Do not turn out the lights on the public mental health system when the ACA is fully implemented.

When all of the insurance and health care reforms of the ACA are fully implemented, some public financing needs for behavioral health services will remain. This commentary outlines a number of the residual functions of the public mental health system in an ACA world, and it identifies opportunities for expansions of service areas not covered by traditional insurance or the health delivery reforms for behavioral health services within the scope of the ACA.

Proactive approach identifies benefits.

The University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics in Iowa City, has developed strategies to identify uninsured patients early in the stay, and help them access ongoing care in the community. Twelve healthcare benefit assistance program social workers educate patients and families about financial options and help them apply for government-sponsored programs. Through a Revolving Fund agreement, the hospital pays the Medicaid rate to post-acute facilities while patients' Social Security Disability is pending and is paid back when the disability coverage is approved. Dedicated social workers help patients who need brand name medications and can't afford them sign up for national pharmaceutical assistance programs.

Financial and health burdens of chronic conditions grow.

Almost 72 million working-age Americans--18-64 years old--live with chronic conditions, such as diabetes, asthma or depression. In 2007, almost three in 10, or more than 20 million people with chronic conditions, lived in families with problems paying medical bills--a significant increase from 21 percent in 2003, according to a new national study by the Center for Studying Health System Change (HSC). While problems paying medical bills are especially acute and still rising for uninsured people with chronic conditions (62%), medical-bill problems also are significant and growing among people with private insurance and higher incomes. For the more than 20 million chronically ill adults with medical bill problems in 2007, one in four went without needed medical care, half put off care and more than half went without a prescription medication because of cost concerns.

America's health care safety net: revisiting the 2000 IOM report.

The committee that wrote the 2000 Institute of Medicine report on the health care safety net reconvened in 2006 to reflect on the safety net from the perspective of rising numbers of uninsured and underinsured people, the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, high immigration levels, and new fiscal and policy pressures on care for vulnerable populations. Safety-net providers now participate in Medicaid managed care but find it difficult to meet growing needs for specialty services, particularly mental health care and affordable prescription drugs. How current state reforms and coverage expansions will affect care for the poor and uninsured is a critical issue.

The first 2 years of a state child health insurance plan: whom are we reaching?

OBJECTIVE: The Colorado Child Health Plan Plus is a non-Medicaid state Child Health Insurance Plan. The objective of this study was to compare early enrolling (EE) children with uninsured children in low-income families (ULI) with respect to 1) sociodemographic factors and previous insurance, 2) health status, and 3) previous health care access and utilization. METHODS: Cross-sectional telephone surveys were conducted during 1999 of 1) randomly selected EE children (n = 711) and 2) ULI children identified by random-dial survey (n = 105). RESULTS: Enrolling children were less likely to be Hispanic (32.7% vs 55.2%); 5.5% of EE versus 27.6% of ULI children had never been insured. Prevalence of chronic conditions was similar (16.2% of EE vs 13.5% of ULI children), but learning/behavioral difficulties (9.7% of EE vs 18.6% of ULI) and fair/poor health (5.4% of EE vs 17.2% of ULI) were higher for uninsured children. In the previous year, 88.2% of EE versus 66.1% of ULI children had a usual source of care. The mean number of preventive visits was similar (1.4 vs 1.2), but the EE group reported a higher mean number of sick visits (2.0 vs 1.1), emergency visits (0.48 vs 0.15), and hospitalizations (0.09 vs 0.02). CONCLUSIONS: In the first 2 years of the program, Child Health Plan Plus is not yet reaching the "hard-to-reach" but, rather, disproportionately high numbers of non-Hispanic children who already have a usual source of care and recent insurance. EE children did not have higher rates of chronic conditions but did demonstrate higher utilization before enrollment, possibly reflecting patterns of enrollment into the program.