Advocacy & Education | Behavioral Health Today

CDC Releases New Report: Mental Health Surveillance among Children in the United States, 2005-2011

The National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities (NCBDDD) is pleased to announce the release of CDC’s first-ever comprehensive report on children’s mental health in the United States. The Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) supplement, Mental Health Surveillance among Children in the United States, 2005-2011, describes federal efforts to monitor childhood mental disorders, [...]

FIRST MHPAEA LAWSUIT A WIN FOR THOSE WITH MENTAL HEALTH, SUBSTANCE ABUSE DISORDERS.

The United States District Court for the District of Vermont Tuesday became the first court in the country to interpret the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008 (MHPAEA) – and the decision is favorable to mental health patients. In C. M. v. Fletcher Allen Health Care, Inc., plaintiff C. M. challenges her health [...]

2013 National Drug Control Strategy Released!

On April 24, 2013, National Drug Control Policy Director Gil Kerlikowske released the President’s national blueprint for drug policy, the 2013 National Drug Control Strategy. This document builds on drug policy reform achieved during the past three years, beginning with the Administration’s inaugural Strategy, released in 2010. This Strategy calls for drug policy reform rooted [...]

“Severely Compromised Life Circumstances,” Not Lack of Access to Health Care, Cause Frequent ER Use by Veterans

Press Release – April 11, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — Even with health insurance, ready access to preventive, specialty and behavioral health care and comprehensive electronic medical records, nearly 8 percent of patients in the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) visit the emergency department two or more times per year, according to a study published online Tuesday [...]

Expert Panel on Veterans Releases Important Homelessness Report

Download associated files

Fact Sheet on Expert Panel’s Guiding Principles Report on SAMHSA’s Expert Panel on Homelessness among Veterans of Recent Conflicts

In August 2011, USICH, SAMHSA, the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation at HHS, and the Departments of Veterans Affairs, Housing and Urban Development, and Defense sponsored an [...]

US Health in International Perspective: Shorter Lives, Poorer Health – Report Available Now

U.S. Health in International Perspective: Shorter Lives, Poorer Health An interactive graph is located at nationalacademies.org/IntlMortalityRates Drawn from the report U.S. Health in International Perspectives: Shorter Lives, Poorer Health, this chart allows you to explore how the United States compares to 16 “peer” countries–other high–income democracies–on specific causes of death such as heart disease, [...]

New Report: Creating Synergy between the Money Follows the Person and Managed Long-Term Services and Supports Programs

Mathematica has released a new report that can be reviewed here

Money Follows the Person (MFP) Demonstration grants and Managed Long-Term Services and Support (MLTSS) programs use different strategies to shift the balance of LTSS from institutional care to home- and community-based settings. MFP helps people living in institutions to relocate to the community, while [...]

More than 30% of Americans Recieving Federal Support Have a Disability

This brief presents information from the 2011 American Community Survey (ACS) showing the prevalence of disability among civilian non-institutionalized adults aged 18 and older who received income-based government assistance—cash assistance programs (SSI, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), or other government assistance) and in-kind assistance programs (SNAP and Medicaid). These data are presented for the [...]

Essential Health Benefits: Great Coup or Sound and Fury Signifying Nothing?

Patrick Gauthier

While it’s true the Final Rule released recently concerning Essential Health Benefits (EHBs) has some very positive features, it is also true that the Rule doesn’t do all that the mental health and substance use disorders treatment fields needed or wanted. The Rule does require that benchmark and qualifying health plans (QHPs) [...]

White House Report: State-by-State Impacts of Sequestration on Behavioral Health

Last night the White House released state-by-state reports on the impact the sequester will have on a host of different economic and social domains. Impacts on Mental Health and Substance Use Disorders are evident. Below is the link to each state report:

Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware District of Columbia Florida [...]

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