New Policy Statement from Society for Adolescent Medicine Urges Inclusion of Adolescent...

New Policy Statement from Society for Adolescent Medicine Urges Inclusion of
Adolescent and Young Adult Health Issues in All Health Care Reform Legislation

BLUE SPRINGS, Mo., July 14 /PRNewswire/ -- As the discussion regarding health
care reform moves through Congress and is debated in the public forum, a new
policy statement from the Society for Adolescent Medicine (SAM) urges all
parties to include adolescent and young adult health issues in the dialogue.

Says Dr. Mary-Ann Shafer, President of SAM, "Many aspects of health care
reform that are needed for adults and for younger children will also help
adolescents. But adolescents require special attention and services to promote
healthy development and a safe transition to adulthood."

According to the statement, "Adolescence provides a unique opportunity to
prevent health conditions and behaviors with lifelong implications for
individual young people and for society... Many adolescents experiment with
'adult' behaviors and are increasingly independent in personal habits. These
behaviors and habits -- such as tobacco and alcohol use, other substance use
and abuse, diet, exercise, sexual behavior and driving -- have significant
implications for health."

"Unfortunately," says Dr. Shafer, "adolescents lack health insurance at higher
rates than younger children, and young adults have the lowest rate of
insurance over the lifespan. We are at a point in the health care reform
discussion that promises great opportunities. Innovative proposals have been
introduced, and SAM recognizes that many of the ideas on the table will have
significant implications for this age group. The visibility for adolescent and
young adult health issues must be raised because their needs are compelling."

The statement stresses the vital role that quality health care services can
play in every adolescent's life and offers five principles to ensure that
health care reform helps adolescents become healthy adults:

1. Assure financial access to services both through health insurance coverage
that reaches all adolescents and through publicly funded safety net programs
that provide special services to adolescents or reach special populations of
young people.

2. Establish a comprehensive benefit package that includes services for
prevention, screening, diagnosis, and treatment of the full range of acute and
chronic physical, mental, and behavioral health concerns and conditions that
affect adolescents.

3. Help clinicians provide high-quality care to adolescents by supporting
adolescent-focused education and training programs for health care
professionals to expand the workforce prepared to serve adolescents;
establishing reimbursement policies that provide adequate payment to a wide
range of clinicians and include incentives to promote high-quality,
cost-effective care; and establishing reimbursement policies that support
delivery of services in diverse settings.

4. Ensure that confidentiality protections are in place for adolescents'
communications with health care professionals and health care records,
including electronic records, to help adolescents receive optimal care and
learn to function independently in the health care system.

5. Address the needs of special populations of adolescents and young adults
along with the general needs of adolescents, younger children, and adults.
These groups include youths in public systems of care such as foster care and
juvenile justice, homeless and runaway youths, pregnant and parenting teens,
immigrant and migrant youth, youth from diverse racial and ethnic groups,
sexual minority youth (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning
youth), and youth with chronic physical and mental health conditions or
disabilities.

To read the entire policy statement, go to
http://www.adolescenthealth.org/PositionStatement_Health_Care_Reform_and_Adolescents.pdf

For an interview or for more information, please contact Hollis
Heavenrich-Jones at 773-383-5148 or via e-mail at hollishj@comcast.net. For
more information on adolescent health issues, go to
http://www.adolescenthealth.org.

SAM is a multidisciplinary organization of health professionals who are
committed to advancing the health and well-being of adolescents through
education, research, clinical services, and advocacy activities. Members of
the Society for Adolescent Medicine strive to enhance public and professional
awareness of adolescent health issues among other health professionals,
families, educators, policy makers, youth-serving organizations, and students
considering a career in health care.

For more information, contact: Hollis Heavenrich-Jones at 773-383-5148 or via
e-mail at hollishj@comcast.net

This release was issued through eReleases(TM). For more information, visit
http://www.ereleases.com.

SOURCE The Society for Adolescent Medicine

Hollis Heavenrich-Jones of The Society for Adolescent Medicine,
+1-773-383-5148, hollishj@comcast.net