News: KHN Column: Social Security's Disabled Adult Child Program: A Key Program Often Below The Radar
In this Kaiser Health News essay about Medicare and Medicaid benefits for older, disabled adults, Harold Pollack explains how Social Security has become an effective insurance policy that was patched together by Republican and Democratic leadership over the past 75 years. Yet, despite its centrality as a social support for disabled adults, it still falls short of providing security, and individuals are forced to rely on other help, especially family, to plug the holes.
Full Story | Topics: disability rights, family, insurance, Medicare, mental illness | Comments (0)

News: More needed to realize Americans for Disability Act
On the 20th anniversary of the Americans with Disability Act, the full impact of this anti-discrimination law, signed into law by Pres. George H.W. Bush, remains to be realized. . .
Full Story | Topics: disability rights, housing, mental illness | Comments (0)

Did You Know: Mood disorders accounted for 43 percent of visits to emergency rooms in 2007.
"In 2007, of the 95 million visits made to the emergency department (ED) by adults in the U.S., 12.0 million (12.5 percent) were related to MHSA," reports the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ). The summary appears in a press release from the here. Or download the entire report (pdf): Mental Health and Substance Abuse-Related Emergency Department Visits among Adults, 2007....
Full Story | Topics: emergency room, mental illness, substance use | Comments (0)

News: Mental health in health reform
Advocacy organizations are getting behind the House bill for health reform (HR 3962) citing benefits to those with a mental illness or addictive disorder. Organizations such as AARP and the American Medical Association, announced . . .
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News: Anti-stigma campaign draws millions

News: House packages hate crimes bill with defense spending
The House tucked language for a hate-crime bill (HR 2647) including disabilities into the $680 authorization bill for the Pentagon and Department of Defense spending. . .
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News: Depression screening during Mental Illness Awareness Week

News: Unions sue for mental health services in D.C.

In Washington, D.C., unions are suing the Department of Mental Health where budget, not quality concerns, have led to outsourcing mental health services despite insufficient staff to absorb the need. . .
Full Story | Topics: budget impacts, legal, mental illness, services | Comments (1)

News: Al Jazeera reports criminalization of mental illness in US
Al Jazeera's investigative English speaking program, Fault Line, has created a two-part video series about how people with a mental illness are treated in the United States. . .
Full Story | Topics: human rights, jails, mental illness, prisons, reform | Comments (0)

Consider This: Thought parity was a done deal?
. . .Think again
Full Story | Topics: addiction, advocacy, drug use, insurance, mental health, mental illness, parity, politics, reform | Comments (3)