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How Extreme Weather Changes Affect Mental HealthHow Extreme Weather Changes Affect Mental Health, MP3, 1.0MB
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Latest News Around the Web
Medicare’s new drug price cap goes into effect
The Hill (12/31, Choi ) reported, “A key cost-saving provision of the Inflation Reduction Act goes into effect in the new year, limiting annual out-of-pocket spending on prescription drugs to $2,000 for Medicare beneficiaries.” As of “Jan. 1, 2025, an estimated 19 million Medicare beneficiaries will see their out-of-pocket Medicare Part D spending capped at $2,000 for the year.” The “annual cap will be indexed to the rate of inflation every year going forward.” The Hill added, “An interim spending cap of roughly $3,500 was put in place in 2024.”
Related Links:
— “Medicare’s new drug price cap kicks in Jan. 1,” Joseph Choi, The Hill, December 31, 2024
One-Third Of Americans Have Made New Year’s Resolutions Related To Mental Health Heading Into 2025, Poll Finds
Psychiatric News (12/31) reported, “One-third of Americans (33%) have made New Year’s resolutions related to mental health heading into 2025, according to the latest APA Healthy Minds Monthly poll.” That “represents a 5% increase over last year and the highest rate since APA began polling on this question in 2021.”
Related Links:
— “More Americans Are Making Mental Health Resolutions for 2025,” Psychiatric News, December 31, 2024
Drug Overdose Deaths In San Francisco Plummeted In 2024, Preliminary Data Indicate
The Los Angeles Times (1/1, Wiley ) reports that “drug overdose deaths in San Francisco plummeted in 2024, according to preliminary data compiled by city health officials.” The Times adds, “San Francisco public health experts attributed the decline in fatal drug use in the city to the widespread availability of naloxone…as well as buprenorphine and methadone, prescription medications that treat opioid addiction long-term.”
Related Links:
— “Drug overdose deaths plummet in San Francisco. What’s changed?,” Hannah Wiley, Los Angeles Times, January 1, 2025
Health warning labels on alcohol should include cancer risk warning, Surgeon General says
The Washington Post (1/3, A1, Ho , Nirappil ) reported, “Health warning labels on alcohol should be updated to include a cancer risk warning, the U.S. surgeon general said Friday, adding that recommended limits for alcohol consumption should also be reassessed, given the increased risk of certain cancers.” The consumption of alcohol “is the third-leading preventable cause of cancer in the United States behind tobacco and obesity, Vivek H. Murthy said in an advisory [PDF].” Alcohol consumption “contributes to 100,000 cancer cases and 20,000 related deaths each year, he added.”
CNN (1/3, Tinker, Tirrell , Goodman ) reported, “The American Medical Association, which has long recognized alcohol as a cancer risk, cheered the new advisory.” In a statement, AMA President Bruce A. Scott, MD, said, “Today’s advisory, coupled with a push to update the Surgeon General’s health warning label on alcoholic beverages, will bolster awareness, improve health, and save lives.”
Related Links:
— “US surgeon general sounds alarm about link between alcohol and cancer,” Ben Tinker, Meg Tirrell and Brenda Goodman, CNN, January 3, 2025
Biden Signs Bill Extending Key Telehealth Service Flexibilities For Medicare Beneficiaries
Psychiatric News (1/3) reported, “Key telehealth service flexibilities will be extended for Medicare beneficiaries until March 31, 2025, as part of the American Relief Act, signed by President Biden on December 21.” Under “the Relief Act, Medicare beneficiaries can continue to receive telehealth services from any location, including their homes.” The bill also “extends the waiver of the requirement for an initial in-person visit prior to a telemental health visit and also continues the extension of telehealth services to federally qualified health centers and rural health centers.”
Related Links:
— “Congress Extends Telehealth Flexibilities for Medicare Beneficiaries,” Psychiatric News, January 3, 2025
Foundation News
Foundation Talks About New 9-8-8 Suicide Lifeline in PSA
Like the national emergency number 9-1-1, the US now has a new National Suicide Prevention Lifeline number: 9-8-8. The Foundation says it is for anyone experiencing any acute mental health crisis, whether that be suicidal thoughts, a substance abuse problem, or any needed emotional support. The lifeline can be used by family and loved ones to call for help with someone they know how is having a crisis.
Dial 988 for the National Suicide Prevention LifelineDial 988 for the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, MP3, 1.2MB
You can listen to the ad using the player in the upper right of the website’s homepage. All past public service spots are also available for listening or to download on our Radio Advertisements page.
Deepak Prabhakar, M.D. to Receive MFP Anti-Stigma Advocacy Award
Deepak Prabhakar, M.D. will be awarded the 2022 Maryland Foundation for Psychiatry (MFP) Anti-Stigma Advocacy Prize for his Op-Ed column, “Biles is leading a new generation of athletes who prioritize mental health,” which was published in the August 2, 2021 print issue of The Baltimore Sun. The MFP board of directors felt that it very effectively expressed important ideas such as that the best athletes with “steely” inner strength can nevertheless be vulnerable to mental ill-ness, that people should not feel ashamed to seek treatment when needed, and that everybody should routinely check on friends and family to make sure they are okay, and encourage them to seek professional help when needed.
The Anti-Stigma Advocacy Award carries a $500 prize and will be formally presented at the Maryland Psychiatric Society annual meeting on April 28.
The Foundation established this annual prize for a worthy media piece, preferably local or regional, that accomplishes one or more of the following:
- Shares with the public their experience with mental illness in themselves, a family member, or simply in the community.
- Helps others to overcome their inability to talk about mental illness or their own mental illness.
- Imparts particularly insightful observations on the general subject of mental illness.
Click here for information about past winners.
New Foundation PSA Examines Possible Silver Lining of the Pandemic
They say every dark cloud has a silver lining. Though the COVID pandemic has had many devastating impacts, there have been some positive consequences for mental health care.This PSA looks at the growth of TeleHealth to make and attend appointments online from the comfort of their own rooms. Unprecedented government funding for mental health was also mobilized. Listen to hear more developments.
Positive Consequences From the Pandemic For Mental Health CarePositive Consequences From the Pandemic For Mental Health Care, MP3, 1.2MB
You can listen to the ad using the player in the upper right of the website’s homepage. All past public service spots are also available for listening or to download on our Radio Advertisements page.
Latest PSA From Foundation Examines Rise in Suicide Among Black People
The COVID pandemic has highlighted racial disparities in health and healthcare. Suicide has mistakenly been seen as a problem primarily for white people, but now upward trends have been seen among black people, particular black adolescent girls. This new PSA from the Maryland Foundation for Psychiatry, Inc. examines the reasons for this and calls for further research.
Racial Disparities Seen in Suicide StudiesRacial Disparities Seen in Suicide Studies, MP3, 1.4MB
You can listen to the ad using the player in the upper right of the website’s homepage. All past public service spots are also available for listening or to download on our Radio Advertisements page.
Seeking Nominations for 2022 Anti-Stigma Advocacy Award
The annual Maryland Foundation for Psychiatry (MFP) Anti-Stigma Advocacy Award recognizes a worthy piece published in a major newspaper that accomplishes one or more of the following:
- Shares with the public their experience with mental illness in themselves, a family member, or simply in the community.
- Helps others to overcome their inability to talk about mental illness or their own mental illness.
- Imparts particularly insightful observations on the general subject of mental illness.
A Maryland author and/or newspaper is preferred. Click here for past winners and published articles.
The award carries a $500 prize, which is given at the Maryland Psychiatric Society annual meeting in April. To nominate a piece to be considered for the 2022 award, email it to mfp@mdpsych.org no later than January 10, 2022. The article should be published during the period from January 15, 2021 to January 10, 2022.