Mental Health

Latest KFF Health News Stories

A medida que más estados desautorizan el diagnóstico de “delirio excitado”, grupos policiales retroceden

KFF Health News Original

La nueva ola de propuestas estatales, impulsada por familias que perdieron familiares después de enfrentamientos con la policía, marca un paso importante para desterrar un término que los críticos dicen que incita a la policía a usar fuerza letal en exceso.

Amid Mental Health Staffing Crunch, Medi-Cal Patients Help One Another

KFF Health News Original

Peer leaders can help ease the shortage of mental health providers and build trust through shared experiences, state health officials say. In 2022, California started allowing counties to use Medicaid dollars to pay them for their work.

As More States Target Disavowed ‘Excited Delirium’ Diagnosis, Police Groups Push Back

KFF Health News Original

After California passed the first law in the nation to limit the disavowed term “excited delirium,” bills in other states are being introduced to help end use of the diagnosis. But momentum is being met with resistance from law enforcement and first responder groups, who cite free speech.

Secret Contract Aims to Upend Landmark California Prison Litigation

KFF Health News Original

California has commissioned an exhaustive study of whether its prisons provide a constitutional level of mental health care, which it could use to try to end one of the lawsuits that have federal courts overseeing the state’s prisons. But corrections officials won’t disclose even basic details of the consultants’ contract, including its cost to taxpayers.

A New $16,000 Postpartum Depression Drug Is Here. How Will Insurers Handle It?

KFF Health News Original

A pill form of an effective drug for postpartum depression hit the market in December, but most insurers do not yet have a policy on when or whether they will pay for it. The hurdles to obtain its predecessor medication have advocates worried.

Hospitales de California y defensores buscan financiación estable para retener a navegadores de salud conductual

KFF Health News Original

En 2022, el año más reciente del que se dispone de datos, 7,385 californianos murieron por sobredosis relacionadas con opioides, de los cuales el 88% involucró fentanilo, un opioide sintético que puede ser 50 veces más potente que la heroína.

California May Face More Than $40M in Fines for Lapses in Prison Suicide Prevention

KFF Health News Original

A court expert reported that California prisons continue to lag on 14 of 15 suicide prevention measures, and even regressed in some areas. The state could face more than $40 million in fines after a federal judge warned more than a year ago that she would impose penalties for each violation.

Why Even Public Health Experts Have Limited Insight Into Stopping Gun Violence in America

KFF Health News Original

After the 1996 Dickey Amendment halted federal spending on research into firearms risks, a small group of academics pressed on, with little money or political support, to document the nation’s growing gun violence problem and start to understand what can be done to curb the public health crisis.

Statistical Models vs. Front-Line Workers: Who Knows Best How to Spend Opioid Settlement Cash?

KFF Health News Original

A mathematical model designed to direct spending of opioid settlement funds is at the center of a debate over whether to invest in technology to guide long-term decisions or focus on the immediate needs of people in addiction.

California Hospitals, Advocates Seek Stable Funding to Retain Behavioral Health Navigators

KFF Health News Original

California has supported expanded use of medications in the fight against opioid use disorder and overdose deaths. But hospitals and addiction treatment advocates say the state needs to secure ongoing funding if it wants more behavioral health workers to guide patients into long-term treatment.

California Gov. Newsom Wants Voters to Approve Billions More to Help the Homeless. Will It Help?

KFF Health News Original

A March 5 ballot initiative seeks $6.4 billion to build thousands of new housing units and provide mental health treatment for homeless people — on top of the billions already being spent to address the public health crisis. Despite significant support from health and law enforcement officials, many front-line workers are skeptical that more money is the answer.

Health Care Workers Push for Their Own Confidential Mental Health Treatment

KFF Health News Original

Montana may join about a dozen other states in creating “safe havens” that keep health care professionals from facing scrutiny from licensure boards for seeking mental health or addiction treatment.

Cities Know That the Way Police Respond to Mental Crisis Calls Must Change. But How?

KFF Health News Original

Cities are experimenting with new ways to meet the rapidly increasing demand for behavioral health crisis intervention, at a time when incidents of police shooting and killing people in mental health crisis have become painfully familiar.

Colorado Legal Settlement Would Up Care and Housing Standards for Trans Women Inmates

KFF Health News Original

A soon-to-be-finalized legal settlement would offer transgender women in Colorado prisons new housing options, including a pipeline to the Denver Women’s Correctional Facility. The change comes amid a growing number of lawsuits across the country aimed at improving health care access and safety for incarcerated trans people.

Acuerdo legal en Colorado mejoraría estándares de atención y vivienda para reclusas trans

KFF Health News Original

El Departamento de Justicia de Estados Unidos encontró en 2014 que las personas trans en prisión tienen muchas más probabilidades de experimentar violencia sexual tras las rejas tanto del personal como de otros presos.

Ketamine Therapy for Mental Health a ‘Wild West’ for Doctors and Patients

KFF Health News Original

Ketamine, approved by the FDA as an anesthetic in 1970, is emerging as a major alternative mental health treatment, and there are now more than 500 ketamine clinics around the country. But with little regulation and widely varying treatment protocols, it’s a medical “wild West.”

Native American Communities Have the Highest Suicide Rates, Yet Interventions Are Scarce

KFF Health News Original

Native Americans die by suicide at a higher rate than any other racial or ethnic group, yet research into effective and culturally appropriate interventions is uncommon.