2018

Discusses that the heart of the problem with mental health parity has been a lack of consistency in the oversight and enforcement on the part of federal and state regulators to get insurers to comply with existing parity laws. Some of those barriers to treatment have included placing stricter limits on the number of inpatient and outpatient mental health visits, separate prior authorization requirements than for medical care services, and separate deductibles and copays. 

Discusses the 10th anniversary of the Mental Health Parity bill and the release of an analysis that found 32 states did not ensure equal coverage for behavioral health. The report gave each state a letter grade on questions like whether an insurer requires a patient to pay a separate deductible or higher co-pays for behavioral health or sets limits on how many times they can see a behavioral health provider. 

Two years after voters approved billions of dollars to fund low-income homes around California, affordable-housing advocates are upping the ante with two statewide bond measures on the Nov. 6 ballot to raise a record-breaking $6 billion for housing for struggling families, veterans and severely mentally ill people. If they pass, the two measures would generate the most money ever approved by statewide voters for affordable and supportive housing in California.

In section 4: Health stigmas are melting away, Katrina Gay, National Director, Strategic Partnerships discusses eliminating stigma and the impact that celebrity posts about mental health struggles have on the increased calls to the NAMI HelpLine. 

Discusses a new requirement is part of a law rushed through the state legislature after the February shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla. On registration forms for new students, the state’s school districts now must ask whether a child has ever been referred for mental health services.

Newsarama’s Heroes in Crisis tie-in series explores superhero comic books and the mental effects of trauma, including an examination of whether superhero comic books have moved forward with their depiction of mental illness. 

Children registering for school in Florida this year were asked to reveal some history about their mental health. The new requirement is part of a law rushed through the state legislature after the February shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland.

Discusses how county jails have taken steps to try to keep inmates with mental illness from coming back by stepping up mental health screening, coupled with efforts to get inmates plugged into community-based treatment after they are released. 

Discusses a new study published in the journal American Psychologist that sheds some new light onto just how early those effects can begin. The study, which researchers say is the first meta-analysis to look into racism's effects on adolescents (as opposed to adults), examined 214 peer-reviewed articles examining over 91,000 adolescents between the ages of 10 and 20.

A report released by the Health and Human Services inspector general’s office found that about 1 in 3 foster kids from a sample of states were prescribed psychiatric drugs without treatment plans or follow-up, standard steps in sound medical care. Kids getting mood-altering drugs they don’t need is only part of the problem. Investigators also said children who need medication to help them function at school or get along in social settings may be going untreated.