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Reach Out PA: Suicide Prevention Task Force Calls for Removing Stigma and Barriers to Care
Harrisburg, PA – Governor Tom Wolf announced in January 2020 the initial report of Pennsylvania’s Suicide Prevention Task Force based on the statewide listening sessions held throughout fall 2019. The work of the Suicide Prevention Task Force is a complement to the goals and strategies surrounding the governor’s Reach Out PA: Your Mental Health Matters initiative announced earlier this month and his Executive Order to protect vulnerable populations signed last year.
“My administration is committed to developing a comprehensive suicide prevention plan that will save precious lives, support people in crisis, and help loved ones of attempt survivors and those we’ve lost,” Gov. Wolf said. “We’ve taken a giant first step toward that goal by opening this dialogue with Pennsylvanians across the commonwealth, and I want to thank the members of the Suicide Prevention Task Force for their hard work and all who shared their stories, insights, and experiences at a listening session last year.”
Informed by the testimonies and suggestions of people affected by suicide, mental health professionals, and other stakeholders from across the commonwealth, the report will be used to develop a comprehensive, long-term strategy of significantly reducing the number of suicides in Pennsylvania.
In August, the task force announced a series of 10 public listening sessions to be hosted throughout Pennsylvania. Over the next several months, Pennsylvanians gathered to talk about how suicide has affected their lives and to help inform the task force’s draft prevention plan and work to reduce stigma around discussing topics such as mental health and suicide. More than 800 people – community members, state and local officials, representatives from county suicide prevention organizations, and stakeholders from other sectors of government – attended the sessions.
As a direct result of these listening sessions, the Pennsylvania Suicide Prevention Task Force has identified the following key themes to inform the commonwealth’s four-year suicide prevention strategy:
- Stigma associated with mental health, suicide and suicide attempts can affect the likelihood of individuals seeking help or continuing treatment, and how policymakers make decisions that affect mental health systems.
- Resources needed to elevate mental health as a public health issue, incentivize the integration of physical and behavioral health, and improve suicide prevention resources at the local level.
- Barriers to treatment such as cost and insurance gaps.
- Access to more detailed suicide and suicide-attempt data to help policymakers make effective, meaningful decisions.
- Issues within the mental-health workforce, such as pay and barriers to entry, to improve quality of care.
- With proper resources, Pennsylvania’s schools and educators are uniquely positioned to save lives with suicide prevention strategies and resources.
- The Legislature could take direct action to prevent suicides through the passage of a Red Flag law (to provide a means to remove firearms from someone at risk for suicide) or safe storage requirements for firearms.
“On behalf of the entire task force, we are grateful to everyone who took time to share their stories, experiences, recommendations, or even just showed up to listen and learn themselves. The themes and recommendations outlined in this report give us a clear path forward for actionable ways to support and enhance suicide prevention efforts across the commonwealth,” said Department of Human Services Secretary Teresa Miller. “I truly believe elevating this issue and utilizing this meaningful, collective approach to prevention efforts will save lives across Pennsylvania.”
According to a 2018 report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), suicide is the 10th leading cause of death in the United States. In 2017, more than 47,000 individuals died by suicide nationwide. In Pennsylvania alone, 2,023 individuals died by suicide that year.
Gov. Wolf announced the first-of-its-kind statewide task force in May 2019 with the goal of developing a four-year plan to reduce suicide in Pennsylvania. The Task Force is made up of leadership and staff from multiple state agencies, members of the General Assembly, and Prevent Suicide PA. State agencies include the departments of Human Services (DHS), Health (DOH), Corrections (DOC), Aging (PDA), Education (PDE), Military and Veterans Affairs (DMVA), Transportation (PennDOT), Agriculture (PDA), Drug and Alcohol Programs (DDAP), the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency (PCCD), and the Pennsylvania State Police (PSP). Task Force members brought forth a wide array of knowledge of constituencies they represent or serve professionally, from their own lived experiences as loss survivors or attempt survivors of suicide, or as individuals who experience or support someone facing mental-health challenges.
The task force anticipates releasing a comprehensive four-year statewide suicide prevention plan in the first quarter of 2020 that will be available for a public comment period. Following updates based on public comment, the task force will publish the final 2020-2024 Pennsylvania statewide suicide prevention plan, which will include:
- The landscape and gap analysis of detailed suicide statistics nationwide and in Pennsylvania.
- Guiding principles for suicide prevention in Pennsylvania.
- Goals and objectives to reduce suicide and suicide attempts in Pennsylvania, including reducing stigma associated with suicide, suicide attempts, and mental health challenges.
- Recommendations for local and state policymakers, including public and elected officials, as well as cross-sector partners.
- A structure for the implementation and evaluation of Pennsylvania’s statewide suicide prevention plan.
The task force is represented on the Governor’s Special Council to Reduce Gun Violence and the Reducing Suicide by Firearm workgroup and will continue to provide input on the recommendations included in the Council’s report.
“This is just the beginning, and we will deliberately continue on this path of reducing stigma around mental-health issues and encouraging Pennsylvanians in crisis to seek help when they need it,” Gov. Wolf said. “Everyone’s life has value, and things can and will get better.”
To read the task force’s initial report, click here.
MEDIA CONTACT: J.J. Abbott, Governor’s Office, 717-783-1116
Erin James, Department of Human Services, 717-425-7606
Pennsylvania State Health Assessment Updates Published
The State Health Assessment (SHA), originally published in 2013, reports on the health status of the population in Pennsylvania including factors that contribute to health issues, specific populations most impacted, and resources that can be mobilized to address population health improvement. During the past year, three sections were updated to show current health indicators and identifying trends that affect public health. The new sections, along with an updated introduction, can be found at the SHA web page.
The 2019 updates are:
Data Update: Affordable Care Act Impact in Pennsylvania
Updates from the Health Care Services section of the Pennsylvania Department of Health’s State Health Assessment (SHA) include information on health insurance coverage in the state. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act was signed into law on March 23, 2010. Expanded Medicaid took effect in Pennsylvania on January 1, 2015.
According to the Pennsylvania Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System survey results, the percentage of Pennsylvania residents reporting no health care coverage has decreased significantly since the act’s passage. Currently, nine percent of Pennsylvanians between 18 and 64 years old are uninsured. The highest rates of uninsured are among residents age 18 to 29, those with a high school education or less, those with family incomes below $25,000 annually, and black and Hispanic residents. Regionally, the highest rates of uninsured are in the northeast in Susquehanna, Wayne, Pike and Monroe counites; southcentral in Fulton, Franklin and Adams counties; and Philadelphia.
National Drug and Alcohol Facts Week
National Drug and Alcohol Facts Week will be held from Monday, March 30 until Sunday April 5. The National Institute on Drug Abuse for Teens (NIDA) utilizes this we
ek to link students to scientists and other experts who can counteract the myths and misunderstandings about drugs and alcohol that teens might get from the internet, television and movies. Schools and community partners will be hosting National Drug and Alcohol Facts Week events throughout the week. NIDA will also sponsor a National Drugs and Alcohol Chat day, which gives students the opportunity to ask NIDA scientists about drug and alcohol use and effects, and substance and alcohol use disorders. More information about National Drug and Alcohol Facts Week and events hosted in your community can be found at NIDA’s website. If you or a loved one is struggling with substance use disorder, please contact the Pennsylvania Department of Drug and Alcohol Program’s helpline at 1-800-662-HELP for treatment options.
ARC Announces $3.3 Million to Continue Economic Growth in Region’s Coal-Impacted Communities
On February 12, 2020, the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) announced nearly $3.3 million in investments via the POWER Initiative to continue supporting economic diversification in the Region’s coal-impacted communities. This week’s awards include: $1.5 million to Southern Tier Network in Corning, New York to expand the Southern Tier of New York’s existing high-speed dark fiber optic ring; $1,000,000 to the Somerset County Commissioners in Somerset, Pennsylvania, to assist with construction of the new detox unit of the Twin Lakes Center which treats individuals suffering from substance use disorder; and $733,000 to Opportunity Alabama, Inc. in Birmingham, Alabama to build local capacity to effectively prepare for Opportunity Fund investment. With today’s announcement, ARC has invested over $193 million in 242 POWER projects benefiting over 80 percent of Appalachia’s counties.
“These three investments in Appalachian communities well-represent the breadth of the work ARC is doing through the POWER Initiative,” said ARC Federal Co-Chairman Tim Thomas. “Whether it’s funding important broadband infrastructure to ensure citizens and businesses have competitive internet access, investing in facilities for individuals navigating the substance abuse recovery to work process, or helping communities capitalize on the transformative change Opportunity Zones can provide, POWER is helping change the narrative for coal-impacted Appalachia.”
ARC is currently accepting applications in response to the POWER 2020 Request for Proposals (RFP). Required Letters of Intent are due 5 p.m. (ET) February, 28, 2020. Final applications are due 5 pm (ET) March 27, 2020. Additional guidance on application submission is available at www.arc.gov/power
ARC Hosts Annual Governors Quorum Meeting
In February 2020, Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) Federal Co-Chairman Tim Thomas and States’ Co-Chairman Ohio Governor Mike DeWine hosted Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf, Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear, Maryland Governor Larry Hogan, Tennessee Governor Bill Lee, Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves, and North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper at ARC’s annual Governors Quorum in Washington, DC. The business meeting, which is convened according to ARC statute, reviews ARC operations, activities, and highlights from the past fiscal year.
In addition to reviewing key investment accomplishments, the Commission also heard a special presentation by Scott Turner, Executive Director, White House Opportunity & Revitalization Council and Alfonso Costa Jr., Deputy Chief of Staff, Department of Housing & Urban Development, about the Trump Administrations Opportunity and Revitalization Council to promote additional private investment in America’s economically-distressed census tracks designated as Opportunity Zones. Turner noted that via the Opportunity Zone investment strategy, “there are things that we can do to bring about real results for the people of this country long after all of us are gone.” ARC is a member of the Opportunity and Revitalization Council as 737, or 8.5 percent, of the nation’s qualified Opportunity Zones are in the Appalachian region.
ARC’s next business meeting will be held in Marietta, Ohio in conjunction with the ARC Annual Summit, August 17- 19, 2020.
USDA Rural Development Designates Rural Health Liaison
WASHINGTON, Feb. 14, 2020 – U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Deputy Under Secretary for Rural Development Donald “DJ” LaVoy today announced that Betty-Ann Bryce has been designated to serve as USDA’s Rural Health Liaison, a position created by Congress in the 2018 Farm Bill.
Betty-Ann Bryce returns to USDA in this role from a detail to the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) where she served as a Special Advisor for Rural Affairs. In this role, she chaired the ONDCP Rural Substance Use Disorder Federal Interagency Working Group, guided the work on the Community Assessment Tool, regional workshops, Federal Rural Resources Guide, and the recently released Rural Community Action Guide. She joined ONDCP from USDA where she served as a senior policy advisor.
Prior to joining the U.S. government, she served as the Senior Policy Analyst for the Rural and Regional Unit at the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), for several years, in Paris, France. In this capacity, she assessed regional and rural government policies in different countries and contributed to several OECD Publications. In addition to a Juris Doctorate, she holds a Masters in Economic and Territorial Development from L’Institut d’Etudes Politique de Paris (The Paris Institute of Political Studies) in France, and a Masters in Economic and Political Development from Columbia University, School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA) in the United States.
Bryce’s start date is February 18, 2020. USDA encourages rural health stakeholders and partners to reach out to Bryce in her new role to build upon existing partnerships and facilitate new ones.
Out-of-control Prescription Drug Prices Finally Have a Solution in Pennsylvania | Opinion
Philadelphia Inquirer, Antoinette Kraus, For The Inquirer
Prescription drug pricing is reaching a crisis point.
A 2018 study showed that between 2012 and 2017, the cost of prescription drugs under Medicare increased nearly 10 times faster than the rate of inflation. And it continues to rise; the prices of more than 400 prescription drugs have already increased by an average of 5% in 2020. Americans are now spending more than double what we paid for our medications in the 1990s and much more than other developed nations. Annual spending on prescription drugs now exceeds $450 billion and is rapidly becoming one of the biggest cost drivers in our health-care system.
Meanwhile, while patients struggle to pay for their medicines, drug corporations are raking in profits. Between 2006 and 2015, 67% of drug companies increased their annual profit margins, some up to 20%. And their claims that drug prices are driven by innovation simply don’t add up; drug corporations routinely spend more than double their research and development budgets on advertising.
People throughout Pennsylvania are feeling the impact of this crisis. A recent study shows that two in three Pennsylvanians are concerned about the cost of prescription drugs, and many more are struggling to afford the prescription drugs they need, often cutting pills in half, skipping doses, leaving unfilled prescriptions at the pharmacy, or choosing between medications and necessities like food, rent, or utilities.
Pennsylvanians overwhelmingly support action that will address the drug pricing crisis. Recent polling shows that nearly nine in 10 Pennsylvanians across party lines support a range of policy solutions that would lower prescription drug prices. With Washington in gridlock and the Senate unlikely to take up a recent House-passed bill that would take aim at high drug prices, it’s left to lawmakers in Harrisburg to put forward solutions.
Fortunately, a groundbreaking solution to the prescription drug pricing crisis has emerged. Last month, State Rep. Dan Frankel (D., Allegheny) introduced legislation that would directly tackle the high prices people are paying at the pharmacy.
The Prescription Drug Affordability Act — HB 2212 — would give both lawmakers and the public greater insight into how drugs are priced, investigate how specific drug prices impact Pennsylvanians, and create a mechanism to reduce what Pennsylvanians pay for their medications by creating a new entity to directly address high drug prices.
Pennsylvania Sues Juul, Demands Ban on Maker’s Vaping Products
Philadelphia Inquirer, by Sarah Gantz,
Pennsylvania has joined a growing list of states suing leading e-cigarette maker Juul Labs, whose sleek vape pens and cartridges in fruit, dessert, and candy flavors have been blamed for contributing to a sharp rise in e-cigarette use among teenagers and adolescents.
The lawsuit, filed Monday by Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro, alleges that Juul misled consumers about the health risks and addictive power of its nicotine vaping pods and improperly marketed the products to youths. The lawsuit seeks a statewide ban on all Juul products, including tobacco-flavored ones. If the court does not grant a full ban, the state wants to ban all of Juul’s flavored, menthol, and high-nicotine vaping products except those that are tobacco-flavored.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration this month forbade the sale of flavored vaping pods nationwide. Over the last two years, Juul has phased out sales of flavored pods, except for those with menthol and tobacco flavors.
“Juul knowingly targeted young people with tactics similar to the tobacco companies’ playbook,” Shapiro said in a statement. “There is no proof these e-cigarettes are safe and until there is, we need to get Juul products off shelves and out of the hands of young people.”
Juul has said that adults are its target audience and that it does not aim to attract underage customers.
“While we have not yet reviewed the complaint, we remain focused on resetting the vapor category in the U.S. and earning the trust of society by working cooperatively with attorneys general, regulators, public health officials, and other stakeholders to combat underage use and convert adult smokers from combustible cigarettes,” said Austin Finan, a spokesman for Juul, in a statement.
Last year, the company ceased all major digital, print and television advertising, and said it would not lobby Congress over a federal ban on flavored e-cigarettes.
Pennsylvania’s lawsuit and similar suits in New York, Massachusetts, California and other states follow a surge of vaping-related lung illnesses and deaths that cast a spotlight on the sharp rise in vaping among teenagers. Bucks and Montgomery Counties have also sued.
Vaping-related lung illnesses spiked over the summer and have been declining in recent months. As of Jan. 21, a total of 2,711 people have been hospitalized, and 60 have died, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The CDC found a strong link between the illnesses and vitamin E acetate, an additive in some vaping products containing THC, the psychoactive ingredient in cannabis. That ingredient has not been found in nicotine vaping pods, such as those sold by Juul. But the outbreak of illnesses drew attention to vaping’s rising popularity among young adults. More than a third of the cases involved patients between ages 18 and 25.
While combustible cigarette smoking rates have declined, nicotine vaping rates more than doubled among high schoolers between 2017 and 2019, with about a third of high school seniors reporting that they have vaped within the last 30 days, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse’s 2019 Monitoring the Future Survey. The annual report surveys 42,500 students in grades 8, 10, and 12 at 400 public and private schools across the country. Marijuana vaping has also risen dramatically among teenagers. In response to teen vaping trends, many states and cities have pursued legislation to restrict e-cigarette sales.
Philadelphia is rolling out a ban on the sale of flavored vaping pods and those with high levels of nicotine at stores that teens and children are allowed to enter, such as 7-Eleven and Wawa, as well as smaller retailers. The FDA ban took effect Feb. 6. It affects one-time use cartridges in fruit, candy and mint flavors, which are available at convenience stores and have been popular among teens. The ban does not apply to menthol and tobacco flavors or tank-based vaping systems sold at specialty vape shops.
Kaiser Family Foundation: Five Key Questions and Answers to Address Disparities in Health and Health Care
The Kaiser Family Foundation has developed a set of questions and answers to address key health and health care disparities. Click here to access the Executive Summary.
