Outlook

New Measure Would Expand Healthcare Volunteering
   Disability and behavioral health efforts could eventually benefit from new legislation seeking to expand federal volunteering programs and get more manpower where it's needed most, including the healthcare field.
posted 9/16/08 11:31 AM  read complete story

HHS Starts Devising Healthy People 2020
   HHS seeks comments on key elements of its Healthy People 2020 efforts. For Healthy People 2010, key priorities include tobacco use, substance abuse, mental health and healthcare access. Input from the community will help to position these priorities for inclusion in the next decade's edition.
posted 8/11/08 11:47 AM  read complete story

Report: Disabled Don't Have to Pay the Price for Medicare Reform
   Addressing the big picture--rather than just Medicare itself--is an essential approach to solving the program's financial woes without negatively impacting its already vulnerable beneficiaries, including many with disabilities.
posted 8/5/08 09:44 AM  read complete story

Measure Would Create Treatment Research Nonprofit
   The institute would be required to assess the full spectrum of health interventions, including pharmaceuticals, medical devices, medical procedures, medical services and other therapies.
posted 8/5/08 09:19 AM  read complete story

Strategic Investments in Prevention, Cessation Can Lower Costs
   A new Trust for America's Health report demonstrates how strategic investment in disease prevention and smoking cessation could result in significantly lower U.S. healthcare costs, putting billions back into shrinking Medicare and Medicaid coffers and saving individuals even more.
posted 7/25/08 2:05 PM  read complete story

Economy Pushing States to Cut Services for Disabled, Those At Risk
   As the economy sours and states face looming budget deficits, lawmakers in at least 18 states have made or proposed budget cuts that threaten vital services for their most vulnerable citizens, including many with disabilities. Already, more than half the states are projecting deficits for the upcom...
posted 6/3/08 3:41 PM  read complete story

IA, VT, ME, MA, NH Have Top Children's Systems
   A new Commonwealth Fund report finds IA, VT, ME, MA and NH have the best overall child health systems. U.S. Variations in Child Health System Performance: A State Scorecard finds states vary widely in the quality of healthcare children receive, family insurance premiums, equity, access to car, and ...
posted 5/29/08 1:29 PM  read complete story

NE Legislators Shifts Funding from Rural to Urban Districts
   The Nebraska Legislature has passed a new school funding formula in April that makes sweeping changes in the way $839 million in state aid is distributed. The new law, LB 988, goes into effect in the 2008-09 school year. It was prompted in part by the reality that the funding formula in place would...
posted 5/29/08 12:36 PM  read complete story

Budget Experts: End Automatic Social Security, Medicaid Spending
   A group of diverse and prominent economists and budget experts propose ending the automatic spending for Social Security, Medicaid and Medicare, the large entitlement programs that support healthcare and services for many seniors, people with disabilities and other vulnerable populations.
posted 4/14/08 08:34 AM  read complete story

Budget Woes Driving States to Cut Services for Most Vulnerable
   Almost half of all states are cutting programs instead of raising taxes to meet budget shortfalls, and new research by the Center for Budget & Policy Priorities finds that often those cuts are to programs that help people at risk, such as those with disabilities, mental illness and addictions.
posted 4/10/08 11:12 AM  read complete story