Legislative

The Mental Illness Chronic Care Improvement Act of 2009 (S 1136), introduced on May 21 by Senator Debbie Stabenow, would authorize a new $250 million, four-year, Medicaid demonstration program in up to ten States to improve the health outcomes and satisfaction of individuals with chronic mental illness, "such as schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, bipolar disorder, major clinical depression, or such conditions with co-occurring substance abuse disorders." States also have the option to expand their demo to other populations with mental illness or substance use disorders. Providers, such as Community Behavioral Health Organizations, would serve as the care coordination and managing entity. Click here for more details on the bill.

The National Council, the Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law, Mental Health America, and the National Alliance on Mental submitted comments and suggestions on the Senate Finance Committee's document, "Expanding Health Care Coverage."  Although the comments support the basic principles of the document - such as expanding healthcare benefits - they also emphasize the importance of creating a benefits package that include mental health and addiction services. Click here to read the comments. 

The National Council has submitted its response to the Department of Labor, Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Treasury's request for information (RFI) regarding the Paul Wellstone and Pete Domenici Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008 (MHPAEA). Click here to read the comments. (Word document)

Issues & Events

Children with disabilities are being secluded from classmates and restrained against their will to control their behavior, according to a report from the GAO. These interventions have led to harm and, in rare cases, deaths. In many cases, the restraints happen even when students aren't physically aggressive or dangerous. Click here for a summary. Report Highlights, Full Report

Recent findings from the National Epidemiologic Study on Alcohol and Related Conditions (NESARC) are challenging traditional views of alcoholism and point to the need for a paradigm shift in prevention and treatment strategies, a leading expert says. Among other findings, recent data from NESARC, a prospective, population-based study that surveyed 43,000 US adults in 2001–2002 and again in 2004–2005, show that more than half of alcohol-dependent individuals are healthy, functional, young adults - a far cry from the stereotypical middle-aged, white-male, skid-row alcoholic, said Mark L. Willenbring, MD, director of the division of treatment and recovery research at the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), reported MedScape. Full Story (Free registration required)

APNA member Gail Stuart, Ph.D., R.N., was one of the four new members of the National Advisory Council for Nursing Research, the principal advisory board for the National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR). NINR, a component of the National Institutes of Health, supports clinical and basic research to establish a scientific basis for the care of individuals across the lifespan. Full Story

Policy

The Obama administration's new drug czar, Gil Kerlikowske, says he wants to banish the idea that the U.S. is fighting "a war on drugs," a move that would underscore a shift favoring treatment over incarceration in trying to reduce illicit drug use, reported The Wall Street Journal. Full Story

APNA Highlights

APNA 7th Annual CPI Conference, June 26-28, 2009, Reston, VA
Highlight on Programming

Here is a peek at just one of the exciting sessions planned for CPI: Mood disorders and treatment options in pediatric psychopharmacology. To see the full program schedule, click here.

Case Study
Joanna is an 8 year old with mood dysregulation, aggression, and extreme hyperactivity who became self- injurious while taking a stimulant. She has seen several doctors in her short 8 years, and has been diagnosed with everything from ADHD to Bipolar Disorder to an Anxiety Disorder and her parents have been frustrated with the poor response to previous medication trials. Her parents wonder why she doesn't respond to parenting strategies that seemed to work for their other children and whether or not there is a medication that can help her to not hurt herself or others.

What would you consider when trying to help Joanna and her family?

Come learn more about mood disorders in childhood and treatment options for clinicians who treat these children and their families.

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