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			Saturday, April 4, 2009 News Clipping Archives *Maryland / Regional* Maryland Launches Veterans Network Of Care Portal (Southern Maryland Headline News) Hopkins Hospital among 'most recommended' (Daily Record) Pikesville Target, rid of rodents, reopens (Baltimore Sun) *National / International* --- *Opinion* Rocky, Vinny and who pays the health bill (Daily Record) Fighting fraud cuts cost of health care (Baltimore Sun) *Maryland / Regional* Maryland Launches Veterans Network Of Care Portal Maryland is first state in the nation to launch online program to connect veterans with behavioral health services Southern Maryland Headline News Saturday, April 4, 2009 ANNAPOLIS (April 3, 2009) - Maryland Lt. Governor Anthony G. Brown on Tuesday, March 31, joined representatives of the public mental health industry and veterans affairs as Maryland became the first state in the nation to launch a “Network of Care” Website devoted to the state’s veterans. The Maryland Veterans Network of Care portal is an on-line resource that provides simple and fast access to information on local, state and national behavioral health services available to veterans. The portal is part of Network of Care online community. “We ask a great deal of our military families and our veterans and for that we owe them a debt of gratitude. When we saw men and women falling through the cracks of a large and out dated federal VA system, we didn’t point fingers. We chose to act,” Lt. Governor Brown said. “Maryland’s Commitment to Veterans initiative is a national model for what states can do to improve veteran services, especially behavioral health services. We are proud to be the first state in America to launch the Veterans Network of Care portal. We hope that other states follow our example and make veterans health a leading priority.” Last year, the O’Malley-Brown administration introduced to the General Assembly one of the most comprehensive veterans packages in the nation. The cornerstone of the package was the Veterans Behavioral Health Initiative that set aside $2.3 million for behavioral health services for veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan. The initiative provides funding for four regional resource coordinators who help direct behavioral health services to veterans in need. The administration introduced a bill this year that will expand the Veterans Behavioral Health Initiative to include all veterans. Brown is working closely with leaders in the General Assembly to protect funding for this program. “Many veterans do not sign up for services through the VA, and their families don’t know where to turn for help,” said Department of Health and Mental Hygiene Secretary John M. Colmers. “The Veterans Network of Care portal is a comprehensive Website that includes information to help veterans find and sign up for these services.” Studies show that as many as one out of three veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan suffers from mental health problems, including traumatic brain injury and post-traumatic stress disorder. Of those veterans, more than two out of three do not receive the proper medical attention that is necessary. Other studies have found that today’s returning veterans have a significantly higher rate of suicide than veterans from previous conflicts. “The Veterans Network of Care portal will serve as a bridge between federal, state and local services available for veterans. As a unique, new outreach and information hub it will serve all of Maryland’s veterans regardless of their geographic location,” said Maryland Department of Veterans Affairs Deputy Secretary Wilbert Forbes. Found at www.mdveterans.networkofcare.org, Maryland’s Veterans Network of Care portal builds on the success of the state’s Network of Care site which launched last year. It is hosted by the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DHMH), with assistance from the state Mental Health Association, National Alliance on Mental Illness-Maryland, On Our Own of Maryland and the Maryland Association of Core Service Agencies. DHMH is in the fourth year of a five-year $13.7 million federal grant to implement transformation initiatives in mental health care. The Network of Care community allows consumers to have a lead role in addressing their needs for behavioral health services, and also allows them to store medical records, advance directives and personal wellness plans in a password-protected personal folder. The site also contains a library of mental health articles, links to support and advocacy organizations, and reports on legislation. “This is a flexible system that can be updated within 24 hours,” said Renata J. Henry, DHMH Deputy Secretary for Behavioral Health and Disabilities. “It is compatible with the 2-1-1 system and is available to anyone, including providers and those who staff crisis response systems.” The Network of Care online community was developed by Trilogy Integrated Resources. California’s Network of Care system was showcased by the President’s New Freedom Commission in 2003 as a model program to help transform mental health care in the nation and is recognized as a leading force in the transformation of mental health care from a system that relied primarily on clinical treatment to one that empowers an individual to make decisions regarding his or her care. “We were so proud to be able to work with both the veterans and mental health leadership of Maryland to develop this remarkable resource for our returning soldiers,” said Trilogy president Bruce Bronzan. “Maryland now has the most advanced and comprehensive, locally-based information resource for veterans and their families in the country.” More information about Maryland’s main Network of Care Web site is available by clicking on “Maryland” found through the “Mental/Behavioral Health” link at www.networkofcare.org. Source: Office of Maryland Lt. Governor Anthony G. Brown Copyright 2009 Southern Maryland Headline News. Hopkins Hospital among 'most recommended' By Staff and Wire reports Daily Record Saturday, April 4, 2009 A new survey of U.S. physicians commissioned by AARP ranks The Johns Hopkins Hospital among the "most frequently recommended" medical centers for heart disease, cancer, "mystery diagnoses," neurosurgery and ophthalmology. Results of the survey, conducted by Consumers' Checkbook, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit research organization, are published in AARP magazine's May/June issue. The ratings are based on 140,000 ratings collected from a nationwide group of medical doctors designed to identify to which out-of-town specialty hospitals they were most likely to send patients with extremely difficult or complicated medical needs. The survey is available online at www.aarpmagazine.org/health/right_hospital_for_you.html. Copyright 2009 Daily Record. Pikesville Target, rid of rodents, reopens Baltimore Sun Saturday, April 4, 2009 The Pikesville Target, which had been ordered closed because of a rodent infestation, reopened Friday after Baltimore County environmental protection inspectors determined that the store had resolved the problem. Liz F. Kay Copyright 2009 Baltimore Sun. *National / International* -- *Opinion* Rocky, Vinny and who pays the health bill By C. Fraser Smith Daily Record Commentary Friday, April 3, 2009 Welcome, faithful readers, to another installment in The Ballad of Rocky and Vinny. For longevity of feuds, perhaps only the Hatfields and McCoys are competitive. The dramatis personae: Vincent DeMarco of Health Care For All and R.O.C. “Rocky” Worcester of the political action and business advocacy group Maryland Business for Responsive Government. DeMarco strives to make health care available to as many Marylanders as possible. Worcester strives to protect the interests of businessmen who labor under the increasing weight of providing health insurance for their workers. One might think there was common ground here, but alas, that is not the likely denouement in such conflict. After a while, the feud is everything. DeMarco has seemed to relish the combat. He loves the joust, the repartee, the technical debate. Worcester seems no less zealous in the defense of his position. Over the long run, however, many would say DeMarco has had the better of things. Health care is not available to all, to be sure, but the incremental pace of health care coverage has been impressive. Worcester, himself, might have provided the best evidence of DeMarco’s success. A stake through the heart During an appearance of the combatants at Baltimore’s Center Club on Feb. 5, the man known as Rocky asked DeMarco if he was familiar with the mythical monster called Dracula. Worcester, it must be acknowledged, went to Hopkins. Of course, replied the learned DeMarco, himself a Blue Jay. Then you know, Worcester said, the only way to kill the beast - with a stake through his evil heart. Worcester asked if DeMarco would stand still while he, Worcester, pretended to imbed such a stake. Of course, said the amiable Vinny. Whereupon, Rocky hefted his mallet and his stake and prepared to deliver the fatal blow. A photographer commissioned by the assailant snapped away. An audience of some appreciable size watched with bemusement, no doubt. No real blow was delivered. And DeMarco’s quest (his favorite literary image would be Don Quixote) seems to amble on undeterred. He pushes for expansion of various government efforts to get Marylanders and their children into some form of coverage - even in this period of economic retrenchment. Recent reforms championed by DeMarco expanded dental coverage for children in Maryland, increased Medicaid funding, provided for enhanced prescription drug coverage for seniors and created a public-private partnership that expands health care coverage to employees of small business. Medicaid, effective July 2008, had enrolled more than 34,000 lower income parents, 7,000 of whom are Baltimoreans. That number is almost 10,000 more than the state expected as a result of outreach by DeMarco & Co. and the recession. These changes, made possible by Gov. Martin O’Malley and the General Assembly, moved Maryland from 44th in the nation in the level of assistance it provides, to 21st. Maryland, one of the wealthiest states in the union, might well aspire to a more generous system. Avoiding costly care DeMarco says the hope is that those who now have coverage will be able to avoid primary care in state hospital emergency rooms where, often, so-called uncompensated care is translated into higher insurance premiums for Marylanders. That’s one way this state handles medical care for the poor. Even deeper inroads into the ranks of the uninsured would have been made this year save for lagging tax receipts. The so-called Working Families and Small Business Health Care Coverage Act of 2007 raised the eligibility level for Maryland parents. Prior to the act, Medicaid eligibility was available only to those who made more than 40 percent of the federal poverty level: about $8,000 per year for a family of four. The new level, 116 percent of poverty, meant that those making less than $25,000 per year were eligible. More than 150 small businesses enrolled in the program, extending coverage to about 1,000 people. A further expansion coverage to 100,000 more adults was delayed. As for the feud, the two men seem grateful for a bit of levity. “We had fun,” says Worcester. He employed the mallet and stake, he said, because he’s always heard that the single-payer approach to health insurance will only die when a stake has been implanted in the heart of the single-payer lobby. One of Worcester’s abiding challenges in life is to fend off that approach. DeMarco, who has satisfied himself with incremental improvements in the system, claims single payer is not his goal. And so it goes. At the moment, the most pressing issue is photographic. DeMarco wants a copy of the photograph of his harrowing moment for his mother. She wants to put it on her refrigerator. C. Fraser Smith is senior news analyst for WYPR-FM. His column appears Fridays His e-mail address is fsmith@wypr.org. Copyright 2009 Daily Record. Fighting fraud cuts cost of health care Baltimore Sun Letter to the Editor Saturday, April 4, 2009 Businesses across Maryland are facing a tough choice between paying skyrocketing health insurance premiums and cutting out such benefits for their employees. So it's ironic that the head of the Maryland Chamber of Commerce would write to support the death of legislation that would have partly addressed this problem ("Health fraud bill deserved defeat," letters, April 1). A false claims act in Maryland would greatly aid the state in helping to detect fraud by medical providers. Similar legislation on the federal level and in other states has given whistle-blowers incentive to come forth and report fraud. And false claims acts have helped to reduce the cost of health insurance. Some reports estimate that crooked medical providers steal more than $100 billion each year from health systems nationwide. That's a price that businesses and individuals subsidize through higher premiums and higher taxes. During a time of economic struggles, lawmakers and the Maryland Chamber of Commerce should be supporting tools that reduce fraud and the burden we all bear to afford health coverage. Dennis Jay Annapolis The writer is executive director of the Coalition Against Insurance Fraud. Copyright 2009 Baltimore Sun. BACK TO TOP


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