Family Voices Indiana

Health homes are an optional Medicaid benefit established under Section 2703 of the Affordable Care Act, which integrate behavioral and physical health care and social services and provide comprehensive care coordination for those with chronic conditions. The benefit builds on the medical behavioral health homes for children home model, which is defined as “an approach to providing comprehensive and high quality primary care” that is accessible, family-centered, continuous, comprehensive, coordinated, compassionate, and culturally effective.”  As of April 2018, 17 states have active health home programs that are targeted towards individuals with serious mental illness or serious emotional disturbance. Per federal requirements, states must make their BHH programs available to both adults and children More info in bulletin below: Nashp Bhh Fact Sheet Final by Family Voices Indiana on Scribd

From Indiana University Want to help us better understand variation in FASD?  Join a research study!  We're enrolling adults and kids (ages 7 and up) from around the world. You participate from home on our website at  https://digfasd.org/   Want to learn more?  Contact us at fasd@iu.edu or +18443780002. 

T he  P laintiffs :  Rosie D. is the lead named plaintiff in a class action lawsuit that sought to compel the  Commonwealth  of  Massachusetts  to provide intensive home-based mental health services to children with serious emotional disturbance (SED).   The  Center for Public Representation , the  Mental Health Legal Advisors Committee  and  Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP  filed the lawsuit in 2001 on behalf of Rosie D. and eight other Medicaid-eligible children, aged 6 to 15, who were hospitalized or at risk of hospitalization due to the lack of home-based services.   The class includes tens of thousands of children in  Massachusetts  who are eligible for Medicaid (MassHealth) and have emotional, behavioral or psychiatric disabilities. T he  L egal  C laims :  The plaintiffs challenged the State’s failure to provide medically necessary services as required under the federal Medicaid Act, and its failure to inform parents and children that they are entitled to these co

from Ntl FV: For many months it has been expected that the administration would issue a rule redefining what it means to be a "public charge" for purposes of deciding which immigrants should be allowed to enter or stay in the United States. The  proposed rule  was finally released  on Saturday  night (9/22) with a  press release  from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). In the coming days it will be available for public inspection online, and will be published in the Federal Register within about a week. At that point, a 60-day public-comment period will begin.   Immigration law has long included the concept of "public charge," with the intent of excluding immigrants likely to become a burden on the government. In making a determination about whether someone might become a public charge, immigration officials consider the totality of the circumstances, including receipt of specified public benefits. Under current law and regulations, these are limited

by Michelle Diament  | September 25, 2018 The Trump administration is proposing a new rule that would make it harder for immigrants with disabilities and their families to get a visa or obtain permanent residency in this country. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security said over the weekend that it will officially propose a  regulation  to “ensure that those seeking to enter and remain in the United States either temporarily or permanently can support themselves financially and will not be reliant on public benefits.” Under the plan, receiving certain public benefits — including Supplemental Security Income and most Medicaid benefits — above particular thresholds now or in the past would be a “heavily weighed negative factor,” the agency said. The 447-page proposal outlining a wider view of who can be considered inadmissible by virtue of being what’s known as a “public charge” specifically cites “mental disorders” as among the five most expensive health conditions. “Under long

Families USA has released a  new issue brief  that highlights the importance of Medicaid for the healthy development of children. As the  largest insurer of children in the US , Medicaid connects 37 million kids to low-cost, high-quality coverage with  comprehensive benefits designed to meet a child’s individual health and developmental needs .  Some of the highlights of the brief include: Medicaid is coverage low-income  families can rely on . It allows them to take their children to a doctor when they are sick, to get them vaccinated on schedule, and to make sure they get routine health care and checkups. Because Medicaid offers low-income families coverage with very low premiums and cost-sharing, it ensures children are able to get the medical care they need when they need it and protects families from medical debt. For many working families whose employers don’t provide job-based insurance, Medicaid is often the only affordable source of health coverage available.  The Medicaid