New York Officials ‘Scramble’ to Spend $22.7M in Federal Mental Health Funds

With an "unprecedented" amount of money "pouring into New York City" to help provide psychiatric counseling in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attack on the World Trade Center, state and city officials are "scrambling" to figure out how to spend it. The Wall Street Journal reports that the Federal Emergency Management Agency allocated more than $22.7 million to New York State, which must be spent within a few months, to launch a "crisis counseling initiative." FEMA included $14 million for New York City, which has been deemed "psychological ground zero." State and city officials plan "aggressive" outreach programs to provide mental health counseling and services, targeted at the "more than 5,000" families whose relatives are missing or dead. In addition, the city plans to implement an "intricate program" of "paraprofessionals," including priests and teachers, to serve as crisis counselors and bridge "cultural differences" among the diverse population. However, both state and city officials face the "difficult" task of trying to regulate "delivery of services" as funds are being spent at a "breakneck pace," the Journal reports. Randall Marshall, from the New York State Psychiatric Institute, said, "It is essential that the money falls in responsible hands" (Lagnado, Wall Street Journal, 10/5).

At What Cost?
In another article, the Wall Street Journal reports on public and private efforts to help "the emotionally frayed work force." Following the "initial roun[d]" of counseling, "longer term" mental health concerns, including depression, anxiety and "other maladies" will begin to "show up" in the weeks or months to come, presenting employers with new "challenges." This issue will have "important consequences for both worker productivity and health care costs," the Journal reports, noting that a study of 46,000 employees by Health Enhance Research Organization, a consortium of employers, found that depression and high stress "topped" the list of "10 factors leading to increased medical costs." According to the study, depressed employees had 70% higher medical costs than those "without such problems." Keith Dixon, chief executive of Cigna Behavioral Health, believes that office visits to psychologists and psychiatrists could "increase 5% to 10% as a direct result" of the attacks. Also, prescriptions for "expens[ive], brand-name" antidepressants, which most large employers "already" pay for, are "certain to rise," the Journal reports. According to Helen Darling, president of the Washington Business Group on Health, "It is going to be a long time before people are really back to the 'new' normal"(Martinez et al., Wall Street Journal, 10/5). For more information about health policy in New York state, go to State Health Facts Online.