Medscape (10/28, Brooks) reported, “In its final report, the White House’s Mental Health and Substance Use Disorder Parity Task Force” outlined “a series of actions and recommendations” to increase “compliance with mental health parity laws.”

Those actions “include $9.3 million in funds from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to states to help insurance regulators monitor compliance with mental health and substance use disorder parity protections.”

For its part, “‘the American Psychiatric Association (APA) ;welcomes this much-needed report to strengthen implementation and enforcement of existing mental health parity laws,’ APA President Maria A. Oquendo, MD, PhD, said in a statement.” Dr. Oquendo added, “Full implementation and stronger enforcement will help ensure that psychiatric conditions are treated the same as other illnesses and individuals can access the treatment they need.” APA CEO and Medical Director Saul Levin, MD, MPA, stated, “APA trusts that Congress and the Administration will work together to ensure that the recommendations become reality.”

Related Links:

— Medscape (requires login and subscription)

The Washington Post (10/27, Hamilton) reports that dementia, including Alzheimer’s, “can wreak havoc on even the best financial planning for retirement.” Nina Silverberg, program director of the National Institute on Aging’s Alzheimer’s Disease Centers Program, said, “‘I think it’s important for people to have some awareness that financial problems can be some of the most notable symptoms’ of dementia.”

According to the Post, “dementia can manifest itself in unpaid bills, giving away money needed for living expenses to charities or to the phone and Internet scams or other poor financial decisions.” People with dementia may have to leave the “workplace early,” thereby diminishing their future Social Security benefits.

The article advises people to have “a health-care power of attorney or living will naming someone you trust to make health-care decisions if you are incapable, designating someone to take care of your finances and having a regular will to distribute your assets when you die.”

Related Links:

— “
Facing financial reality when early dementia is diagnosed,” Martha M. Hamilton, Washington Post, October 28, 2016.

Reuters (10/27, Rapaport) reports, “Veterans may be more likely to commit suicide during the first year after they leave the military than after more time passes,” researchers found after analyzing “data collected on almost 3.8 million current and former service members from 2001 to 2011.” The findings were published online Sept. 30 in The Lancet Psychiatry.

Related Links:

— “Veterans may face higher risk of suicide during first year home,” Lisa Rapaport, Reuters, October 27, 2016.

In an over 1,600 word article, Kaiser Health News (10/26, Szabo) reports terminally ill patients who have sought assisted-suicide in states that have legalized the practice are more concerned about “controlling the way” they die “than controlling pain,” according to research on the subject. The article points out that advocates for assisted-suicide laws often argue that the laws allow people to end their pain, but research suggests this is not the primary motivation for many people who have sought assisted suicide. Dr. Lonny Shavelson of Berkeley, California, who specializes in caring for the terminally ill, said, “It’s almost never about pain. It’s about dignity and control.”

Related Links:

— “Terminally Ill Patients Don’t Use Aid-In-Dying Laws To Relieve Pain,” Liz Szabo, Kaiser Health News, October 26, 2016.

HCP Live (10/26, Lutz) reports, “In the three month period after experiencing a stroke, the risk for developing depression is as much as eight times higher,” researchers found after analyzing data on “157,000 patients” who “had a first time hospitalization for a stroke between January 1, 2001 and December 31, 2011,” and a matching “non stroke, hospitalized population” of controls. The findings were published in the October issue of JAMA Psychiatry.

Related Links:

— “Depression Risk Greater Soon after a Stroke,” Rachel Lutz, HCP Live, October 26, 2016.