Describes mental health service needs in rural America and barriers to improving its quality and availability. Federal programs, especially the Office of Rural Health Policy, are described and policy recommendations for improving rural mental health care are presented. (DM)

Text of a Congressional hearing examining present and future policies on providing home health care for the aged is presented in this document. In his opening remarks, Representative Biaggi discusses the unhealthy and unacceptable reliance on institutional care and the disproportionate amount of resources Medicare and Medicaid spend on nursing…

Text of a Congressional hearing examining the plight of aging Americans, still at financial risk despite the help of Medicare and Medicaid, is presented in this document. Testimony or prepared statements are delivered by 17 Congressmen including Representatives Roybal, Jeffords, Renaldo, Hammerschmidt, Pepper, McCain, Manton, Fawell, Robinson,…

At the request of Senator William Roth, Jr., the General Accounting Office (GAO) reviewed Medicare and Medicaid fraud investigations that agency inspectors general referred to the Department of Justice for prosecution to identify characteristics of alleged fraud against the government and to determine actions taken against those caught defrauding…

Compares and contrasts characteristics of the mental health system and the Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) service system; examines environmental, intraorganizational, and interorganizational variables as they pertain to potential for linkages between mental health and VR providers; and discusses implications for improved integration of treatment…

The number of overweight and obese children and adolescents has reached epidemic proportions, and recent federal surveys show that most school meals do not meet federal nutrition guidelines. Accordingly, there is growing interest in the nutritional quality of foods available in U.S. schools--and in the role of the government in helping to make…

This document contains witness testimonies and prepared statements from the Congressional hearing called to examine issues involved in maintaining and strengthening Medicare Health Maintenance Orgranizations (HMO). Opening statements are included from Representatives Edward Roybal, Matthew Rinaldo, Mario Biaggi, Don Bonker, Robert Borski, Louise…

The Bamford Review of Mental Health and Learning Disability (Northern Ireland) was established in October 2002 to examine all aspects of the law, policy and provisions that affect people with mental health needs or a learning disability in Northern Ireland. Its report "A Comprehensive Legislative Framework," which deals with the reform…

This document presents Congressman Claude Pepper's report on the Medicare Home Care Benefit. Section I traces the history of home health care in the United States. Section II offers statistics and general background information about older Americans and Medicare. The beginning of the Medicare home care benefit and its present operation are…

People with alcohol or other drug disease face public and private policies that restrict their access to appropriate health care, employment, and public benefits, discouraging them from seeking treatment, robbing them of hope for recovery, and costing society millions of dollars. Join Together, a project of Boston University School of Public…

Analyzes the 1983 distribution of inpatient mental health facilities and estimated inpatient beds for all 3,137 U.S. counties categorized on an 18-position urbanization scale. Finds services available in only 13 percent of all nonmetro counties and in virtually none of the most rural, nonadjacent, nonmetro counties. Contains 30 references. (SV)

Employee health promotion through wellness programs can be set up at schools using existing facilities. Describes how Greenwood Area Schools in Millertown, Pennsylvania, set up a program and lists who does what in the program. (MLF)

As states confront budget shortfalls, investment in mental health services faces the chopping block. Almost every state has instituted cost containment strategies in its Medicaid programs and state policymakers have begun to cut services for people with mental health treatment needs. The first part of this report presents research on state cuts to…

Summarizes findings of December 1987 hearings in Des Moines and Nashville on the dimensions of mental health problems in rural America. Outlines 18 Commission recommendations to Congress and state legislatures covering mental health service delivery, funding, public education, professional education, and research. (SV)

This document provides the transcripts from the Congressional hearings on the Older Americans Health Education and Training Act. This act is to provide the necessary resources, leadership, and coordination: (1) to design a uniform, standardized program of health education and training for older Americans; (2) to directly involve educational…