Our Health Policy Matters

At least thirty-six states increased funding for mental health services during 2013, according to a recent report by the National Alliance on Mental Illness .  And last week, Vice President Biden announced that the federal government was adding $100 million in new funding for mental health services. So have we turned the corner on our nation’s mental health funding crisis, as many of the accompanying news headlines seemed to imply?  Or are these initiatives more a token gesture aimed at mollifying the mental health advocacy community in the aftermath of the Sandy Hook massacre, as others have suggested ?  I think that – with a couple of notable exceptions in Connecticut and Texas – the initiatives tend more toward tokenism than real change. Consider the national initiative.  On the face of it, $100 million sounds like a lot of money.  But it still represents only around 3 percent of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (S...

At least thirty-six states increased funding for mental health services during 2013, according to a recent report by the National Alliance on Mental Illness .  And last week, Vice President Biden announced that the federal government was adding $100 million in new funding for mental health services. So have we turned the corner on our nation’s mental health funding crisis, as many of the accompanying news headlines seemed to imply?  Or are these initiatives more a token gesture aimed at mollifying the mental health advocacy community in the aftermath of the Sandy Hook massacre, as others have suggested ?  I think that – with a couple of notable exceptions in Connecticut and Texas – the initiatives tend more toward tokenism than real change. Consider the national initiative.  On the face of it, $100 million sounds like a lot of money.  But it still represents only around 3 percent of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (S...

Last week, I wrote about the states that have decided not to expand Medicaid this year.  The decision will cost them in money and lives.  But the 24 (and counting) states that have chosen to expand Medicaid will face challenges of their own.  As a new article in Health Affairs Blog reveals, expanding states will have plenty to do to assure that the benefits of expansion reach those most in need. The article, entitled Lessons of Early Medicaid Expansions Under the Affordable Care Act , reviews the experiences of five states and the District of Columbia in expanding Medicaid benefits to additional populations using authority granted to them under Obamacare.  The five states were Connecticut, California, Minnesota, New Jersey, and Washington. All of the states were able to capture federal dollars to support state or local low-income insurance programs.  But, according to the authors, there were seven lessons these states learned that could be warnin...

Last week, I wrote about the states that have decided not to expand Medicaid this year.  The decision will cost them in money and lives.  But the 24 (and counting) states that have chosen to expand Medicaid will face challenges of their own.  As a new article in Health Affairs Blog reveals, expanding states will have plenty to do to assure that the benefits of expansion reach those most in need. The article, entitled Lessons of Early Medicaid Expansions Under the Affordable Care Act , reviews the experiences of five states and the District of Columbia in expanding Medicaid benefits to additional populations using authority granted to them under Obamacare.  The five states were Connecticut, California, Minnesota, New Jersey, and Washington. All of the states were able to capture federal dollars to support state or local low-income insurance programs.  But, according to the authors, there were seven lessons these states learned that could be warnin...

A couple of months ago, I was invited to the 40 th anniversary celebration and new building dedication of the Community Health Center in Middletown, Connecticut.  I regretted that I couldn’t go – a family obligation came first. The Community Health Center started as a free clinic in a converted, second floor apartment in a downtown building.  It was about the time I was starting college, and a number of students at my alma mater, Wesleyan University, were among those who got it started.  One was John Hickenlooper, now the Governor of Colorado.  I remember when it started to see its first patients, when it began to grow, and when it hired its first full-time doctor.  Believing the health care was a right, not a privilege, its Board and CEO, Mark Masselli, worked hard to meet the need for safety net health care in the community. By the time I entered the State Legislature in 1979, it was a fixture in my legislative district.  I got to kno...

A couple of months ago, I was invited to the 40 th anniversary celebration and new building dedication of the Community Health Center in Middletown, Connecticut.  I regretted that I couldn’t go – a family obligation came first. The Community Health Center started as a free clinic in a converted, second floor apartment in a downtown building.  It was about the time I was starting college, and a number of students at my alma mater, Wesleyan University, were among those who got it started.  One was John Hickenlooper, now the Governor of Colorado.  I remember when it started to see its first patients, when it began to grow, and when it hired its first full-time doctor.  Believing the health care was a right, not a privilege, its Board and CEO, Mark Masselli, worked hard to meet the need for safety net health care in the community. By the time I entered the State Legislature in 1979, it was a fixture in my legislative district.  I got to kno...

President Reagan gave his first speech on the AIDS epidemic almost twenty-five years ago on May 31, 1987.  This was after 36,058 Americans had been diagnosed with AIDS, 20,849 had died, and over a quarter of a million had been infected with HIV. For years, he had been criticized for ignoring and underfunding the worst public health crisis of the late 20 th century.   So he began his speech with a joke: “A charity committee approaches the wealthiest man in town for a contribution.  ‘Our book shows that you haven’t contributed any money this year,’ they tell him.  ‘Does your book also show that I have an infirm mother and a disabled brother?’ he replies.  ‘Why no,’ they say, ‘we didn’t know that.’ ‘Well, I don’t give them any money.  Why should I give any to you?’” The bad joke was an inadvertent punctuation mark on a presidency too fondly remembered by both republicans and democrats today. On matters of health, Reagan took us ...

President Reagan gave his first speech on the AIDS epidemic almost twenty-five years ago on May 31, 1987.  This was after 36,058 Americans had been diagnosed with AIDS, 20,849 had died, and over a quarter of a million had been infected with HIV. For years, he had been criticized for ignoring and underfunding the worst public health crisis of the late 20 th century.   So he began his speech with a joke: “A charity committee approaches the wealthiest man in town for a contribution.  ‘Our book shows that you haven’t contributed any money this year,’ they tell him.  ‘Does your book also show that I have an infirm mother and a disabled brother?’ he replies.  ‘Why no,’ they say, ‘we didn’t know that.’ ‘Well, I don’t give them any money.  Why should I give any to you?’” The bad joke was an inadvertent punctuation mark on a presidency too fondly remembered by both republicans and democrats today. On matters of health, Reagan took us ...

The President, the Congress, and State Legislatures are struggling mightily through their budget debates as if the health of the nation is at stake.   It is. But not in the way they think. Whether wealthy people will pay more or less taxes, young people will get fewer social security benefits, and the governments will get smaller are important considerations. But they are only important to people who are healthy enough to care about them. What about those who aren’t?   source: County Health Rankings, 2011 If someone were to tell you right now that you had a medical condition that was going to take 25 years from your life, would cutting spending and giving corporations tax breaks be your top legislative priority?   Would you vote for anyone who made those a bigger priority than your health? Here are some of the people whose life expectancy today is 25 years less than the norm: A person born with Down Syndrome. A person born with Cystic Fibrosis. A young person diagnos...

The President, the Congress, and State Legislatures are struggling mightily through their budget debates as if the health of the nation is at stake.   It is. But not in the way they think. Whether wealthy people will pay more or less taxes, young people will get fewer social security benefits, and the governments will get smaller are important considerations. But they are only important to people who are healthy enough to care about them. What about those who aren’t?   source: County Health Rankings, 2011 If someone were to tell you right now that you had a medical condition that was going to take 25 years from your life, would cutting spending and giving corporations tax breaks be your top legislative priority?   Would you vote for anyone who made those a bigger priority than your health? Here are some of the people whose life expectancy today is 25 years less than the norm: A person born with Down Syndrome. A person born with Cystic Fibrosis. A young person diagnos...