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Make a donation at www.nmha.org.|
NMHA Responds to the Aftermath of Hurricane Katrina NMHA and its 340 local and state affiliate network continue to mount a coordinated mental health response to the thousands of victims of recent hurricanes, which devastated the U.S. Gulf Coast, caused major damage in southern Florida, killed more than 1,000 people, and displaced an estimated 1.3 million people from their homes and communities. Immediately following Hurricane Katrina, the national office formed a Disaster Response Team that met every day to coordinate response efforts with MHAs working on the front lines. As part of the effort, the team has so far held two conference calls with MHAs to organize our ongoing efforts. MHAs from states directly affected by the disasters and advocates from across the country are working daily to support evacuees, and assist displaced consumers...complete article Medicaid Cuts Still in Doubt As Advocates Say "No!" Hurricane Katrina not only wreaked havoc throughout the Gulf region, it continues to roil Congress as legislators debate national priorities and the impact of proposed budget cuts on vulnerable Americans. Accordingly, in late November, despite an earlier budget blueprint requiring potentially deep Medicaid cuts, Congress has yet to resolve how to achieve Medicaid savings and how extensive any budget cut would be. The answers to those questions await a Senate-House conference committee, which will have to reconcile the very different paths the two chambers took to budget-cutting. With NMHA and affiliates working to steer Congress away from deep Medicaid cuts with a “do-no-harm” message, unrelenting advocacy work has temporarily set back efforts in the House of Representatives to enact such cuts. The House leadership, which backed a package that included some $10 billion in Medicaid cuts (75 percent of which would fall directly on program beneficiaries), postponed a scheduled Nov. 10 vote on the bill because it lacked the votes needed for passage. Our joint advocacy efforts forced House leaders to re-examine their Medicaid proposals and ultimately to scale back some of its provisions in order to eke out passage of a revised budget-cutting bill on Nov. 18 by a 217-215 margin. The House-passed bill yielded ground in scaling back one of the most egregious of its proposals that would have permitted states to increase cost-sharing from $3 to...complete article
National Mental Health Association The Bell is published by the National Mental Health Association, which works with its 340 affiliates nationwide to promote mental health, prevent mental disorders and achieve victory over mental illnesses through advocacy, education, research and service. To join NMHA and receive The Bell, visit NMHA’s Web site at http://www.nmha.org or call 800-969-NMHA (6642). Cited reproductions, comments and suggestions are encouraged. Cynthia Wainscott, Chair of the Board |
