IOM Offers Smoking Measures
A combination of increased excise taxes, nationwide indoor smoking bans, and other measures would significantly lower the U.S. smoking rate, which now hovers at around 21% of the adult population, according to a report from the Institute of Medicine. But to achieve faster, more certain reductions, the Food and Drug Administration should be given broad regulatory authority over tobacco marketing, packaging, and distribution, said the report, Ending the Tobacco Problem: A Blueprint for the Nation. The IOM also recommended requiring all health insurance plans to cover smoking cessation programs and launching new efforts aimed at curbing youth interest in smoking and access to tobacco. The report urged federal lawmakers to limit tobacco advertising to text-only, black-and-white formats, and to prohibit tobacco companies from using terms such as “mild” and “light.” “Aggressive policy initiatives will be necessary to end the tobacco problem,” the report said. “Any slackening of the public health response may reverse decades of progress in reducing tobacco-related disease and death.”
Retiree Plans Offer Rx Coverage
A majority of retiree health benefit sponsors said that for 2006 they continued to offer prescription drug coverage, despite the availability of the new Medicare Part D drug benefit, according to a Government Accountability Office report. Most plans also accepted the government's retiree drug subsidy (RDS) payments, which were created along with the Part D benefit as an incentive for privately sponsored retiree health plans to continue offering drug coverage. The GAO found that, in the short term, retiree health plan sponsors appear to have left drug benefits largely unchanged. But over the longer term, it's not clear whether the availability of the Medicare Part D drug benefit may make it more likely that sponsors will stop offering prescription drug benefits, the GAO said.
Group Medical Costs Rise
The cost of providing group health benefits to employees increased sharply during the past 6 months, with the vast majority of employers, regardless of business size, paying significantly more for account renewals than in the fall of 2006, according to a survey by the Council of Insurance Agents & Brokers. Despite the cost increases, most employers are continuing their traditional coverage plans and shifting costs to employees in the form of higher deductibles and copayments as opposed to limiting options or discontinuing coverage.
AMA Fights Medicare Cuts
Physicians report that they will severely limit the numbers of Medicare patients they treat if Congress doesn't act to avert planned Medicare physician payment cuts, which will total 10% on Jan. 1, 2008, and will reach about 40% over the next 9 years, according to an American Medical Association survey of nearly 9,000 physicians. If Medicare payment rates are cut by 10% in January, 60% of physicians report that they will limit new Medicare patients, and 40% say they will limit established Medicare patients, the AMA survey found. “As physicians brace for nine years of steep payment cuts, it will be extremely difficult for them to continue accepting new Medicare patients into their practices,” said AMA Board Chair Dr. Cecil Wilson. “The baby boomers begin entering the program in 2010, and the Medicare cuts increase the likelihood that there may not be enough doctors to care for the huge influx of new Medicare patients.” MedPAC, Congress' advisory committee on Medicare, has recommended that Congress halt next year's 10% cut and update payments 1.7% in line with practice cost increases. The AMA has launched a publicity campaign to urge federal lawmakers to deflect the cuts and update payment rates based on practice cost increases.
Call to Share Student Mental Info
Legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives would allow schools and universities to share a student's mental health information with parents or guardians, but only if the student is considered a danger to himself or others. Rep. Tim Murphy (R-Pa.), a child psychologist and cochair of the Congressional Mental Health Caucus, sponsored the legislation (H.R. 2220). The bill would clarify the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974, which currently inhibits schools from notifying parents when a student might pose a significant risk of suicide, homicide, or assault, according to Rep. Murphy. “We want to remove the barrier that prevents schools from contacting parents to get them the help they need, not only for the safety of their child, but also of others on campus,” he said in a statement.
Bipolar Disorder More Common
A new survey indicates that as many as 4% of American adults might have bipolar disorder at some point in their lifetime, higher than the 1% prevalence found in previous surveys. Researchers from the National Institute of Mental Health queried about 9,282 people from 2001 to 2003 as part of the National Comorbidity Survey-Replication. Based on the survey, the authors reached lifetime estimates of 1% for bipolar I disorder; 1.1% for bipolar II disorder; and 2.4% for subthreshold bipolar disorder. Most patients with a lifetime history of bipolar disorder and lifetime treatment were under the care of psychiatrists; patients with subthreshold bipolar disorder were more likely to receive care from a general medical professional. The study appeared in the May issue of the Archives of General Psychiatry.