Mental Health

A task force working with state officials on restructuring Medicaid has given rise to a new group — one that’s specifically concerned with mental health and substance abuse issues.

Members of the new group say it offers them an unusual opportunity to help shape requirements for what is likely to be a huge state health care contract.

“It seems like an opportunity to take a public health approach [to] substance abuse and mental health,’’ says Neil Kaltenecker, executive director of Georgia Council on Substance Abuse. She’s a member of the new panel.

The state is contemplating a whole new structure for Medicaid and PeachCare. The Department of Community Health is working on a ‘‘redesign’’ of how the two government insurance programs are run. The process has drawn intense interest from stakeholders, policymakers and health insurance companies expected to bid on contracts. full story

Grady Health System said Tuesday that it is consolidating its outpatient mental health programs to help meet growing service needs in metro Atlanta.

Grady is combining three outpatient behavioral health offices into a larger location at 10 Park Place, near MARTA’s Five Points Station hub.

The move will improve access to services and will provide space to assist more patients, Grady said in a news release.

The 125 behavioral health staff members working in the three outpatient centers will be relocated to the new location.

“The demand for mental health assistance is growing dramatically, and our goal is to make our services as accessible as possible to residents of metropolitan Atlanta,” said Michael Claeys, executive director of Behavioral Health Services at Grady. “This move to larger, more centrally located, dedicated space will expand our capacity so that we can accommodate the demand.”

One of the three outpatient clinics is the Auburn Avenue Recovery Center. Georgia Health News reported in December that the Auburn Avenue clinic had problems with an often malfunctioning system for air conditioning and heating. full story

The Obama administration should finalize regulations and implement the law on mental health benefits parity passed four years ago, former President Jimmy Carter and former First Lady Rosalynn Carter told an assembly of health journalists in Atlanta on Thursday.

The law requires health insurers to cover both mental and physical health equally, with the same out-of-pocket costs, benefit limits and practices such as prior authorization of treatment.

But final regulations on the 2008 law have still not been issued, the Carters said.

“The White House just has not followed up on it,’’ President Carter said.

“I’m really worried about it,’’ said Mrs. Carter, who advocated for the parity law’s passage.

The White House recently gave states flexibility on crafting the benefits package offered under the 2010 health reform law, and that shift may further unravel the impact of the parity law, she said.

The Carters also discussed the Carter Center’s work on eradicating disease in developing countries, and assessed the health reform law, in an interview with health journalist Andrew Holtz before hundreds of journalists at the kickoff session of the Association of Health Care Journalists conference. full story

The bill is more than 800 pages long. It was introduced just days before the early March “Crossover Day,” when a bill must have passed one legislative chamber to have a shot at ultimate approval.

But those impediments did not diminish interest in Secretary of State Brian Kemp’s proposal to restructure the state boards that license tens of thousands of Georgia professionals, including those in several health care professions.

Senate Bill 445 drew a packed hearing room at the state Capitol on Tuesday, as the Senate Regulated Industries and Utilities Committee met to consider the licensing legislation.

The debate appeared to center on a fundamental question: Should professionals such as nurses be disciplined and overseen by a board of their peers, or by an independent, seven-member consumer board, as Kemp is proposing?

Kemp explained the legislation as an attempt to redirect the resources in his office — which has taken a 17 percent funding cut over the past four years — and streamline procedures of 43 professional licensing boards. The bill is so long because of heavy cross-referencing to various other laws, he explained.

The bill would create a new position, director of professional licensing, and establish the seven-member consumer board that would decide disciplinary action for all the professions. The current professional boards would still exist but would focus on policy.

A restructuring, Kemp said, would reduce wait times for routine licensing and make the process more efficient. Last year, he said, his office fielded 58,000 calls from applicants asking about the status of their licenses.

Despite Kemp’s strong pitch, his proposal drew unanimous opposition from representatives of health care associations and licensing boards who testified at Tuesday’s hearing. Most stressed patient safety in their arguments against changing the system.

The Georgia Nurses Association said the Board of Nursing’s efficiency has shown significant improvement recently. “We’re not clear that the total restructuring of the board is needed,’’ said Debbie Hatmaker of GNA.

The nurses’ organization says license revocation, discipline and complaints are best regulated by those who are professionally educated to interpret the complexities of health care. full story

After seven years of being addicted to meth, Jennifer Ploof had ‘‘lost absolutely everything.’’

She had been jailed 10 times, convicted of possession of methamphetamine and possession with intent to sell the powerful drug.

Meth ‘‘made me lie, do harm to others, made me abandon my child,’’ Ploof says.

Ploof, 27, is now in recovery from her addiction. She went through intensive inpatient treatment at Women’s Outreach in Rome for five months. She now has a job, and is in the process of getting her child back.

“I was sick and tired of being sick and tired,’’ she says. “A second chance saved me.’’

Ploof was among hundreds of Georgians recovering from addictions who attended a rally Monday at the state Capitol, on the first day of the 2012 General Assembly.

Gov. Nathan Deal, other state officials and lawmakers addressed the crowd, emphasizing the theme of criminal justice reform  –  alternative sentencing for nonviolent offenders through special courts.

Through chants, signs and T-shirts, people at the rally expressed support for recovery programs and concern about the possibility that the state will lose about $20 million in supplemental funds from the federal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program. The money goes to residential and outpatient programs that help women recover from addictions and keep their children out of foster care. full story