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MENTAL HEALTH CARE FOR MILITARY FACES CUTS --
TRICARE and Medicare slashing benefits,
doctors dropping out of systems.
Story here...
http://www.sunherald.com/mld/
thesunherald/news/special_package
s/renewal/long_beach/17009877.htm
Story below:
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Mental health care for military faces cuts
Tricare, Medicare slashing benefits
By JOSHUA NORMAN
jdnorman@sunherald.com
Affordable mental-health care took another blow last month, when
Medicare and Tricare - one of the few health-care options for military
veterans and their families - reduced the amount it will pay providers.
Now, Medicare pays on the Coast approximately 48 percent of what
psychiatrists and psychologists normally charge, and Tricare pays about
45 percent, according to some providers, and are the result of a general
9 percent cut in reimbursement.
As a result, some psychiatrists and psychologists have been forced to
drop all people paying for mental health care via Medicare and Tricare
from their rolls altogether, because they just cannot afford to keep
them on.
This comes at a bad time, as a large number of returning veterans
display a host of post-traumatic stress-related symptoms and average
Coastians begin to show the painful long-term effects of traumatic
stress from Hurricane Katrina.
"I'm going to always take the position that the provision of adequate
mental-health care is good for any community, any business," said Dr.
Elizabeth Henderson, president of the Mississippi Psychiatric
Association, adding many do not realize how much money good
mental-health care saves in the long run. "It's well worth the expense,
but it's also the first thing that gets cut."
While representatives for Medicare and Tricare were unable to be reached
in time for this report, Henderson and other providers said the
reduction was simply an attempt to "balance the books" more or less with
the two federally funded health-care systems.
Dr. Michael Zakaras, a Gulfport psychologist, said the changes make it
harder for the many military families that are straining right now under
the weight of the ongoing wars.
"This is appalling when our soldiers and their families are making such
great sacrifices," said Zakaras, who has been practicing on the Coast
for nearly 30 years and seen many military families. "We're screaming
about Walter Reed and on the other hand we're slashing fees when it
comes to mental-health services. Basically what it does is limit access
to care and that's sad. I don't know if that's what's intended."
Both Henderson and Zakaras said there is potential legislation in
Congress to alleviate the problem, but it is not just federal
mental-health care reimbursement that is at issue.
"The rates of reimbursement not only with Tricare and Medicare but some
major insurance carriers are not keeping up with costs of running a
practice," Henderson said. "The amount they will pay for, say, a regular
visit is way below what it costs to keep the lights on in the office.
The system is in need of some help."
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Larry Scott --
