Category: mental health

KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: Paging the HHS Secretary

Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra is drawing criticism for his hands-off handling of the covid crisis even though the heads of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institutes of Health, and FDA report to him. Meanwhile, the Department of Labor looks to enforce mental health “parity laws” that have failed to achieve their goals. Margot Sanger-Katz of The New York Times, Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, and Rachel Cohrs of Stat join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews KHN’s Noam N. Levey, who reported and wrote the latest KHN-NPR “Bill of the Month” episode about a large emergency room bill for a small amount of medical care.

Mental Health Therapists Seek Exemption From Part of Law to Ban Surprise Billing

Some practitioners object to the way upfront cost estimates are designed, saying they could affect access to care and are burdensome. Other experts disagree.

Colleges Struggle to Recruit Therapists for Students in Crisis

The need for mental health services on campus, which was already rising, has skyrocketed during the pandemic, with many students undergoing grave psychological crises. Colleges say they often lack the means to offer competitive salaries to therapists.

In California Nursing Homes, Omicron Is Bad, but So Is the Isolation

Omicron infections are surging in residential care facilities, causing massive sickouts among staff members and an uptick in hospitalizations and deaths. The latest visitor restrictions and testing requirements are also compounding the isolation that residents have suffered for almost two years.

After Miscarriages, Workers Have Few Guarantees for Time Off or Job-Based Help

About a quarter of all pregnancies end in miscarriage. Despite the large number of workers affected, no national laws protect them when they need time off to deal with the loss.

After Miscarriages, Workers Have Few Guarantees for Time Off or Job-Based Help

About a quarter of all pregnancies end in miscarriage. Despite the large number of workers affected, no national laws protect them when they need time off to deal with the loss.

State Laws Aim to Regulate ‘Troubled Teen Industry,’ but Loopholes Remain

Without a federal law governing private, for-profit residential programs for children with behavioral problems, regulation has been left to the states. But even in states that have sought to increase oversight, deaths and controversial tactics such as seclusion still happen.

A Catch-22 Trips Up Some in Legal Guardianship Who Try to Regain Independence

If a judge decides someone cannot make their own decisions, the person can be placed under a court-appointed guardianship, also known as a conservatorship. Some states are beginning to allow less-restrictive alternatives.

Pandemic Poses Short- and Long-Term Risks to Babies, Especially Boys

A mother’s immune response to covid can be a greater danger to the fetus than the virus itself.

Wartime Trauma Hits Close to Home for Scholar of Dementia

The federal government is putting up $7.2 million for a study into the correlation between war trauma and dementia in Vietnamese immigrants. Oahn Meyer, an associate professor at the University of California-Davis who is leading the study, wonders whether her mother’s dementia is linked to trauma she suffered during the Vietnam War.