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The NYSPA Report – Medicaid, Behavioral Healthcare, and the 2011 NYS Budget: Taking Stock
There can be no question that 2011 has been a tough budget year all around, including in New York State. The end of the legislative session provides an opportune time to take stock and see where we are. When our new governor, Andrew Cuomo, took office in January, New York State was facing a $10.5...
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The NYSPA Report: New York State Psychiatric Association’s 2011 Legislative Agenda
Presenting the New York State Psychiatric Association’s legislative agenda for the 2011 session in Albany represents more of a challenge than usual because the governor’s budget proposal will be presented after the writing of this report and the printing of this issue of Mental Health News....
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The NYSPA Report: A Response to the NYS OMH Report on Inpatient Suicide
The poet A. Alvarez titled his book about suicide, “The Savage God” to evoke its lure and horror for its victims and their families. Suicide is one of the most upsetting paths to death for all touched by it. It has been the subject of much study, aiming to understand what drives it and how to...
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Comparative Effectiveness Research: An Introduction
On February 17, 2009, within a month of his inauguration, President Barack Obama signed into law the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009, the $787 billion economic package meant to stabilize and stimulate the nation’s economy. Contained within the Act was $1.1 billion dollars...
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The NYSPA Report: New Federal Parity Law May Expand Coverage for Mental Illness in New York
This edition of the NYSPA Report discusses the impact that new federal parity legislation may have on the coverage of mental health and substance abuse services in New York State. The Paul Wellstone and Pete Domenici Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act, signed into law on October 3, 2008,...
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Providing Essential Care & Services Following Psychiatric Hospitalization
In this article we will address the discharge planning process. Affecting a proper discharge plan is an important continuation of the care rendered during the inpatient psychiatric hospitalization. This observation is especially true as the length of inpatient stays has become briefer. What an...
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The NYSPA Report – NYS Governor’s Executive Budget Proposal: Issues for the Mental Health System
This edition of the NYSPA Report focuses on the Governor Paterson Executive Budget Proposal for the 2009-2010 fiscal year. Customarily, the Governor’s annual budget proposal is released in January of each year. However, because, in the words of Governor Paterson, the state is facing the most...
