Loss of Insurance Common in Early Psychosis

Loss of insurance is a frequent occurrence for individuals experiencing early psychosis, according to a report in the August issue of Psychiatric Services. Among 31 patients enrolled in a special community program for early psychosis who had public or private insurance at baseline, just 14 maintained continuous coverage for a full year.

This finding is troubling because recent research indicates that reducing the duration of untreated acute psychosis is critical to long-term outcome, so loss of insurance—which can mean delay or discontinuation of treatment—can be devastating.

Read a full report of the study at http://ps.psychiatryonline.org/cgi/content/full/62/8/878, and further coverage of the study will appear in an upcoming issue of Psychiatric News.

For information about rapid treatment of early psychosis see Psychiatric News, http://pn.psychiatryonline.org/content/43/13/13.1.full. And for comprehensive clinical information about treatment of schizophrenia see Essentials of Schizophrenia, published this year by American Psychiatric Press. Purchasing information is available at www.appi.org/.  

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