Is Medicaid expansion reducing disability claims? The total decline in Social Security Income claims in states that expanded Medicaid in the first six months of 2014 was 11.2 percent, compared with 10.0 percent in non-expansion states. (Modern Healthcare, Dec. 6)
Report – “Parity or Disparity: The State of Mental Health in America, 2015.” Massachusetts scores highest on mental illness prevalence and access to care, while Arizona scores lowest. Northeastern states rank higher, in general, than southern and western states. (Mental Health America, Dec. 9)
Wait for Social Security disability benefits can be years long. When a prospective recipient files for SSDI, it typically takes at least eight months to get a hearing, depending on the jurisdiction and the details of the claim. Then it takes another two months for a decision. (Orange County Register, Dec. 6)
House passes bill to improve military mental health care. The Clay Hunt Suicide Prevention for American Veterans Act would require annual evaluations of mental health programs at both the VA and the Defense Department as well as authorize the VA to collaborate with veterans services organizations and mental health nonprofits to improve care. (The Washington Times, Dec. 9)
Post-Newtown momentum on mental health has slowed. Two years after the shootings in Newtown, Conn., prompted calls to rebuild the country’s frayed mental health system, the drive for change has slowed at the state level and ground almost to a halt in Washington. (USA Today, Dec. 9)
Denver mayor appoints Don Mares as first mental health strategist. Mental health advocate Don Mares, a former Denver auditor, will return to city government as executive director of the new Office of Behavioral Strategies to coordinate far-flung efforts and create a strategy on the issue. (The Denver Post, Dec. 11)
Research: Ensuring access to health care for patients with disabilities. “Patients with disabilities face barriers when they attempt to access health care. …The barriers persist despite two federal laws that explicitly state that health care settings must be accessible to patients with disabilities.” (Journal of the American Medical Association, Dec. 8)
Parents worry managed care oversight will affect KanCare services. The Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Services has proposed allowing the managed care companies that have administered the state’s Medicaid program since February 2013 to have a say in deciding which services “best meet (a) participants needs.” KDADS last month asked federal officials to approve the plan. The public has until Dec. 20 to comment on the proposal. (Kansas Health Institute, Dec. 15)
Why Stephen Hawking is talking up Intel’s ‘assistive technology’ innovation. The technology, due in early 2015, lets individuals like Hawking control software applications through eye movements. Speech synthesizers and eye-controlled pointing devices included in the Intel solution are just two examples of technologies that fall under the assistive umbrella. Some things you’d normally associate with computer gaming also have an obvious use, including joysticks or wands that respond to gestures. “Technology for the disabled is often a proving group for the technology of the future,” observed Intel Labs researcher Lama Nachman. (Fortune, Dec. 5)
Video visits blocked despite doctor shortage. Videoconferencing doctors from other areas could help solve the problem of hospital closings and doctor shortages that hit heavily rural states, but proponents say states move too slowly in allowing it. (USA Today, Dec. 7)
Is that $1 or $5? Ask this money reader for the blind. Created by Orbit Research, it will be the first currency reader distributed by the U.S. Bureau of Engraving and Printing. The bureau will be shipping iBills, free of charge, across the country starting January 2. (NPR, Dec. 6)
Texas governor’s mansion renovated for governor-elect with a disability. The first Texas governor to use a wheelchair will soon move into a mansion built 134 years before laws started requiring that public building be accessible. (Governing, Dec. 8)
At first, it looks like a smart car. Open the hatch and it becomes a holy-crap-that’s-genius car. For many wheelchair users, finding transportation can be challenging and even expensive. Custom vans with wheelchair lifts can cost upward of $100,000. The Kenguru electric car is giving wheelchair users a new, easy, and affordable way to get around. (Upworthy, Dec. 8)