APA and Health Care Reform: How Far the Thinking Has Come on Mental Health Issues

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1. Learn how Hollywood helped reform mental health (Portsmouth Herald)
   In 1948, the movie "The Snake Pit" helped transform the public view of mental illness and reform treatment of the mentally ill. On Thursday, April 2, Ben Harris, professor of psychology, will discuss the impact of this groundbreaking motion picture in...
2. Blue Cross Blue Shield Of Georgia Is Skimping On Mental Health Care, Says Georgia Psychological Association (Medical News Today)
   Late in 2007, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Georgia (BCBSGa) announced that it was cutting its hourly therapy reimbursement rate for clinical psychologists by approximately 19%. This new rate is about the same as you pay your auto mechanic or home handyman per hour. However, unlike your mechanic, BCBSGa wants to pay licensed psychologists about half of what they were paid 10 years ago by BCBSGa.
3. New University of Washington Study Investigates Barriers to Mental Health and Addiction Care in Seattle's Urban ... (PRWeb via Yahoo! News)
   A team of psychologists and mental health professionals have published the results this week of a new study highlighting the issues Seattle residents face when seeking psychiatric care. The report suggests the city is in need of better resources and a more beneficial attitude if the quality of patients' lives is to improve.
4. Death of Psychiatrist and Other Soldiers Triggers Inquiry Into Military’s Mental Health Care
   Alarmed by the rising suicide rate among soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan and “wanting to help,” Matthew “Matt” Houseal, MD, a psychiatrist with the Texas Panhandle Mental Health Mental Retardation Center (TPMHMR), reenlisted as an Army Reservist and volunteered to serve in Iraq.
5. Update: Where We Stand on Health Care Reform
   A stand-alone bill to permanently repeal Medicare’s “flawed” Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR) formula failed to garner enough support in the Senate yesterday to surmount procedural barriers.