Recovery: An Ongoing Process, Not a Destination

At its core, the idea of “Recovery” expresses an amalgam of aspiration and hope. From practice, I learned that each patient has highly individual ideas of recovery. Examples: A man was pleased when a change from a traditional antipsychotic to clozapine, a more potent medication, meant a...

The NYSPA Report: Taking Stock and Taking Leave

Advocacy must be unending, ongoing work because there is always more to accomplish and always the danger that hard-won gains may be undone. For the past 14 years I have either written or edited the work of guest columnists for the quarterly NYSPA Report in Behavioral Health News (BHN) or in Mental...

NYSPA Report: Raise the Age of Jurisdiction

An important part of the mission of the New York State Psychiatric Association is its work to assure the incorporation of good, up to date science into public policy as well as its work to protect vulnerable populations. NYSPA’s advocacy for raising the age of criminal responsibility in New York...

The NYSPA Report: Conversion Therapy

Primum non nocere, “first do no harm,” is a maxim well known to physicians and might be one that should be taken to heart by state decision makers. It is with this dictum in mind that NYSPA urges the NYS Senate to finally pass during its 2016 session the bill defining the practice of “Sexual...

The NYSPA Report: Community Based Extended Inpatient Care

A cohort of persons with serious and persistent mental illness (SPMI) will continue to require extended inpatient psychiatric treatment beyond 2015, the year during which NYS will enroll virtually all of its Medicaid insured into managed care. Where their care will be provided remains to be...

The NYSPA Report: The Final Parity Rule – What NYS Should Do About It

On November 21, 2013, five years after the passage of the Paul Wellstone and Pete Domenici Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008 (MHPAEA), the federal Departments of the Treasury, Labor and Health and Human Resources issued the final rule governing its implementation. Due to the...

The NYSPA Report: A Salute to Behavioral Health News

The New York State Psychiatric Association (NYSPA), the state affiliate of the American Psychiatric Association, applauds and congratulates the Board of Mental Health News Education, Inc. for its decision to broaden their publication’s mission to address issues related to alcohol and substance...

NYSPA Report: How Will New York State’s Transition to Medicaid Managed Care Impact Those with Serious Mental Illness?

Skepticism, not cynicism, will be in order during the coming year as New York State’s efforts to place all of its Medicaid enrollees, including those with serious and persistent mental illness, into Medicaid Managed Care Plans (MMCPs) is realized. Reaching this goal is an important part of the...

The NYSPA Report: Medicaid’s Fragmented Formularies

To control the spiraling cost of medications to the NYS Medicaid program, the NYS budget adopted during 2011 radically altered the way the program purchased and paid for that formulary. The previously unified Medicaid formulary was fragmented such that each Medicaid HMO was required to define and...

The NYSPA Report – Medicaid Redesign and the Public Mental Health System in NYS

In my last piece for Mental Health News I presented an overview of the attack on Medicaid, including mental health services, taking place across the nation. I expressed my belief that given NYS’s expenditures on Medicaid, which are far higher than any other state, reductions were necessary,...