Posts Tagged: health

One parity goal reached, yet others remain

BEHAVIORAL HEALTHCARE Issue Date: Online ExclusiveOnline Exclusive One parity goal reached, yet others remainFour more doors must be opened in order to ensure fair, effective care for behavioral health by Ronald W. Manderscheid, PhD, Executive Director, NACBHDD On Tuesday, Feb. 2, the U.S. Departments of HHS, Labor, and Treasury published the long-awaited “Interim Final Regulations”Read… Read more »

Evolving Definitions of Mental Illness and Wellness

Manderscheid RW et al. – Understanding of the definitions of wellness and illness has changed from the mid–20th century to modern times, moving from a diagnosis–focused to a person–focused definition of mental illnesses, and from an “absence of disease” model to one that stresses positive psychological function for mental health. Currently, wellness refers to theRead… Read more »

Donate Clothing to Local Veterans in Need

Happy Holidays to All of You!!!! And now a favor to ask… I work at a Veterans Affairs hospital here in Pittsburgh and was talking to some of the veteran patients today. Many of them, especially in our homeless rehab programs, come in with very little clothing and some have extended stays in the hospital.Read… Read more »

Health Care: Should We Settle for Less?

Recently, I’ve had a few discussions with friends regarding the current Senate health care bill. Is the death of the public option ok, since it got Medicare eligibility lowered to 55? That helps some people, right? More than are helped now, right? So that’s good, right? Wrong. We have apparently been subjected to the obstructionistRead… Read more »

Building a Wiki Community: Pet Projects

Since launching the moderated wiki, Whorunsgov has, on a couple of occasions, created projects to entice people to contribute. We try to focus these projects on narrow topics that people have strong opinions about. The projects include: 1) Tracking Blue Dog Democrats’ stances on the proposed health-care bill 2) Highlighting advocates and lobbyists that workRead… Read more »

Four New Commentaries on National Health Reform

BEHAVIORAL HEALTHCARE Issue Date: Online Exclusive Special Online Editorials Fundamentals of Healthcare Reform With the onset of healthcare reform and the implementation of the Parity Act close at hand, behavioral health will see change in the forthcoming year. And while both of these continuing efforts are meant to increase the quality of services delivered toRead… Read more »

“People of Earth, remember.” RHIOs Part II

The last couple of days have been just spectacularly beautiful in Denver with that Colorado blue sky that makes you just want to go out and play. But, instead of playing outside I have spent quite a bit of time reconnecting with old colleagues from the social and healthcare services projects I used to volunteerRead… Read more »

Listen-Focus-Act on National Health Reform

Behavioral Healthcare Issue Date: Online Exclusive, Online Exclusive Listen-Focus-Act now for national health reform! Three ways you can impact, influence Congressional action Ron Manderscheid, PhD, SRA International and Editorial Board Member As Congress enters the final stages in preparation of national health reform legislation, it is imperative that we not become “sheeple”—people who behave likeRead… Read more »

Insurance Recission: What You Need to Know.

A terrible crime is being committed against the American public: recission. This is when a private insurance company revokes your policy because of some technicality (whether real or fabricated). And what do you know, this tends to happen right after you’ve been diagnosed with a major illness! Thake the case of Jerome Mitchell, 17 yearRead… Read more »

Rep. Patrick Kennedy: Integrating Behavioral Healthcare into Healthcare Reform

Rep. Patrick Kennedy: Integrating Behavioral Healthcare into Healthcare Reform 09.10.2009 04:59 PM By Robin Jay, BHC Editorial Director Just hours before President Obama addressed the nation in a highly anticipated speech about healthcare reform, and just one day after returning to office following the passing of his father, Senator Edward M. Kennedy, Representative Patrick KennedyRead… Read more »