HealthDay (11/13, Preidt) reports that teenagers “who lose a family member or friend to murder” appear to have “an increased risk for suicide,” researchers concluded after analyzing the results of “a 2014 survey of just over 1,600 teens, aged 14 to 19, in Allegheny County,” Pennsylvania. The findings are set for presentation at the American Public Health Association’s annual meeting.

Related Links:

— “Murder of Family, Friends Takes Highest Toll on Black Teens, “Robert Preidt, HealthDay, November 13, 2018.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (11/13, Schmid) reports that despite steadily rising rates of suicide, severe depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, and other mental illnesses across the US, mental healthcare remains “severely underfunded.” For example, “government reimbursements for mental and behavioral health services are 19 percent to 22 percent below payments for conventional medical or surgical care, according to the Seattle-based Milliman Inc. research group,” thereby making “it a struggle for” healthcare professionals “to justify offering those services even as the same funding imbalance also puts downward pressure on salaries for mental health practitioners,” including psychiatrists. In Wisconsin, 48 of 72 counties “lack even one practicing child psychiatrist, according to the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry.”

Related Links:

— “As epidemic of U.S. mental illness worsens, so does the funding gap to provide care, “John Schmid, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, November 13, 2018.

The AP (11/13, Alonso-Zaldivar) reports that on Tuesday HHS Secretary Azar in a speech to state Medicaid directors announced that states will be allowed “to provide more inpatient treatment for people with serious mental illness by tapping Medicaid.” He “said states will now be able to seek waivers” from a Federal law that has previously blocked Medicaid payments for “mental health treatment facilities with more than 16 beds, to prevent ‘warehousing’ of the mentally ill at the expense of federal taxpayers.” Azar said, “We have the worst of both worlds: limited access to inpatient treatment and limited access to other options.” He added, “Given the history, it is the responsibility of state and federal governments together, alongside communities and families, to right this wrong. More treatment options are needed, and that includes more inpatient and residential options that can help stabilize Americans with serious mental illness.”

The Hill (11/13, Weixel) reports that in his Tuesday speech, Azar also said, “Different forms of treatment work for different patients, but the decades-old restriction on Medicaid reimbursement for inpatient treatment at institutions for mental diseases, or IMDs, has been a significant barrier.” He highlighted “that inpatient treatment is just one part of ‘a complete continuum of care,’ and participating states will be expected to take action to improve community-based mental health care as well.” He added, “There are so many stories of Americans with serious mental illness, and their families, that end in tragic outcomes because treatment options are not available or not paid for. I urge everyone involved in state Medicaid programs here today to consider applying for the kind of waiver I’ve just outlined.”

Fierce Healthcare (11/13, Meltzer) reports that, commenting more broadly on mental health treatment options, Azar said, “We can support both inpatient and outpatient investments at the same time. Both tools are necessary and both are too hard to access today.”

Modern Healthcare (11/13, Subscription Publication) reports that under current policy, CMS “reimburses IMD stays up to 15 days for Medicaid enrollees in managed care Medicaid,” but the new waivers “will pay for more treatment at IMDs and apply to all Medicaid enrollees, not just those overseen by private plans.” Under the program, states will need “to prove their plans are budget-neutral for the federal government.”

Health Exec (11/13) reports that so far, 17 states have received these Section 1115 waivers, giving them “authority from CMS to pursue similar demonstration projects related to substance use disorders.”

Healthcare Finance News (11/13) and Congressional Quarterly (11/13, Subscription Publication) also cover the story.

Related Links:

— “More leeway for states to expand inpatient mental health, “Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar , AP, November 13, 2018.