Thursday Points

October 10 is World Mental Health Day, a creation of the World Federation of Mental Health. This year's focus not surprisingly is on suicide prevention.

The Federal Times reports that "The Office of Personnel Management encouraged other federal agencies to leverage programs that help employees maintain balance between their home and work life, as part of the 2019 National Work and Family Month."

CNBC informs us that

The Social Security Administration announced Thursday that the cost-of-living adjustment for 2020 will be 1.6%.  That number is less than what retirees have received in recent years. In 2019, they got a 2.8% bump, while in 2018 the increase was 2%. Still, it’s better than zero, which retirees saw in 2010, 2011 and 2016.

The Washington Post explains how this announcement impacts federal retirees.  The next big announcement on the retiree front will be Medicare premium and cost sharing changes foe 2020.

Healthcare Dive alerts us that UnitedHealthcare's new app for participants in its employer sponsored health plans will have an integrated telehealth feature.  The FEHBlog recently used Carefirst's telehealth app. He was surprised by how long it took for the app to load. Nevertheless once loaded it was easy and effective to use. The FEHBlog's experience reinforced his understanding that you shoul load your plan's telehealth app on your chosen device and register for the service before you really need it.

Finally,

Today, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services published a new Guide for Clinicians on the Appropriate Dosage Reduction or Discontinuation of Long-Term Opioid Analgesics. Individual patients, as well as the health of the public, benefit when opioids are prescribed only when the benefit of using opioids outweighs the risks.  But once a patient is on opioids for a prolonged duration, any abrupt change in the patient’s regimen may put the patient at risk of harm and should include a thorough, deliberative case review and discussion with the patient. The HHS Guide provides advice to clinicians who are contemplating or initiating a change in opioid dosage.

This guide should be helpful to health plan case managers as well.

P.S. The FEHBlog returned to the Nation's Capital today after five days in Arizona on a too brief, fun family vacation.