Woonsocket Radio News Room

School psychological services would be eligible for Medicaid reimbursement under McNamara bill

 

STATE HOUSE — As the mental health impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic begin to be better understood, Rep. Joseph M. McNamara (D-Dist. 19, Warwick, Cranston) has introduced legislation to address unique educational challenges that the pandemic has generated.

The bill (2023-H 5010) would direct that services provided by school social workers and certified school psychologists would be included as health care-related services eligible for federal Medicaid reimbursement.

“We are just now beginning to understand the ways the pandemic has affected the mental health of our children,” said Representative McNamara, who chairs the House Education Committee. “Mental health conditions can affect academic achievement, increase involvement with the family court, cause family rifts, and increase the risk for suicide. Any help our communities can get in ensuring the presence of these mental health professionals and the essential services they provide would be a tremendous benefit to the families of Rhode Island.”

According to the 2022 Rhode Island Kids Count Fact Book, there has been an increase in anxiety and depression among youth, especially among young children of color and LGBTQ youth since 2020.

In 2019, 15% of Rhode Island high school students reported attempting suicide one or more times during the past year. In Rhode Island between 2016 and 2020, there were 2,356 emergency department visits and 1,236 hospitalizations of youth ages 13-19 due to suicide and 13 children ages 15 to 19 died due to suicide.

An estimated 13.7 million children in the United States have been diagnosed with anxiety, depression or behavioral health disorders. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, behavioral health disorders can prevent children from developing coping and resiliency skills — abilities they need to help them learn, behave or handle their emotions. These skills are essential to healthy social development and help ensure children have a positive quality of life now and into adulthood. 

Studies have shown children spend approximately 49 percent of their days in a school setting and are six times more likely to get evidence-based treatment when offered in schools than in other community settings. By linking programs and supports that foster a comprehensive school mental health system, states can not only reduce the number of children experiencing anxiety, depression and behavioral health disorders, but also save a considerable amount in economic costs.                                                  

 

The New York trial of former President Donald Trump is set to resume today with the judge deciding if Trump has violated his gag order. Prosecutors want him fined three-thousand bucks. Trump supporters say it's unconstitutional that Trump is limited to what he can talk about, while everyone else is allowed to speak freely about the case.       Former President Trump says his criminal case boils down to a "legal expense" and is only meant to keep him off the campaign trail. After the trial adjourned Monday, Trump told reporters all of his cases are coming out of the White House to influence the election.       The Supreme Court will hear arguments in two big cases today. The first involves a man from El Salvador who was denied a visa to be with his wife, an American citizen, in the U.S. He eventually learned he was rejected because an official saw his tattoos and suspected he might have a criminal background. He doesn't, but the decision to keep him out has held. The other case involves whether the National Labor Relations Board can order employers to rehire workers they say were fired without just cause.       An Australian court is ordering Elon Musk's social media company X to block all users from seeing violent footage of a Sydney church stabbing. The video in question shows a 16-year-old suspect yelling in Arabic and referring to insults made against "the Prophet" before stabbing members of the clergy last week. X had blocked the video for users with Australian IP addresses but the court said that didn't go far enough.       The owner of the New England Patriots is pulling his donations to Columbia University as pro-Palestinian protests continue. Robert Kraft issued a statement through his organization, the Foundation to Combat Antisemitism, saying he's "no longer confident that Columbia can protect its students and staff."       Women in the hospital are less likely to die if they're treated by female doctors. That's according to a new study that also found they were less likely to be readmitted to the hospital. The study, published Monday in the journal Annals of Internal Medicine, found that among women 65 and older, eight-point-15 percent treated by women died within 30 days, compared with eight-point-38 percent treated by males.        

Old News Archives