MENTAL HEALTH IN THE HEADLINES for the week of December 5, 2011

TODAY’S HEADLINE

A government report finds most employers that offered mental health and substance use insurance coverage before the mental health parity law have continued to offer the same coverage…more

IN THE NEWS

Study: No Cut in Benefits after Parity Law

A government report finds most employers that offered mental health and substance use insurance coverage before the mental health parity law have continued to offer the same coverage. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) surveyed 168 employers with at least 50 employees about their most popular health plans for the year of the survey and what the most popular plan was in 2008, a year before the mental health parity law went into effect. The survey also examined what sort of benefits were excluded in 2008 and not excluded in 2010. Ninety-six percent of employers who responded to the survey said they offered mental health and substance use coverage. Only 2 percent of those responding said they eliminated mental health and substance use coverage in order to cut costs. Employers reported covering the same diagnoses in 2010 that they did in 2008. (Medpage Today, 12/2/11)

Few with Mental Health Conditions in California Receive Care

Only a small percentage of the almost 2 million Californians with a mental health condition receive care, according to a new report. The UCLA Center for Health Policy Research found that one in 12 of adults has symptoms that are consistent with serious psychological distress. About half said they are not receiving treatment for their symptoms and about 25 percent receive "inadequate treatment.” Inadequate is defined as less than four visits with a healthcare provider over the last 12 months or using prescription drugs to manage mental health symptoms.  While 8 percent of adults reported mental health problems, 17 percent of single parents said they needed mental health care. Married adults with or without children had the lowest rates of mental disorders at 6 percent and 5 percent respectively.  Nearly 20 percent of lesbian, gay and bisexual adults said they had mental health issues that weren’t being met. (Los Angeles Times, 12/1/11)

Senators Tell VA to Speed up Mental Health Care

Senators told officials of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) that they must speed up services for vets with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and other mental health conditions. Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.), who heads the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, said the department has not kept pace with the 34 percent increase in the number of vets who have sought services since 2006. "We need to fix this now," Murray said at a committee hearing that she called to examine the topic.  A survey of VA health care providers released last month found that nearly 40 percent say they cannot schedule an appointment in their own clinics within two weeks, which is required under government guidelines. (Miami Herald, 11/30/11)

Forty Percent of Suicide Attempts Begin Before High School: Study

About 40 percent of young adults who've attempted suicide made their first attempt before high school, according to a new study. The finding, which is reported in the Journal of Adolescent Health, suggests that suicidal thoughts and behavior may begin much younger than previously believed. Researchers asked almost 900 young adults ages 18 and 19 about their history of suicide attempts. Nearly 9 percent of the participants said they had attempted suicide at some point. Of those, 40 percent said they made their first attempt before they started high school. Rates of attempted suicide jumped at around the sixth grade and peaked around eighth or ninth grade. Of those who reported multiple suicide attempts, their first attempt was much earlier (as young as age 9) than those who made a single attempt.  (HealthDay News, 11/30/11)

Report Finds Medicare Paying for Unneeded Drugs for Nursing Home Patients

Government inspectors told lawmakers last week that Medicare officials need to do more to stop doctors from prescribing powerful psychiatric drugs to nursing home patients with dementia in ways that violate federal standards.  According to the report, from Jan. 1 through June 30, 2007, 51 percent of the Medicare reimbursement claims for atypical antipsychotic drugs were erroneous, and they cost the program $116 million. Medicare Part D requires that drugs must be prescribed for “medically accepted indications” to qualify for reimbursement. “When properly prescribed, antipsychotics can offer beneficial treatment for individuals suffering from mental illness,” said Sen. Herb Kohl (D-Wis.), chair of the Senate Special Committee on Aging. “However, we have a responsibility to patients and their families to ensure that elderly nursing home residents are free from all types of unnecessary drugs, and we have a responsibility to taxpayers to be certain that they are not paying for drugs that are not needed.” (BNA, 12/1/11)

Foster Children Receiving Unnecessary Doses of Drugs: Report

Thousands of foster children are receiving unnecessary doses of psychotropic drugs, according to a report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO). "According to GAO's experts, no evidence supports the concomitant use of five or more psychotropic drugs in adults or children, yet hundreds of both foster and nonfoster foster children on Medicaid in those states [that the GAO studied] received prescriptions for psychotropic drugs at rates 2.7 to 4.5 times higher than did nonfoster children on Medicaid,” the report stated. The rates were higher for foster children in all age groups. The report was presented to a U.S. Senate panel looking at the issue. In addition, investigators found that foster and nonfoster children under a year old were prescribed psychotropic drugs, "which GAO's experts said have no established use for mental health conditions in infants; providing them these drugs could result in serious adverse effects.” (Medpage Today, 12/2/11)

IN DEPTH

NPR looks at abuse and neglect at assisted living facilities for people with mental illness.

The Boston Globe examines the relationship between grief and depression.

The Los Angeles Times reports on studies linking infection to mental illness.

ABC News looks at the increase in suicides in rural America.

Latest Research

Major Depression, Conflicts with Partners Increase Risk of Suicide among Pregnant Women, New Mothers: Major depression and conflicts with intimate partners increase the risk of suicide among pregnant women and new mothers, according to a new study. As part of the study, researchers analyzed 2,083 suicides among women aged 15 to 54 that were recorded over five years in the U.S. National Violent Death Reporting System. More than half of the women who took their own lives had a known mental health diagnosis. Nearly half were in a depressed mood prior to their suicide. The researchers say the data shows that pregnant and postpartum women had a much higher incidence of conflicts with intimate partners than their counterparts. The study, which appears in the journal General Hospital Psychiatry, also found that new mothers who completed suicide were more likely to be depressed in the two weeks before they took their own lives. (HealthDay News, 12/2/11)