Medicaid Choice Counseling

As the Outreach Manager for the Florida Medicaid Program Choice Counseling, I want to take a moment to say that it is our sincere desire and ultimate goal to provide every Medicaid beneficiary the resources it needs to make an informed choice regarding the selection of the health plan that they will receive their benefits through. Not every beneficiary is in need of choice counseling. But for those who do, we have made non-biased, third-party counseling available at no cost through our call center and through face-to-face interaction with Field Choice Counselors at conveniently located organizations throughout Broward and Duval. Counseling is available in group or individual settings. We will also do a home visit if necessary.
Finally, we offer what we call Private Seminars. This type of counseling is for any Community Based Organization or Agency that is serving Medicaid beneficiaries. We ask the organization to advertise the event to its clients and help coordinate as well as provide the case managers or supervisors who are involved in the individual's desicion making. We have been very succesful in a short period of time reaching out to the Mental Health Community through this type of counseling and encourage any provider of services to Medicaid beneficiaries to contact us regarding securing our counselors to come to your location. I would also like to offer the opportunity to ask questions about our program. I will respond as soon as I see it.

I can be reached at 904-696-9071

Please call me if you or your clients are experiencing any issues regarding the selection of your health plan. I will do everything I can to help you resolve it.

Percent of Children (1-17) with Emotional, Developmental, or Behavioral Problems that Received Mental Health Care, 2003

Source: state health facts


Report

Percent of Children (1-17) with Emotional, Developmental, or Behavioral Problems that Received Mental Health Care, 2003


Received Mental Health Care/Counseling of Some Type during Past 12 Months:
FL: 55%
US: 59%

Data are for 2003. These are the estimated percentages after applying the sampling weights.

Data based on The National Survey of Children's Health, sponsored by the Maternal and Child Health Bureau of the Health Resources and Services Administration, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.The NSCH examines the physical and emotional health of children ages 0-17 years of age. Special emphasis is placed on factors that may relate to well-being of children, including medical homes, family interactions, parental health, school and after-school experiences, and safe neighborhoods. For more detailed analyses of the survey's findings, see the Data Resource Center on Child and Adolescent Health (DRC); available at http://www.nschdata.org/Content/Default.aspx.

Sources: Child and Adolescent Health Measurement Initiative, 2005, National Survey of Children's Health, Data Resource Center on Child and Adolescent Health, retrieved August 17, 2006; available at www.childhealthdata.org.




We are interested in hearing from Medicaid Recipients in Broward County and Duval County. Please contact us by email at medicaidreform@pobox.com.

www.floridamedicaidreform.org

Medicaid's Role for People with Disabilities

Source: Information provided by the Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured
Publication Number: 4027 Publish Date: 2003-12-11

This primer is on Medicaid's role as the major provider of health coverage for non-elderly persons with disabilities and on the policy challenges that lie ahead. It also provides short profiles of people with disabilities from across the country.



We are interested in hearing from Medicaid Recipients in Broward County and Duval County. Please contact us by email at medicaidreform@pobox.com.

www.floridamedicaidreform.org

Experts Urge Lawmakers to Help Ease Growing Mental Health Crisis in Seniors

By Moises Mendoza, Times Staff Writer
September 15, 2006


WASHINGTON — Senior citizens have high rates of mental illness and the country's highest suicide rate when compared with other age groups, a panel of mental health experts told a congressional committee Thursday.

Appearing before the Senate Special Committee on Aging, the experts said poor access to mental health care, inadequate training for primary care physicians and even apathy among seniors was contributing to a growing mental health crisis among those older than 65.


Seniors account for a fifth of all suicides — many by firearms; nearly 40% show signs of depression, but only about 3% seek psychological help, the experts testified.

"I think you could probably characterize the situation as a national embarrassment," said psychologist David Shern, president and chief executive of the National Mental Health Assn., an advocacy group in Alexandria, Va.

Fewer than half of all adults with symptoms of depression are screened accurately by their primary care physicians, he said, urging changes in clinical and training practices.

He also called for more research funding to study suicide risks among the elderly — a view that all of the panel's experts endorsed.

Dr. David C. Steffens, a geriatric psychiatrist at Duke University Medical Center, said that when money gets tight, some seniors stop taking antidepressants rather than give up medications to treat physical ailments.

But, he added, several projects looking into innovative approaches to seniors' mental health care showed promise.

In one study conducted in New York, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, depression care managers — usually nurses or social workers — worked with physicians to identify patients who showed signs of depression and follow up on their care.

Steffens said participants in this program were less likely to think about suicide than people in a control group.

In another study, covering five states, clinical specialists in depression worked with patients in a primary care clinic, reducing their depression symptoms by as much as half when compared with patients who did not receive specialist care, Steffens said.

As the hearing ended, Sen. Gordon H. Smith (R-Ore.), the committee chairman, said that improving mental health services for seniors should be a top priority.

"There really should be no higher issue for us in Congress than to fix this," he said.


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moises.mendoza@latimes.com




We are interested in hearing from Medicaid Recipients in Broward County and Duval County. Please contact us by email at medicaidreform@pobox.com.

www.floridamedicaidreform.org

Report calls for outreach to uninsured Hispanics

Sept. 14, 2006, 11:31PM
Report calls for outreach to uninsured Hispanics
Only 1 in 4 across the U.S. covered by jobs


By MY-THUAN TRAN
Copyright 2006 Houston Chronicle Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON — The growing number of Latinos without health insurance could be reduced if the government offered small businesses tax incentives to provide coverage, a Hispanic advocacy group said Thursday.

Many Latinos hold low-wage jobs in small businesses that are not as likely to offer health insurance, according to a report issued by the Latino Coalition. The group said only one in four Latinos nationwide has employer-provided insurance.

The report also recommended that the government offer tax credits, which would reduce taxes by a dollar for every dollar put into health savings accounts. These accounts use a mixture of savings and insurance to
help people cover medical expenses.

The main barrier to adequate health care for Latinos — along with poverty, language and low education levels — is not having health insurance, said Robert de Posada, the president of the Latino Coalition.

The percentage of Latinos without insurance is among the highest among all ethnic groups, the group said. More than half of Texas' uninsured population is Latino, according to the 2000 Census.

The report calls for programs that are tailored to Latino culture and Spanish language.

For example, Hispanics face a higher risk of chronic diseases, such as diabetes and obesity, than non-Hispanics. When making health policy, the government should take these differences into account, the report said.

"Not all programs affect all populations the same way," said Glenn Melnick, a professor at the University of Southern California who co-authored the report. "We have to understand the different languages and cultures to make programs effective."

The report called for more funding for community clinics that offer free or low-cost health care in places with high Latino populations.

The government should also make efforts to increase the low enrollment of Latino children in federally funded health programs, the report said. One-fifth of Latino children lack health insurance.

The Latino Coalition said the government needs to find ways to get uninsured Latino children into programs such as Medicaid or the State Children's Health Insurance Program, which provides coverage to uninsured low-income children.

"These strategies are doable and easy to achieve," de Posada said. "We are tired of waiting for people to act."

my-thuan@chron.com







We are interested in hearing from Medicaid Recipients in Broward County and Duval County. Please contact us by email at medicaidreform@pobox.com.

www.floridamedicaidreform.org

South Florida Sun-Sentinel Editorial Board

September 14, 2006

ISSUE: Health official gives an upbeat assessment on Medicaid reform.

With the Medicaid experiment in Broward and Duval counties off and running, the program's administrator must watch for snags, not read early signs of a smooth transition as a complete success.

Tom Arnold, the state's Medicaid chief, said that since the start of Medicaid reform on Sept. 1, his agency hasn't heard a single complaint from or about a program recipient having any problems. Maybe so, but Arnold would serve this experiment better by keeping an eye out for trouble, even if the first weeks of Medicaid's new tack in caring for the poor and elderly seem to be operating well enough.

Watchfulness is appropriate especially since several health-care advocates of Medicaid patients have painted a less rosy picture. They talk of recipients bewildered by a new process that requires them to choose among 13 health plans, not to mention the lack of basic information, such as which drugs are covered and limits the plans impose on care.

Florida has taken a bold step in addressing the increasing costs of Medicaid, a joint state and federal program that in recent years has seen its operating costs go through the roof. This month, the state began a new managed-care system involving 210,000 Medicaid recipients in Broward and Duval counties.

The hope is that the two-county pilot program will save money and enhance services. The fear is that it will leave those who need more extensive -- read expensive -- medical care in a lurch.

What is a certainty is that confusion often follows major changes in health-care programs. It occurred recently with the Medicare prescription drug program and it's very possible that there will be similar perplexity as the Medicaid pilot program continues.

The reform has put Florida in the national spotlight. So, sticking with an upbeat outlook can be tolerated to a point. Now, however, is not the time for a snap assessment that may ultimately come across as insensitive, or worse, dismissive.

BOTTOM LINE: It's still way too early to dismiss legitimate concerns about the change.



Copyright (c) 2006, South Florida Sun-Sentinel

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We are interested in hearing from Medicaid Recipients in Broward County and Duval County. Please contact us by email at medicaidreform@pobox.com.

www.floridamedicaidreform.org