Health

HEALTH • November 30, 2015 7 Clinton Hospital | HealthAlliance Hospital | Marlborough Hospital | UMass Memorial Medical Center At UMass Memorial Health Care, you'll find hundreds of caring, compassionate and skilled adult and pediatric primary care physicians across Central Massachusetts. And because our doctors are part of the region's premier health care system, access to a wide range of specialty care and our nationally recognized academic medical center is only a referral away. To find a UMass Memorial primary care physician near you, call 855-UMASS-MD (855-862-7763). I WANT IT ALL I want convenience I want compassion I want world-class care underway to extend the same parity to disability insurance. Mental health advocates urged the Joint Committee on Financial Services to take action on a bill that would ban insurance companies from limiting the disability benefits for claimants affected by behavioral health disor- ders in ways they do not limit bene- fits for people who have been physi- cally disabled. Rep. Ruth Balser, a Newton Democrat who sponsored the bill, said that time limits on pay- outs for mental health disability claims — typically two or three years — amount to a form of discrimina- tion. Longtime Tufts Health Plan CEO. James Roosevelt plans to step down Jan. 1, and president and chief oper- ating officer Tom Croswell will step into the top spot at the health insur- ance company. Roosevelt started 16 years ago at Tufts Health Plan as senior vice president and general counsel. He was appointed CEO in 2005, when the plan had about 600,000 members, and helped build membership up to more than one million. Also during his tenure, Tufts acquired Network Health. After stepping down, Roosevelt plans to continue his work with Tufts Health Plan as an advisor and consultant. Croswell joined Tufts in 2013. The state has received a $600,000 federal grant to enhance training for Alzheimer's disease caregivers, the Executive Office of Elder Affairs (EOEA) announced. The three-year grant will allow the Massachusetts agency to create what it terms a dementia-capable system of home and community-based services and supports. Such a system is designed to identify individuals with demen- tia and connect them with optimal services provided by trained staff. The EOEA statement said that the training provided through the grant "will have an impact on quality of life for thousands living with Alzheimer's disease across the com- monwealth." Standing against legislation backed by the business and health insurance community as well as several hospi- tal groups, the Massachusetts Hospital Association argued that state Health Policy Commission reports about the market impacts of proposed mergers should stand on their own. Attorney General Maura Healey and House Majority Leader Ron Mariano argued in favor of giv- ing the reports on the market impacts of proposed mergers great- er legal weight at a hearing before the Legislature's Health Care Financing Committee. Backed by the National Federation of Independent Business, Tufts Medical Center, Steward Health Care and others, the two Democrats are pushing for a change to the 2012 law aimed at limiting health care cost growth in part by estab- lishing the commission to investi- gate and report on proposed merg- ers and acquisitions. Meanwhile, Boston-based Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center has backed the proposed legislation, which would give greater weight to the state Health Policy Commission's reports on propose mergers and acquisitions. In a letter to lawmakers, Beth Israel President and CEO Kevin Tabb said the bill would "help ensure that Massachusetts residents continue to have access to high quality, cost- effective medical care and behav- ioral health services in their com- munities." Community Healthlink, a provider of behavioral health and addiction services in Central Massachusetts, received a three-year, $335,000 grant to support area colleges and univer- sities with detecting and responding to mental illness on campus.The Project AWARE-Community grant from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) will sup- port the training of more than 1,000 adults on area campuses in Mental Health First Aid (MHFA). The pub- lic education program provides training on the risk factors and warning signs of mental health problems and an understanding of the importance of early intervention. The state's Health Policy Commission was been awarded a $300,000 grant by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to continue work researching consumer behav- ior and perceptions in health care. The agency was one of 11 awardees, out of nearly 180 proposals submit- ted altogether. The award and initia- tive will be implemented in the com- ing year. It is the first private grant award in the agency's nearly three year history.

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