Readers and Tweeters Diagnose Greed and Chronic Pain Within US Health Care System
Posted onKHN gives readers a chance to comment on a recent batch of stories.
Tag: Investigation
In PA County Jails, Guards Use Pepper Spray and Stun Guns to Subdue People in Mental Crisis
Posted onAn investigation of records from 25 county jails across Pennsylvania showed that nearly 1 in 3 “use of force” incidents by guards involved a confined person who was having a psychiatric crisis or who had a known mental illness.
When Mental Illness Leads to Dropped Charges, Patients Often Go Without Stabilizing Care
Posted onWhen criminal suspects are deemed too mentally ill to go through the court process and their charges are dropped, they can be left without stabilizing treatment — and sometimes end up being charged with additional crimes.
Digital Mental Health Companies Draw Scrutiny and Growing Concerns
Posted onConsumers who have trouble getting in to see a therapist are turning to online behavioral health providers that offer quick access. But there’s limited research on their effectiveness.
Journalists Investigate Private Equity, Medical Debt, and Mental Health Care
Posted onKHN and California Healthline staff made the rounds on national and local media this week to discuss their stories. Here’s a collection of their appearances.
California Handed Its Medicaid Drug Program to One Company. Then Came a Corporate Takeover.
Posted onThe company awarded the state’s Medi-Cal Rx contract was taken over by another company, Centene. That left the state with a contractor it didn’t pick — one that has been accused of overbilling nine other state Medicaid programs and is now under investigation by California.
Long Waits for Montana State Hospital Leave Psychiatric Patients in Jail
Posted onA backlog at Montana’s psychiatric hospital for those facing criminal charges has left people with serious mental illness behind bars for months without adequate treatment. In some cases, judges have freed defendants over due-process violations.
State Laws Aim to Regulate ‘Troubled Teen Industry,’ but Loopholes Remain
Posted onWithout 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.
Wartime Trauma Hits Close to Home for Scholar of Dementia
Posted onThe 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.
California Joins States Trying to Shorten Wait Times for Mental Health Care
Posted onIn California, health insurers blame long waits for therapy appointments on workforce shortages, but state lawmakers say that’s an excuse. A new law requires insurers to reduce wait times for mental health appointments to no more than 10 business days.