On CBS News-60 Minutes (12/15), correspondent Scott Pelley reports that two years after the Newtown, CT shooting rampage, “we’ve learned that the killer suffered profound mental illness.” Even though “his parents sought treatment…at least once, their health insurance provider denied payment.” In investigating what some parents have gone through to get their children “psychiatric care,” CBS News “found that the vast majority of claims are routine, but the insurance industry aggressively reviews the cost of chronic cases.”

Forbes (12/15, Japsen) contributor Bruce Japsen points out that “Pelley highlighted several cases where doctors working for insurance companies, including Anthem (ANTM), denied claims by mentally ill patients in need of chronic long-term mental health care.” In addition, Pelley “said ‘60 Minutes’ found the claim denial rate often exceeded 90 percent by Anthem in cases it reviewed.” The segment “pressed the case that many of the cases were chronic and involved the need of patients for long-term care and that it largely came down to costs rather than quality of care provided.”

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— “Denied,” Scott Pelley, CBS News 60 Minutes, December 14, 2014.

HealthDay (12/12, Dotinga) reports that according to a study published in the December issue of the journal Health Affairs, nearly “half of US kids experience traumas that can disrupt their development.” Researchers arrived at this conclusion after “analyzing the results of a 2011-2012 survey of the parents of more than 95,000 children under the age of 17.” The survey focused on children “who experienced several types of trauma, such as living in extreme poverty, seeing their parents divorce, living with someone who was mentally ill or abused drugs/alcohol, having a parent who served time behind bars, or having a parent who died.”

Related Links:

— “http://consumer.healthday.com/kids-health-information-23/misc-kid-s-health-news-435/almost-half-of-u-s-kids-suffer-trauma-that-harms-their-health-for-years-study-694439.html,” Randy Dotinga, HealthDay, December 11, 2014.

The AP (12/12, Eaton-Robb) reports that nearly two years after the Dec. 14, 2012 shootings at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, CT, “the scope of the psychological damage to children, parents and others is becoming clear, and the need for treatment is likely to persist a long time.”

Many townspeople are “reporting substance abuse, relationship troubles, disorganization, depression, overthinking or inability to sleep, all related to the” shooting rampage that cost 27 lives. Various agencies are putting together a long-term support system bolstered by $15 million in grant monies from the US Justice Department and the US Education Department, along with private donations made to the Newtown-Sandy Hook Community Foundation.

The town school system is putting into place a long-term program to help kids come to terms with what has happened. Meanwhile, the town has been consulting with outside experts to put together long-range plans to meet residents’ mental health needs for the next decade and beyond.

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— “IN NEWTOWN, MENTAL HEALTH PROBLEMS STILL EMERGING,” Pat Eaton-Robb, Associated Press, December 11, 2014.

HealthDay (12/11, Preidt) reports on a review of 16 studies by researchers at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, published in the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs, finding that “restricting the number of locations where alcohol can be sold in a community may help reduce domestic violence.” The study considered “the number of alcohol sales outlets, hours of days of alcohol sales, and alcohol pricing/taxes,” but only the number of outlets had a consistent association with “higher rates of domestic violence.”

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— “Fewer Bars and Liquor Stores, Less Domestic Violence: CDC,” Robert Preidt, HealthDay, December 10, 2014.

In continuing coverage, NPR (12/9, Jaffe, Benincasa) reported on its “Morning Edition” program and in its “Shots” blog that restrictions against nursing home residents being prescribed medically unnecessary antipsychotics are rarely enforced. Though they are not FDA-approved for the purpose, antipsychotics are often prescribed to elderly patients as a “chemical restraint” to treat the symptoms of dementia, in violation of the Nursing Home Reform Act. “We haven’t seen any evidence that, in this particular area of antipsychotic drugs, the CMS is taking action against states,” said Toby Edelman, a senior policy attorney with the Center for Medicare Advocacy, referring to the Federal agency in charge of administering Medicare.
Related Links:

— “Nursing Homes Rarely Penalized For Oversedating Patients,” Ina Jaffe and Robert Benincasa, National Public Radio, December 9, 2014.