Connecticut Primary Care Association Outreach Network E-News September 20, 2005

Relief Personnel for Hurricane Katrina Disaster

The Office of the Surgeon General and the Office of Public Health Emergency Preparedness are mobilizing medical personnel to help the victims of Katrina. The list of healthcare services range from financial officers to veterinarians to housekeepers. There is online registration of contact information on the website. See https://volunteer.ccrf.hhs.gov/

Hotline for Crisis Counseling

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) has a hotline for crisis counseling. By calling 1-800-273-TALK (1-800-273-8255), people who are in emotional distress or suicidal can call at any time from anywhere in the nation to talk to a trained worker who will listen to and assist callers in getting the mental health help they need. People will be provided with immediate access to local resources, referrals and expertise.

National Depression Screening Day

October 6, 2005 is National Depression Screening Day (NDSD), a day for promoting mental health awareness, education and screening since 1991. The annual initiative is community- based and offers health providers across the nation an opportunity to participate. If you or your organization would like to participate, the NDSD website has online registration, kit of materials, promotional information, training and technical assistance. See http://www.mentalhealthscreening.org/.

The American College of Physicians has cosponsored NDSD since 1998 and is offering a free, online tool kit for screening patients for four mental health disorders – depression, bipolar disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, and post-traumatic stress disorder. To download the kit, go to their website at: http://www.acponline.org/index.html .

HUSKY Forums

Connecticut’s Covering Kids and Families, Voices for Children and the Department of Social Services are sponsoring a series of HUSKY Forums open to community organizations, to be held across Connecticut this fall. The goal of the forums is to build relationships between DSS eligibility staff and community outreach workers and to improve common understanding of HUSKY eligibility and other policy issues and procedures. Topics will include pregnant women and new changes in HUSKY eligibility. To view the schedule, go to: http://www.ctkidslink.org/media/announcements/huskyforums.pdf.

Community Health Centers Face Economic Hard times Despite the Bush administration’s increased funding for community health centers (CHCs), CHCs are facing loss of revenues by the increase of health care costs and influx of uninsured patients, according to a report by the National Association of Community Health centers (NACHC). The number of patients treated at CHCs nationally has grown from 4 million to 15 million since President Bush took office, the biggest growth spurt in the 40-year history of the CHCs. The number of uninsured patients seen at the CHCs has risen by 43% between 1999 and 2004. In that same period, the share of federal funding has decreased from 58% to 52%. Adding to the fiscal problem is the prospect of states reducing Medicaid benefits, which would further cut into CHC revenues. Medicaid is the biggest insurer of CHC patients. CHCs generally do not turn away people who cannot afford to pay for services. Dan Hawkins, vice president of NACHC, urges lawmakers to fully fund the health centers, thereby making them a medical home for Medicaid recipients whose benefits are reduced. By offering preventive and primary care to these patients, the need for costly emergency room treatments would be reduced, according to Hawkins. For related articles, see The Commonwealth Fund at http://www.cmwf.org/

Online Medicaid Benefits Database

The Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured has updated and improved the Medicaid Benefits Online Database. The database provides state by state information on 46 Medicaid services including whether the benefit is covered, co pay requirements, limitations on benefits and reimbursement methodologies. The database also allows you to make comparisons between 2003 and 2004 information. The 2003 and 2004 data was collected by Health Management Associations for the Commission. Access the site at www.kff.org/medicaid/index.cfm

Census Data on Poverty, Health Insurance and Income

In Connecticut, the increase in families living in poverty and those without health insurance is growing faster than the national rate. The number of Connecticut residents living in poverty increased by 11% between 2003 and 2004, as compared to a 2% growth across the nation. The number of uninsured residents increased by 5%, as compared with a 2% national increase. Overall, Connecticut’s poverty and health insurance measures are lower than the national average; however, these increases are causing concern among economists and labor advocates, who see the statistics as an indication of an uneven economic recovery. On the national level, median income did not change in the poorest 20% of households and was down for the middle 60%. The top 20% of households, however, earned 50.1% of all income. According to the director of Connecticut Working Families, the state subsidizes businesses without regard to standards for wages or health insurance, thereby creating low wage jobs that do not provide health insurance. Hartford Courant, “Bloom Off ‘Richest State’ Rose,” Ritu Kalra, Aug. 31, 2005.

Priority Groups for Flu Vaccine

Last year’s flu vaccine production was inadequate, due to the closing of a manufacturer in Europe. As a result of uncertain flu vaccine production and distribution schedules, the CDC recommends that the following priority groups receive trivalent inactivated influenza vaccine (TIV) until October 24, 2005: Persons aged 65+ with comorbid conditions Residents of long term care facilities Persons aged 2-64 years with comorbid conditions Persons aged 65+ without comorbid conditions Children aged 6-23 months Pregnant women Health care personnel who provide direct patient care Household contacts and out of home caregivers of children aged less than 6 months

Source: MMWR Weekly, September 16, 2005. There are recommendations for vaccinating Hurricane Katrina victims. See: http://www.bt.cdc.gov/disasters/hurricanes/katrina/vaccrecdisplaced.asp and for emergency response workers: http://www.bt.cdc.gov/disasters/hurricanes/responderimmun.asp.

------The Outreach Network E-News is a monthly newsletter for outreach workers covering outreach issues, events and state and federal policy changes. If you have an event or news that you’d like to share, or have questions or comments concerning this newsletter, contact Susan McGuire at [email protected]

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