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Veteran News Update!
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COLUMBIA, Md.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 24, 2000--The Department of Veterans Affairs has selected Magellan Behavioral Health to manage mental health and substance abuse benefits for its members.
Under the five-year agreement, which takes effect on October 1, 2000, Magellan will manage mental health and substance abuse services for approximately 100,000 beneficiaries in the United States and internationally. The Civilian Health and Medical Program of the Veterans Administration (CHAMPVA) contract is administered through Magellan's Englewood, Colo. service center.
CHAMPVA processes medical claims for surviving spouses and dependents of U.S. military personnel who gave their lives or became permanently disabled while in service to their country.
``We are delighted that the Department of Veterans Affairs has chosen us to manage this contract,'' said Marilyn Gaipa, executive director of Magellan's regional service center in Englewood. ``This contract gives us the opportunity to bring our proven record of success in managing both commercial contracts and TRICARE programs to this very deserving group of beneficiaries.''
Gaipa added, ``We believe we can improve the quality of care received by these beneficiaries, while controlling costs, which makes this a winning situation for the CHAMPVA beneficiaries, for the government, and for the taxpayer.''
Magellan Behavioral Health is the country's leader in managed behavioral health, employee assistance programs and human services, serving individuals across the United States and Canada.
The company specializes in managed mental health and substance abuse services as well as employee assistance/work-life programs, and serves over 3,000 client organizations from health plans, government agencies, unions, and corporations, including more than 20 percent of all Fortune 500 companies.
Its parent organization, Magellan Health Services (NYSE:MGL - news) is a Fortune 1000 company and the country's leading specialty managed care organization.
Magellan Behavioral Health Kevin Helmintoller, 410/953-1218 or Erin Somers, 410/953-2405
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ABCNEWS.com Nov. 10 — Thursday is Veterans’ Day, the day Americans remember their country’s wars, and the men and women who fought in them. Some remember heroism and sacrifice; some remember horror and senseless death. Some swell with pride; some recoil in shame. But everyone remembers something. For many former U.S. military personnel who fought in Vietnam in the 1960s and ’70s, the much-reported truth is that they remember all too much. Thousands experienced something so awful in Vietnam that they developed post-traumatic stress disorder, an often-debilitating psychological condition that never lets them forget what they saw and felt. In this month’s issue of Annals of Behavioral Medicine, researchers Joseph Boscarino and Jeani Chang establish a direct link between PTSD and coronary heart disease. The news is especially crucial because as Vietnam veterans age, their doctors have an increasing need to know and address their principal disease risks. Heart
Risk Doubles Rough
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By John Dudley Miller Special to ABCNEWS.com To veterans of Vietnam and other wars, it's a statement of the obvious: the stress of battle can cause serious health problems in soldiers decades after they return home. But the search for definitive evidence linking service in Vietnam to later illnesses has stymied researchers over the years and sparked numerous political battles. A new study, published in the journal Psychosomatic Medicine, may begin to clear up some of the questions. What the research found is that Vietnam veterans who survived heavy combat and were later diagnosed with post-traumatic stress syndrome (PTSD) are much more likely than other vets to suffer from a variety of chronic physical diseases 15 to 20 years later. Compared to GIs who saw little of the battlefields in Vietnam and did not develop PTSD, combat vets are 50 to 150 percent more likely to have had heart trouble, weakened immune systems, infections, arthritis and breathing and digestion problems. Stress
Factor Mind-Body
Disconnect Same
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