Our Health Policy Matters

“In 2011, mental disorders accounted for more hospitalizations of U.S. service members than any other diagnostic category.” – Armed Forces Health Surveillance Center Medical Surveillance Monthly Report, June 2012 Recently, my daughter Elizabeth told me about a friend who stopped in to see her at the mall where she works while attending college.  Like her, he’s in his early twenties.  They worked together at a toy store a few years ago, and she hadn’t seen him since then. He had enlisted in the army.  He was deployed overseas twice, and served a tour in a war zone.  He sustained a minor physical injury, now healed, while serving. She said that he seemed a little down in the dumps when she saw him.  He told her that he is having trouble with his relationships since his return, but doesn’t think there’s anything wrong with him.  He’s pretty sure he doesn’t have PTSD, and sees no reason to seek counseling or other mental health supports. Ins...

“In 2011, mental disorders accounted for more hospitalizations of U.S. service members than any other diagnostic category.” – Armed Forces Health Surveillance Center Medical Surveillance Monthly Report, June 2012 Recently, my daughter Elizabeth told me about a friend who stopped in to see her at the mall where she works while attending college.  Like her, he’s in his early twenties.  They worked together at a toy store a few years ago, and she hadn’t seen him since then. He had enlisted in the army.  He was deployed overseas twice, and served a tour in a war zone.  He sustained a minor physical injury, now healed, while serving. She said that he seemed a little down in the dumps when she saw him.  He told her that he is having trouble with his relationships since his return, but doesn’t think there’s anything wrong with him.  He’s pretty sure he doesn’t have PTSD, and sees no reason to seek counseling or other mental health supports. Ins...

It is worth noting on this “traditional” Memorial Day of May 30 th that over 6,400 service people have lost their lives so far while fighting our two most recent wars. Unless we put more money into health and mental health care, many thousands more will eventually lose their lives fighting the physical and mental effects of these wars. This past weekend, we learned that 45% of returning Iraq and Afghanistan War veterans are seeking compensation for service-related injuries .  The challenge of finding the billions of dollars needed to treat these men and women will test us as a nation.  It will likely stoke the fires of yet another protracted battle about “public option” health care in America. This fight is about to take place because of two reasons. The first is that the percentage of veterans seeking compensation is twice what it was in past wars.  “Invisible” injuries with behavioral manifestations, like PTSD and traumatic brain injury, accou...

It is worth noting on this “traditional” Memorial Day of May 30 th that over 6,400 service people have lost their lives so far while fighting our two most recent wars. Unless we put more money into health and mental health care, many thousands more will eventually lose their lives fighting the physical and mental effects of these wars. This past weekend, we learned that 45% of returning Iraq and Afghanistan War veterans are seeking compensation for service-related injuries .  The challenge of finding the billions of dollars needed to treat these men and women will test us as a nation.  It will likely stoke the fires of yet another protracted battle about “public option” health care in America. This fight is about to take place because of two reasons. The first is that the percentage of veterans seeking compensation is twice what it was in past wars.  “Invisible” injuries with behavioral manifestations, like PTSD and traumatic brain injury, accou...

A newly released report found that hundreds of thousands of veterans experience excessive delays in trying to obtain mental health services from the Veterans Administration (VA).  This is especially sad to consider today, both because May is Mental Health Month and the President has just renewed our troop commitment to Afghanistan. William Hamilton was a 26 year old Iraq veteran when he died in May 2010. One of five siblings, he joined the army when he was nineteen. He experienced his first symptoms of mental illness while serving a tour in Iraq in 2005. He was diagnosed with PTSD and an anxiety disorder.  He was discharged honorably later that year and sought treatment at a VA Center. For four years, as his condition worsened, Hamilton bounced from one VA treatment setting to another.  In 2006, he was diagnosed with major depressive disorder.  Chemical dependency complicated his treatment.  He was hospitalized at the VA on several oc...

A newly released report found that hundreds of thousands of veterans experience excessive delays in trying to obtain mental health services from the Veterans Administration (VA).  This is especially sad to consider today, both because May is Mental Health Month and the President has just renewed our troop commitment to Afghanistan. William Hamilton was a 26 year old Iraq veteran when he died in May 2010. One of five siblings, he joined the army when he was nineteen. He experienced his first symptoms of mental illness while serving a tour in Iraq in 2005. He was diagnosed with PTSD and an anxiety disorder.  He was discharged honorably later that year and sought treatment at a VA Center. For four years, as his condition worsened, Hamilton bounced from one VA treatment setting to another.  In 2006, he was diagnosed with major depressive disorder.  Chemical dependency complicated his treatment.  He was hospitalized at the VA on several oc...

Public policy attacks on public health and mental health, intrusions in doctor/patient privacy, the continuing fight over the Affordable Care Act, and our collective loss of faith in private health insurance were among the top health policy story lines of 2011. This year, eight stories make my short list.  Not all of these stories made big headlines during the year.  But they have had, or will have, an outsized impact on our lives. I’ll begin the countdown this week with four that capture and continue some of the major trends of the recent past.   Next week, I’ll offer four more that hint at where health policy may go in the future. 8.  The Shooting of a Congresswoman .  In January, the first big health policy story of the year was about violence and mental illness – the horrible wounding of a member of Congress, and the murder of several people around her.  As the media struggled to make sense of this, it raised once again the relation...

Public policy attacks on public health and mental health, intrusions in doctor/patient privacy, the continuing fight over the Affordable Care Act, and our collective loss of faith in private health insurance were among the top health policy story lines of 2011. This year, eight stories make my short list.  Not all of these stories made big headlines during the year.  But they have had, or will have, an outsized impact on our lives. I’ll begin the countdown this week with four that capture and continue some of the major trends of the recent past.   Next week, I’ll offer four more that hint at where health policy may go in the future. 8.  The Shooting of a Congresswoman .  In January, the first big health policy story of the year was about violence and mental illness – the horrible wounding of a member of Congress, and the murder of several people around her.  As the media struggled to make sense of this, it raised once again the relation...