Every September, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) , sponsors National Recovery Month (Recovery Month) to increase awareness and understanding of mental and/or substance use disorders. This celebration promotes the message that behavioral health is essential to health, prevention works, treatment is effective, and people do recover.

The 2013 Recovery Month theme, “Join the Voices for Recovery: Together on Pathways to Wellness,” represents the many ways that people can prevent behavioral health issues, seek treatment, and sustain recovery as part of a commitment to living a mentally, physically, emotionally, and spiritually healthy life. The theme also highlights that people are not alone on this journey to seek total health every day. Family, friends, and community members can support individuals throughout the entire recovery process. The theme also emphasizes that there are many paths to wellness, including professional treatment, medical care, self-help, and group support, and each person embarks on his or her own unique path.

The annual Recovery Month observance aligns with SAMHSA’s mission to reduce the impact of substance abuse and mental illness on America’s communities. It supports many of SAMHSA’s Strategic Initiatives, including the prevention of mental and/or substance use disorders, promoting recovery support and resilience, and increasing public awareness, understanding and support. 

CMS CREATES NEW OFFICE FOR DUAL ELIGIBLES

The Affordable Care Act creates a new office within the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, the Medicare-Medicaid Coordination Office, to coordinate care for individuals who are eligible for both Medicaid and Medicare ("dual eligibles" or Medicare-Medicaid enrollees). The office is charged with making the two programs work together more effectively to improve care and lower costs. The office is focused on improving quality and access to care for Medicare-Medicaid enrollees, simplifying processes, and eliminating regulatory conflicts and cost-shifting that occur between the Medicare and Medicaid programs, states, and the federal government. 

Here is a link to the office:  http://www.medicaid.gov/AffordableCareAct/Provisions/Dual-Eligibles.html

DrugWatch.com- Offers information about drugs and medications previously and currently available on the market. It also details side effects of different prescription and over-the-counter medications.

SAMHSA’s Office of Behavioral Health Equity has a new website. The website features a resources sections, news archives, the NNED and populations of focus — American Indian/Alaska Native; Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander; Black or African American; Hispanic/Latino; Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, & Transgender