Sunday, January 24, 2016

Keep Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT) Available. Comment Online to FDA

ACTION ALERT. KEEP ELECTROCONVULSIVE THERAPY AVAILABLE. Comment now.
It is a little difficult to explain, but the FDA has to reclassify ECT ("Shock") in order to keep it available. They have to solicit comments on whether people are OK with reclassification and I expect that antipsychiatry will organize submission of comments against it. ECT helps some people who have not been helped by other treatments.
Please submit your comments online. Go to the following link.
Click on the Green Button and COPY AND PASTE the following TWO paragraphs into the form. You have to CUSTOMIZE THE FIRST SENTENCE IN 2nd PARAGRAPH , and you are encouraged to insert your own story and thinking at the end to make it personal. Note that this language I am giving is very specific as to what they are asking and what I suggest we say. Include both of the following paragraphs. The form asks for your name/address but that is not publicly available.
" [Docket No. FDA-2014-N-1210] Neurological Devices; Reclassification of Electroconvulsive Therapy Devices Intended for Use in Treating Severe Major Depressive Episode in Patients 18 Years of Age and Older Who Are Treatment Resistant or Require a Rapid Response; Effective Date of Requirement for Premarket Approval for Electroconvulsive Therapy for Certain Specified Intended Uses." 
"As the (INSERT YOUR INTEREST IN ISSUE, ex. “mother of someone with mental illness”) I SUPPORT the reclassification of electronconvulsive therapy devices to a Class II device to treat severe Major Depressive Episode associated with Major Depressive Disorder and Bipolar Disorder in patients 18 years of age and older who are treatment-resistant or who require a rapid response due to the severity of their psychiatric or medical condition. The terms "treatment resistant" and the phrase "require rapid response" do provide sufficient clarity to the population for which ECT benefits outweigh risks. I appreciate that in making this reclassification, the FDA is relying on the voice of science, rather than anti-psychiatry. The FDA previously held hearings on the issue in 2011. Reclassification is important. " 
(INSERT YOUR STORY HERE)

Wednesday, January 20, 2016

Notes on Senate HELP Committee Hearing on Mental Illness

Following are raw, unproofed contemporaneous notes about the Senate Hearing that took place 1/20/16. It was one hour and you can watch the tape here
http://www.help.senate.gov/hearings/improving-the-federal-response-to-challenges-in-mental-health-care-in-america Don’t rely on my notes.

On January 20, 2016, Senate Health Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee held hearing on mental illness against backdrop of several bills being proposed. Bills have been  proposed by by Senators Blount, Cornyn and Cassidy/Chris Murphy. The committee has some jurisdiction over particular parts of those bills. Chair Sen. Alexander says he has agreement with Sen. Murray (co chair) to move quickly.

Sen Murray’s opening remarks focused on inadequate access and need to integrate mental and  physical  health

Sen Mukolski talked in favor of more money for Community Mental Health Centers, but as Dr. Torrey pointed out in American Psychosis, CMHCs have largely been unwilling to serve the most seriously ill.

BRIAN HEPBURN (NASMHPD)

The first witness was Dr. Brian Hepburn, Exec Dir. of National Association of State Mental Health Program Directors (NASMHPD) He and others talked about need for relief from IMD Exclusion, a provision of Medicaid that prevents states from treating seriously mentally ill who need hospital care. He noted that there is a demo project that gives relief to certain private free standing hospitals that want to provide care to SMI, but it is  only a small demo project

He said “SAMHSA is  great partner” and complimented current leadership, which is not surprising, since SAMHSA funds them and is responsible for encouraging them to take on broad mandate rather than focused one. He complimented SAMHSA for the  First Episode Psychosis Program, but that was driven by NIMH, and Congress forced SAMHSA to allocate funds to it.
He said what we all know, but public is unaware of: Almost all admissions to state psychiatric hospitals are ordered by courts. It have become virtually impossible to get into a state hospital until after you do something that causes a court to order you into treatment.
He recommended our proposal to ameliorate effect of IMD Exclusion and for Reauthorize Medicaid follows  person” policy.

In response to a question, he said state mental health director’s role is to take care of as many people as cost effectively as possible, and only mentioned serious mentally ill as if it were some pesky afterthought.

Penny Blake (Emergency Nurses)

Next speaker was Penny Blake, a nurse speaking on behalf of Emergency Nurses Association and she was terrific. She focused on the fact that there are not enough psychiatric hospital beds so patients are boarded in emergency rooms (ERs) often for days, sometimes in a 10X10 cell that requires extensive staffing to watch them, while the staff tries to find a psych facility willing to transfer them to. She noted that nationwide Boarding Time in ER = 18  hours for psych care. 4 hours for other care. She noted that better community services, for the seriously ill who are likely to wind up in hospital is key. In response to a question from Sen. Murray she listed bed shortage as the top problem that has to be solved.

In response to a question about HIPAA, she gave a great story about HIPAA. A patient came in to ER. His parents had been calling around looking for him, but she couldn’t tell  parents he was there in the ER. That story I heard before, but she went on to make another point: Because she could not tell parents their kid was in hospital, she couldn’t get medical information from them. That information would have helped her provide better treatment. We often hear it said that nothing in HIPAA prevents facilities from receiving information (even if they can’t disclose it) but in this case HIPAA did prevent the receipt of info. In response, Sen Alexander noted that “touching HIPAA is like touching a wire. But we should look at it. “ Asked people to provide lingo for  specific HIPAA exemption.

Dr. William Eaton (Public Health)

Dr. William Eaton a Professor at John Hopkins in Baltimore was the worst, most irrelevant speaker. He basically ignored serious mental illness (SMI), and focused only on depression. He continually touted the need for “prevention” in spite of the fact that schizophrenia, bipolar, and other serious mental illness cannot be prevented.  He criticized NIMH for focusing on  biological underpinnings rather than taking a “public health” approach. (Note: the Institute of Medicine, and almost all leading authorities recognize that there is no ‘public health  approach (which can mean advertising or vaccinations, or other intereventions applied to everyone) that prevents serious mental illness. He praised SAMHSA (which he worked at two days a week), but even he admitted it was outrageous that they refuse to have a psychiatrist on staff.

His ‘solution’ is high school education programs and even supported “Teen Screen” which has been proven by research not to help. See http://mentalillnesspolicy.org/samhsa/teenscreenunproven.html )


HAKEEM RAHEEM (Consumer)

Hakeem Raheem, a person with bipolar was fairly brilliant. He was the only speaker who regularly, unabashedly used the phrase ‘mental illness’, rather than ‘mental health.’ He explained how while at Harvard he became psychotic and delusional and attributed his recovery to his parents ability to have him quickly admitted to ER and being given meds quickly. He said, “Medicines are key. I take antipsychotics every morning”. He explained the difficulty of finding right med, but said it  is difference between life and death. He suggested that meds must be protected, affordable and accessible to people with SMI. He spoke in favor of peer support provisions of S 1945 (?) bill, but did not mention the antipsychiatry peer orgs funded by SAMHSA. Instead he mentioned the peer support programs run by NAMI and Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance as being useful. Sen. Alexander asked him how to persuade people to seek help. He said, “We cant persuade people to do what they don’t want to do. When I was in psychosis, no one could tell me I was in psychosis.”

Sen Collins
Spoke in favor of Cardin bill which created IMD exemption pilot demo program allowing IMD exclusion for private psych hospital. And supported Cassidy/Murphy bill will addresses IMD exclusion

Sen Chris Murphy
Claimed that some form of bill will go to Senate floor this year
 
Sen Cassidy (LA)
was very on point about SAMHSA and lack of meds in jail, and problems at SAMHSA. Unfortunately, he also seemed to embrace peer support, but I don’t know if he is talking about the antipsychiatry ones SAMHSA supports, or the kind Hakeem Raheem talked about (or if he knows difference. I kind of think he might, since was involved in mental health legislation in House before moving to Senate.)

Sen Warren
 Focused on supportint  a reporting on insurance company parity bill introduced by Rep. Kennedy.  Apparently, it would be like a consumer watchdog for parity that could report  problems in private insurance parity to legislators.  A more important idea would be to eliminate federal IMD Exclusion, which is the biggest form of non-parity, as many speakers pointed out.

Sen Franken, like Eaton talked about prevention.  He apparently isn’t aware that SMI can’t be prevented. He also talked about kids in rural area having higher suicide rates than adolescents in urban areas, oblivious to fact that kids in any area are least likely to commit suicide. Blamed stigma.

Sen Whitehouse (RI)
Noted that the Judiciary Committee wil be considering Comprehensive Addiction Recovery Act, that has related provisions.

Again: listen to the one hour hearing for more details or to ensure my notes are correct. Thank you

Tuesday, January 5, 2016

On the death of Ted Stanley, giant psychiatric research philanthropist (Stanley Medical Research Inst. Statement)

The Death of a Research Giant

            The death of Ted Stanley on January 4 deprives the psychiatric research field of a philanthropic giant.  An extremely successful businessman, he chose to spend his money on research on serious mental illness, especially schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, rather than on yachts or Caribbean hideaways.  On occasion he was even known to fly coach, rather than business or first class, in order to have more money to donate.
            The creation of the Stanley Medical Research Institute (SMRI) in 1989 by Mr. Stanley and his wife, the late Vada Stanley, has had a major impact on schizophrenia and bipolar research.  Over the past 27 years the Stanleys donated almost $600 million to SMRI.  This money has supported extensive research on the causes and treatment of these diseases.
            For example, SMRI has funded over 400 treatment trials using drugs that were unlikely to be supported by the pharmaceutical industry because the drugs could not be patented and therefore could not be profitable.  The Stanley funds were also used to set up the Stanley Brain Collection, the most widely used brain bank in the world by researchers for schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.  Over the past 20 years it has distributed without charge over 250,000 samples of brain tissue, as well as DNA and RNA, to 303 research laboratories in 22 countries. Finally, the Stanley funds were used to set up the Stanley Laboratory of Developmental Neurovirology at Johns Hopkins University Medical Center.  This laboratory has become the leading research center in the world for research on infectious causes of schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.  SMRI’s coordinated research efforts are the primary reason for the emergence of inflammation as a major research area for these diseases and the likelihood that infectious agents play a role in the causation of at least some cases.  This in turn has led to the current use of anti-inflammatory drugs to treat these diseases, thus opening up a completely new avenue for treatment.
            In addition to funding research at SMRI, Mr. and Ms. Stanley also funded psychiatric research at the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory in New York and at the Broad Institute in Cambridge. In 2014 Mr. Stanley donated $650 million to the Broad Institute to support research on the genetics of schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.  Thus, altogether the Stanleys donated more than $1.2 billion to research on these diseases.
            All of us in the mental health field have lost a remarkable friend and supporter.  We are extremely indebted to Mr. and Ms. Stanley, and we should try and live up to the very high standard in commitment to this research that the Stanleys have set.
Maree J. Webster, Ph.D.
Director, Stanley Medical Research Institute
E. Fuller Torrey, M.D.
Associate Director, Stanley Medical Research Institute
Robert H. Yolken, M.D.

Director, Stanley Laboratory of Developmental Neurovirology

Saturday, January 2, 2016

Conf Call: How to Prevent Police from Harming/Arresting Mentally Ill

You're Invited
"How to Prevent Police from Harming/Arresting Mentally Ill" 
Thursday, Jan 7 at 7PM EASTERN standard time 
Dial in # (712) 775-7031  
Access Code: 715-149  

Join this important conference call. Police Chief (Ret) Michael Biasotti, is the former Pres. of NYS Association of Chiefs of Police, a member of the Treatment Advocacy Board and an expert on police interactions with the seriously mentally ill who recently testified to Congress.

Chief Biasotti Testifying to Congress
During this call, he will help mental illness advocates understand why police sometimes shoot people with mental illness, alternatives to CIT to reduce those shootings, why police take mentally ill to jail instead of hospitals, and more. 

Most importantly, he will teach mental illness advocates how to turn police and sheriffs into partners. Law enforcement officials are as upset as advocates, that because the mental health system won't treat the seriously ill, the police department has to step in.  Chief Biasotti will show how to reach out to local and state sheriffs and police to get them to support the changes that will return care of the seriously ill back to mental health departments where it belongs. Many mental health advocates look at law enforcement as the enemy because of the few high-profile incidents that go wrong,  But police and sheriffs are natural supporters of preserving psychiatric hospitals, changing civil commitment standards, implementing Assisted Outpatient Treatment and other programs that help the most seriously ill. It makes their job easier. Their voice is powerful and we have to learn how to engage them.  

Reaching out to police and getting them on our side has been hugely successful in NYS. The NYS Assoc. of Chiefs of Police has supported reform of state laws and national legislation to help the most seriously ill. 

Dial in # (712) 775-7031. 
Access Code: 715-149  
Jan 7, 7PM EASTERN standard time
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Wednesday, December 2, 2015

NEW DATE: 12/14 9PM EST, Conf. call on Psychiatric Parole with Dr. Stephen Seager

RESCHEDULED: Monday, December 14
9PM Eastern Standard Time 

Mental Illness Policy Org invites you to a conference call with Dr. Stephen B Seager, author Behind the Gates of Gomorrah: A Year with the Criminally Insane. 
Call this number (712) 775-7031
Enter this Access Code:715-149 

He will talk about his book and about a psychiatric parole program in California, Forensic Conditional Release (CONREP) that is like an enforceable version of Assisted Outpatient Treatment (AOT) for prisoners that should be made available in other states.

 SHARE THIS. IT IS A PUBLIC EVENT

(This call was previously scheduled for 12/7, but a problem at Sprint prevented the moderator, and some  participants for calling in, so it has been rescheduled. Our apologies to those who tried to call in and the original  time and could not participate)

Thursday, November 12, 2015

DeBlasio Mental Health White Paper Ignores Serious Mental Illness

The new white paper on mental health issued by the De Blasio administration November 12, 2015, shows it intends to continue the policy of ignoring the most seriously mentally ill and focusing  on all others. For example, the report identifies HS students who feel sad as a priority, but not the homeless psychotic who are eating out of dumpsters. Following are data points and solutions ignored by the White Paper and the administration. Let us know if you need help reporting on this.
  • 4% of NYC adults have serious mental illnesses that profoundly affect their functioning. They are not mentioned in the report which only addresses people who need mental health improved. 
  • 93,000 city residents who suffer from the most serious mental illnesses, including schizophrenia and severe bipolar disorder, received no treatment in the past year.  
  • NYC adults with serious mental illness are more likely to report not getting needed medical care in the past year than those without SMI (21 percent vs. 11 percent)
  • While the number of people incarcerated in NYC jails has gone down since 2010, the percentage of prisoners with mental illness shot up 30 percent from 2010 to 2014. 
  • An estimated 4,000 city residents should be in Kendra’s Law but New York City has helped fewer than 1,400 get in. (State figure divided by half)
  • Kendra’s Law reduced homelessness, arrests, incarceration, and hospitalization by about 70 percent each in people with serious mental illness. It saves taxpayers 50 percent of the cost of care.  

People with serious mental illness in NYC need to be prioritized, not ignored. (Full recommendations)
  • Make access to city hospitals easier for the most seriously ill
  • More robustly implement Kendra’s Law
  • Provide greater scrutiny of patients involuntarily admitted to hospitals before they are discharged.
  • Make greater use of Conditional Discharge from hospital
  • Provide greater scrutiny and evaluation of inmates who received mental health services while incarcerated before they are let go from incarceration.
  • Support and expand Fountain House


Tuesday, September 29, 2015

Call Rep. Fred Upton at 202 225 3761 & urge him to pass HR2646

We need everyone to contact Representative Fred Upton, Chair of the House Energy and Commerce Committee and urge him to bring a strong "Helping Families in Mental Health Crisis Act (HR2646)" to a vote now.


HR2646 is a bipartisan bill proposed by Representatives Tim Murphy, (R., PA) and Eddie Bernice Johnson (D., TX), that forces the mental health industry to stop shunning people who are the most seriously mentally ill. Because the bill focuses on helping the most seriously ill, rather than all others, some in the mental health industry are trying to prevent it from passing.

HR2646:

Rep. Upton is on our side, but those who get federal funds and don’t serve the seriously ill are putting intense pressure on him to not use federal funds for the seriously mentally ill and not to use federal funds for evidence based practices. They want the funds used to "improve behavioral wellness" rather than help the seriously ill. It's outrageous that federal funds are being used to lobby against better care for the seriously ill!

As chair of the Energy and Commerce committee, Rep. Upton can bring the HR2646 to a vote with the important provisions above intact. He needs to hear from you.

Call Representative Fred Upton at 202 225 3761 and urge him to pass a strong HR2646.  
MAKE THE CALL! SPREAD THIS TO FRIENDS, NAMI GROUPS, ANYONE WHO CARES ABOUT THE SERIOUSLY ILL. THANK YOU.

Monday, September 28, 2015

New Report: $4 to $8 billion of mental health funds lost to fraud, waste, and excess profits

Unbiased Information For Policymakers + Media
50 East 129 St., PH7 New York, NY 10035
office@mentalillnesspolicy.org mentalillnesspolicy.org

News Release

September 28, 2015

Contact: Lead Author, Dr. E. Fuller Torrey
torreyf@stanleyresearch.org 
301-571-2078

New report suggests that $4 to $8 billion in public mental health funds are being lost to fraud, waste, and excess profits. 

These funds are sufficient to provide significant psychiatric services to most of the estimated 216,000 individuals with serious mental illness who are homeless as well as the 350,000 who are in jail or prison. (Full report)

(New York. NY) Public mental illness services have markedly deteriorated over the past three decades. The “mayhem du jour” includes mentally ill individuals carrying out mass killings; overflowing jails and prisons; being kept in emergency rooms for days while awaiting a psychiatric bed; being killed by law enforcement officials; and taking up permanent residence on the nation’s sidewalks and other public spaces. It is widely assumed that the cause of the problem is a decrease in public funds for mental illness treatment programs, when in fact the funds available to state mental health agencies in constant dollars have increased modestly since 1982. So where does the money go?

A new report, “Fraud, Waste and Excess Profits: The Fate of Money Intended to Treat People with Serious Mental Illness”, suggests a partial answer. Between $4 and $8 billion, which is 10 to 20 percent of the $40 billion spent annually by state mental health agencies, is being lost to fraud, waste, and excess profits to for-profit managed care companies. For example:

1.         In 2014 we identified 18 media accounts of mental health Medicare and Medicaid fraud, totaling approximately $1 billion. A nurse in Iowa submitted more than 6,000 false claims; a social worker in North Carolina submitted claims for 64 hours of therapy in a single day; and a mental health center in Louisiana submitted $258 million in false Medicare claims for partial hospitalization.
2.         California voters in 2004 approved a special tax to generate new revenue for providing services for individuals with serious mental illness. The tax produces over $1 billion each year. However, some of the MHSA funds have been wasted by being diverted to activities such as yoga, line-dancing, therapeutic drumming, and community gardens.
3.         For profit managed care companies are commonly allowed to keep up to 20 percent of state contracts for administrative costs and profit. In Florida WellCare was given a contract to provide mental health care to the state’s Medicaid population. A WellCare vice-president was recorded as claiming that the company was keeping 50 percent of the contract. Three WellCare executives were subsequently convicted of fraud and sentenced to prison.

Such findings suggest that Richard Kusserow, the former Inspector General of the Department of Health and Human Services, was correct in 2014 when he claimed that “many healthcare fraud investigators believe mental healthcare givers, such as psychiatrists and psychologists, have the worst fraud record of all disciplines.”

The present report also makes several recommendations. The federal Health Care Fraud Prevention and Enforcement Action Team (HEAT Task Force) should be significantly expanded since it has been shown to pay for itself. State mental health agencies should exert active, assertive oversight over community programs. This oversight should include vigorous examination of Medicaid and Medicare claims; unannounced audits of community mental health programs looking for fraud and waste; and a prohibition on the use of for-profit managed care companies. Such corrective actions are unlikely to happen unless mental health advocacy groups and the public in general demand it.

In commenting on the report, lead author Dr. E. Fuller Torrey, Associate Director of the Stanley Medical Research Institute noted: “The core problem is not how much money is being spent, but rather how much money is being misspent. Until we mental health professionals clean up our act, just throwing more money at the problem is not going to solve it.” 

The other authors of the report are D.J. Jaffe, Executive Director of Mental Illness Policy Org.; Dr. Jeffrey L. Geller, Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Massachusetts Medical School; and Dr. Richard Lamb, Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine.


Tuesday, September 22, 2015

Join Dr. E. Fuller Torrey Teleconference October 6, 7PM EST.

SAVE THE DATE: October 6 at 7pm EST. 


DJ Jaffe, Executive Director of Mental Illness Policy Org is hosting a conference call Tuesday October 6 at 7PM EST with the amazing Dr. E. Fuller Torrey, author, Surviving Schizophrenia and scores of books on mental illness policy, mental illness science, and mental illness treatment. He directs the Stanley Medical Research Inst., and founded the Treatment Advocacy Center. Hear about his latest study, mental illness politics and more. Q&A at end. Invite your friends. Dial in (712) 775-7031 Access Code 715-149

Books by Dr. E. Fuller Torrey
Article about Dr. E. Fuller Torrey's search for schizophrenia cure
Dr. E. Fuller Torrey Testimony on Failure at SAMHSA
Dr. Fuller Torrey's CV

Thursday, July 16, 2015

Mental Illness Policy Org statement on James Holmes Colorado Verdict

Jurors could have found James Holmes "innocent,"  "not guilty by reason of insanity" or "guilty". None work. Mandatory treatment does.

Our hearts go out to James Holmes, his family, his victims and families of the victims. All could have been better served if Colorado allowed James Holmes to  plead "Guilty Because of Mental Illness" (GBMI).

Sentencing to Mandated and Monitored Treatment is the Answer

If the cause of the crime was lack of treatment for mental illness, individuals should be found GBMI and sentenced to mandatory long-term mental illness treatment—including medications—so they never become violent again. The sentence to treatment should be as long, or longer, than the maximum sentence that would be imposed had the person been found guilty. If this change were adopted, incarcerating the mentally ill would rarely be needed.

Their treatment could take place in an inpatient setting on a locked ward if that is what is needed to keep society safe. But, if the sentenced patient progresses—and the crime not too serious—their treatment could be continued on an outpatient basis. Over time, it would most likely be both. Under GBMI, the sentenced patient could be moved from inpatient care to outpatient care when doing well and instantly back to inpatient with no further court hearings needed if they started to deteriorate. In either case, the individual would be closely monitored by a case manager to see that they stay on their violence preventing medications. That's the solution that keeps the public safe, avoids wasting resources, and eliminates the dilemma of incarcerating those we should be treating.

Methods for monitoring patients to ensure they take their medications exist and have proven successful. New York's Kendra's Law, for example, allows courts to order treatment and monitoring of dangerous mentally ill individuals. According to a 2005 New York State Office of Mental Health Study, patients under court-ordered treatment had an 83% reduction in arrest and 87% reduction in incarceration compared to the three years prior to participation. A Columbia University study found that "individuals given mandatory outpatient treatment—who were more violent to begin with—were nevertheless four times less likely than members of the control group to perpetrate serious violence after undergoing treatment."

DJ Jaffe is Executive Director of Mental Illness Policy Org.  

Thursday, June 11, 2015

ANALYSES HELPING FAMILIES IN MENTAL HEALTH CRISIS ACT 2015 HR 2646

On June 4, 2015, Rep. Tim Murphy (R. PA) and Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson (D. TX) introduced the Helping Families in Mental Health Crisis Act of 2015 (“HFMHCA”, HR 2646) which updates the 2013 version which did not pass (HR3717) It contains numerous provisions that will help those with the most serious mental illnesses.

Following is a summary of what Mental Illness Policy Org. considers the most important provisions of HFMHCA and a discussion of others. We did not analyze provisions related to children or technology.

SAMHSA Replaced by an Assistant Secretary of Mental Health and Substance Use Disorders

Background: It is well known that the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) has failed to focus it’s efforts on serious mental illness as mandated in the enabling legislation, use science to develop policy, hire anyone with medical expertise, or focus on reducing important metrics like rates of homelessness, arrest, incarceration, suicide, violence or hospitalization in people with mental illness.

The Helping Families in Mental Health Crisis Act replaces SAMHSA and it’s administrator with Assistant Secretary for Mental Health and Substance Use Treatment who must be a licensed Psychiatrist or Clinical Psychologist. This raises the profile of mental health in the government org chart and ensures that the lead policy official for mental health policy knows something about mental illness. The Assistant Secretary will administer responsibilities formerly administered by SAMHSA.

The Helping Families in Mental Health Crisis Act requires the Asst. Sec to focus on important metrics like rates of suicide and attempts, emergency psychiatric hospitalizations, emergency room boarding; arrests, incarcerations, victimization, and homelessness. The bill dramatically tightens the definition of evidence to be used in determining the efficacy of programs. It establishes a coordinating committee to advise the secretary that includes significant representation from criminal justice.

Mental Health Block Grant Applicants Required to Address Serious Mental Illness

Background: Mental Health Block Grants (MHBGs) are roughly $500 million in federal funds allocated to SAMHSA to distribute as “block grants’ to the states. Both SAMHSA and the Block Grants are supposed to serve people with Serious Mental Illness, but SAMHSA gives guidance to the states to divert the money from people with serious mental illness.

The Helping Families in Mental Health Crisis Act requires states applying for block grants to “include a separate description of case management services and provide for activities leading to reduction of rates of suicides, suicide attempts, substance abuse, emergency hospitalizations, incarceration, crimes, arrest, victimization, homelessness, joblessness, medication” and other important outcomes.

Assisted Outpatient Treatment Programs Receive Modest Funding

Background: Assisted Outpatient Treatment (AOT) allows judges to order a small group of seriously mentally ill who already accumulated multiple episodes of arrest, violence and hospitalization as a result of failing to comply with treatment to stay in mandated and monitored treatment while in the community. This has reduced their incarceration, arrest, homelessness and hospitalization by 70% each and saved money for taxpayers by reducing the use of expensive jails and hospitals. In 2013 Rep Murphy inserted a provision in the 2014 Protecting Access to Medicare Act (a/k/a “SGR” or “DocFix”) that provided $15 million annually for AOT.

The Helping Families in Mental Health Crisis Act of 2015 ups the amount provided to states for AOT by $5 million to $20 million annually and extends the grants through 2018. (20% to existing programs and 80% to new programs.) Further, states with an AOT law on their books will receive a 2 percent increase in their block grant funding. (Roughly $10 million annually split between them)

The Helping Families in Mental Health Crisis Act requires the Asst. Sec to measure outcomes in states with AOT which will help strengthen the evidence for it. Relatedly, states with a need for treatment standard will also receive a 2 percent increase in their block grant funding (about $10 million nationally).

HIPAA/FERPA Regulations Slightly Modified to Allow Helpful Disclosures to Caregivers

Background: Parents who provide case management, housing, income support and other services out of love to their children, are prohibited by HIPAA and FERPA from getting information about diagnosis, medications and next appointments of loved ones. Therefore they can’t make sure prescriptions are filled, transportation to appointments arranged and help facilitate compliance. Doctors and mental health programs also falsely claim that HIPAA prevents them from receiving information from family members.

The Helping Families in Mental Health Crisis Act allows an entity normally required to maintain patient confidentiality to share some  limited information with “caregivers”. HIPPA disclosure is limited to information about the diagnoses, treatment plans, appointment scheduling, medications, and medication related instructions, but does not include any personal psychotherapy notes. The Helping Families in Mental Health Crisis Act does not put a limit on which FERPA-protected information may be disclosed.

The Helping Families in Mental Health Crisis Act defines “caregivers” as “an immediate family member; someone who assumes primary responsibility for providing a basic need of such individual; a personal representative; someone who can establish a longstanding involvement and is responsible with the individual.”

The Helping Families in Mental Health Crisis Act provides that HIPAA protected information may be disclosed only if the patient is over 18 and has “serious mental Illness” diagnosed by a doctor that results in functional impairment of the individual that “substantially interferes with or limits one or more major life activities of the individual.” HIPAA protected information for people without serious mental illness may not be disclosed. FERPA protected information can be disclosed without those limitations.

Disclosure of information can only be made if all the following conditions are met for HIPAA protected information or the first condition only is met for FERPA protected information.

Such disclosure is necessary to protect the health, safety, or welfare of the individual or general public.
The information to be disclosed will be beneficial to the treatment of the individual if that individual has a co-occurring acute or chronic medical illness.
The information to be disclosed is necessary for the continuity of treatment of the medical condition or mental illness of the individual.
The absence of such information or treatment will contribute to a worsening prognosis or an acute medical condition.
The individual by nature of the severe mental illness has or has had a diminished capacity to fully understand or follow a treatment plan for their medical condition or may become gravely disabled in absence of treatment.

The Helping Families in Mental Health Crisis Act makes it clear that healthcare providers may “listen to information or review medical history provided by family members or other caregivers who may have concerns about the health and well-being of the patient, so the health care provider can factor that information into the patient’s care.”

IMD Exclusion Slightly Ameliorated to End Discrimination Against Seriously Mentally Ill who Need Hospital Care

Background: IMD’s are “Institutes for Mental Disease” colloquially known as state psychiatric hospitals. Likewise any facility, like an adult homes with more than 50% mentally ill are also IMDs. The IMD provision of Medicaid prevents states from getting reimbursed for people 18-64 who need long-term care in these IMDs. That is why states lock the front door of hospitals, open the back, and kick patients out of the hospitals and into the community where Medicaid will pick up 50% of the cost of care. Many of these individuals cannot live in the community and end up in jail or homeless. Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson (D. TX), and a former head of psychiatric nursing at a VA hospital has been a stellar proponent of eliminating the IMD Exclusion and helping people with the most serious mental illnesses.

The Helping Families in Mental Health Crisis Act allows states to get Medicaid reimbursement for care of adults in IMDs where the facility-wide average length of stay is less than 30 days. It also provides language preventing residential facilities from being declared IMDs. (CK) I believe this only allows amelioration of IMD is GAO scores it cost neutral. (CK)


PROTECTION AND ADVOCAY (P&A, PAIMI, Disability Rights) Returned to Original Mission of Protecting Mentally Ill from Abuse and Neglect

Background: The Protection and Advocacy for Individuals with Mental Illness (PAIMI/P&A) program was set up by Congress with the noble purpose to establish 50 state organizations to protect institutionalized individuals from neglect and abuse. (These frequently go by name of “Disability Rights [Name of State]). The programs moved beyond that purpose and used other language in the legislation to take on the mission of stopping treatment for the seriously ill, lobbying for laws to close hospitals, kicking people out of adult homes and opposing AOT. Many a state mental health director who has tried to improve care, and families of the seriously ill who have tried to facilitate it have found these federally funded lawyers opposing them.

The Helping Families in Mental Health Crisis Act returns PAIMI to it’s original mission of protecting patients against “abuse and neglect.” Outside the legislation “abuse” and “neglect” are defined.
 42 USC § 10802:
(1) The term “abuse” means any act or failure to act by an employee of a facility rendering care or treatment which was performed, or which was failed to be performed, knowingly, recklessly, or intentionally, and which caused, or may have caused, injury or death to an individual with mental illness, and includes acts such as—
(A) the rape or sexual assault of an individual with mental illness;
(B) the striking of an individual with mental illness;
(C) the use of excessive force when placing an individual with mental illness in bodily restraints; and
(D) the use of bodily or chemical restraints on an individual with mental illness which is not in compliance with Federal and State laws and regulations.

(5) The term “neglect” means a negligent act or omission by any individual responsible for providing services in a facility rendering care or treatment which caused or may have caused injury or death to a [1] individual with mental illness or which placed a [1] individual with mental illness at risk of injury or death, and includes an act or omission such as the failure to establish or carry out an appropriate individual program plan or treatment plan for a [1] individual with mental illness, the failure to provide adequate nutrition, clothing, or health care to a [1] individual with mental illness, or the failure to provide a safe environment for a [1] individual with mental illness, including the failure to maintain adequate numbers of appropriately trained staff.

The Helping Families in Mental Health Crisis Act requires those who get PAIMI contracts to agree to refrain from “lobbying or retaining a lobbyist for the purpose of influencing a Federal, State, or local governmental entity or officer; and “counseling an individual with a serious mental illness who lacks insight into their condition on refusing medical treatment or acting against the wishes of such individual’s caregiver.” Importantly, it also adds a grievance process so state mental health directors, family members and consumers who feel PAIMIs are violating their mission and impeding care can be reported to a third party for investigation.

Eliminates Discrimination in Medicare Against Mentally Ill who Need Long-term Care

Background: Medicare discriminates against those with serious mental illness by imposing a 190 day lifetime cap on inpatient psychiatric hospitalizations.

The Helping Families in Mental Health Crisis Act eliminates the 190 day lifetime cap on inpatient psychiatric hospitalization in Medicare.

Requires Medicaid to Allow Two Services Within Same Day

Background: There is a proscription against Medicaid paying for two services in the same day for certain individuals. So those who go to a clinic can’t see their primary physician and psychiatrist on same day, a particularly bothersome provision in rural areas where people have to travel.

The Helping Families in Mental Health Crisis Act allows payment for two services received in a single day.

Bans Medicaid Programs from Discriminating Against Medications Used to Treat Serious Mental Illness

Background: Many treating authorities are trying to move people off expensive treatments and on to less expensive ones without regard to their efficacy.

The Helping Families in Mental Health Crisis Act protects the most seriously ill. For “major depression, bipolar (manic-depressive) disorder, panic disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, schizophrenia, and schizoaffective disorder, a State shall not exclude from coverage or otherwise restrict access to such drugs other than pursuant to a prior authorization program” The bill also requires managed care organizations to cover all mental illness medications.


Strengthens Hospital Discharge Procedures

Background: For many seriously mentally ill, the crack is the system. Hospital responsibility ends at discharge, and community programs have no responsibility for patients who don’t show up.

The Helping Families in Mental Health Crisis Act attempts to make the crack smaller, by requiring (medicare reimbursed?) hospitals to prepare discharge plans and facilitate connection with outpatient treatment for patients they are discharging.

National Institute Of Mental Health

Background: Extensive research shows that most mentally ill seriously mental illn are not violent, but that seriously mentally ill who are not in treatment are as a group more violent than others. Historically, the mental health industry has refused to admit this for fear of causing stigma.

The Helping Families in Mental Health Crisis Act provides $40 million annually for four years specifically for NIMH to start studying violence to self and others plus the Brain Initiative.

Increases Minority Mental Health Workforce

Authorizes fellowships to increase the number of culturally competent behavioral health professionals

Creates Suicide Prevention Technical Assistance Center to Focus on those at High Risk for Suicide.

Background: Most investments in suicide prevention are made based on politics rather science. For example, programs aimed at preventing suicide in children are expanded, even though children are the least likely age group to commit suicide.

The Helping Families in Mental Health Crisis Act will provide grants for “prevention of suicide among all ages, particularly among groups that are at high risk for suicide.”

Establishes Interagency Serious Mental illness Coordinating Agency

Background: The federal government has dramatically expanded its mental health efforts by decalring things such as bad grades, bad marriages, lack of jobs, bullying and cyberbullying as mental illnesses and diverting funds to them. Government should help those who need help the most, not least.

The Helping Families in Mental Health Crisis Act establishes this committee to refocus efforts on the most seriously ill. In addition to those responsible for mental health policy, the Attorney General is on it. Other mandatory members include a judge, a law enforcement officer, and a corrections officials.

Other Provisions

Reports on Best Practices to Train and Certify Peer Support Specialists

Background: “Peer Support” is a program that pays people with mental illness or substance abuse to guide others with it. Peer support has been shown to be a useful program to address substance abuse. For mental illness, there is solid evidence that those paid like it. According to those paid to provide it, those who receive it feel more hopeful. No independent studies show meaningful improvements in important outcomes like homelessness, arrest, incarceration and suicide. No independent studies compare peer support with non-peer support. And no independent studies of peer support report on the effect on those serious mental illness. There is clear evidence the money SAMHSA historically distributed for peer support goes to organizations that lobby against treatments that help the most seriously ill like the availability of hospitals, AOT and the 2013 version of the Helping Families in Mental Health Crisis Act (HR 3717). I.e, Peer support for mental illness has generally had a negative systemic impact even if those who receive it do receive some benefit.

The Helping Families in Mental Health Crisis Act requires the Assistant Secretary to prepare a biennial report on best practices for “training and certifying peer support and establishing and operating programs using peer-support”. It defines a peer support specialist as someone who has “been an active participant in mental health or substance use treatment for at least the preceding 2 years” and “uses his or her recovery from mental illness or substance abuse plus skills learned in formal training, …to work …with individuals with a serious mental illness or a substance use disorder, in consultation with and under the supervision of a licensed mental health or substance use treatment professional.”

Thursday, May 21, 2015

Ask your state mental health director to apply for these federal funds to expand Assisted Outpatient Treatment (AOT)

(June/July 2015)
Thanks to Rep. Tim Murphy, there is new federal funding available that can be used to expand access to assisted outpatient treatment. Following is the draft of a letter you should send your state mental health director, local mental health director and share with anyone who is operating an AOT program in your state encouraging them to apply for the funds.

Name of Mental Health Director
Title
Name of Dept
Street
City, State, Zip

Re: Apply for Federal Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic Funding and use it expand availability of Assisted Outpatient Treatment

Dear name of state mental health director:

The “Protecting Access to Medicare Act of 2014” (H.R. 4302, 2013-2014) established funding for eight states to create two-year Demonstration Projects allowing Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinics (CCBHCs) to be reimbursed prospectively to help people with serious mental illness. As the result of action by Rep. Tim Murphy, Section 223(d)(4(iii) of the law (P.L. 113-93) states that “preference should be given to those (Demonstration Project applicants) that “will improve availability of, access to, and participation in Assisted Outpatient mental health treatment in the State.” The bill is at http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/PLAW-113publ93/pdf/PLAW-113publ93.pdf 

On June 8, SAMHSA is hosting a pre-application webinar to inform you how to apply for funding for the Demonstration Programs. See  http://www.samhsa.gov/sites/default/files/sm-16-001-webinar-notification_0.pdf. Your application must be submitted by August 5, 2015. Comprehensive information on all of this is at http://www.samhsa.gov/grants/grant-announcements/sm-16-001.

We strongly urge you to apply for these funds and to specifically use them to increase the availability of Assisted Outpatient Treatment (AOT) in (name of state).  

Thank you very much.


Name

Cc: Local Mental Health Director

       Local Programs with AOT program