so that those with mental health or substance abuse issues don’t face tougher obstacles to receiving care as those with other medical conditions.” According to The Hill, “Since the passage of the Mental Health Parity Act of 1996, Congress has pressed to improve upon making mental health and substance use treatment as accessible as other treatments.” Meanwhile, lawmakers in the Senate “are still struggling to reach a deal” on mental healthcare reform legislation.

Related Links:

— “Lawmakers push insurers on mental health access,” Joe DiSipio, The Hill, September 9, 2016.

The AP (9/8, Murphy) reports on persistent “glaring differences in insurance coverage” for children with autism, amputees, “and others in need of certain expensive treatments even after the Affordable Care Act set new standards as part of its push to expand and improve coverage.” The article says these disparities “stem from random factors like what state someone lives in or who happens to provide their coverage – and often people can do nothing about it,” because the ACA allows states and employers to determine what should be covered. According to the AP, these differences can result in significant debt for patients, or they can push consumers to skip medical care.

Related Links:

— “WHY INSURANCE DENIES YOUR CLAIM, BUT PAYS YOUR NEIGHBOR’S,” TOM MURPHY, Associated Press, September 8, 2016.

Healio (9/8, Oldt) reports researchers found “insufficient evidence for accuracy of depression screening tools for major depressive disorder [MDD] in children and adolescents.” The findings of the 17-study review were published online May 27 in the Canadian Journal of Psychiatry.

Related Links:

— “Study questions accuracy of depression screening tools for youth,” Healio, September 8, 2016.

Healio (9/8, Oldt) reports, “Cognitive impairment was common among individuals who responded to the attacks on the World Trade Center,” researchers found after evaluating “818 responders who reported for annual monitoring visits.” The findings, which were published earlier this year in Alzheimer’s & Dementia: Diagnosis, Assessment & Disease Monitoring, suggest an association between post-traumatic stress disorder and cognitive impairment.

Related Links:

— “Analysis of World Trade Center responders shows link between trauma, cognitive impairment,” Healio, September 8, 2016.

HealthDay (9/7, Preidt) reports, “The more ads for a brand of alcohol that underage drinkers see, the more likely they are to consume that product,” researchers found after asking some 1,000 13- to 20-year-old participants “who said they’d had alcohol in the past month” a number of questions on drinking and television viewing habits. The findings were published online Sept. 7 in the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs.

Related Links:

— “TV Booze Ads a Lubricant for Teen Drinking: Study,” Robert Preidt, HealthDay, September 7, 2016.