Distracted Driving

Mental Distractions Behind the Wheel Are Real and Dangerous

The AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety partnered with researchers at the University of Utah to conduct groundbreaking research on mental distraction, also known as cognitive distraction, demonstrating that hands-free technologies in the car dangerously divert motorist attention.

 

MENTAL DISTRACTION – WHAT WE KNOWMental distractions dangerously affect drivers behind the wheel.  Just because a driver’s eyes are on the road and hands are on the wheel does not mean they are safe – hands-free is not risk-free.

 

MENTAL DISTRACTION – WHAT IT MEANSAttention is key to safe driving, yet many technologies cause drivers to lose focus of the road ahead. Hands-free features, increasingly common in new vehicles, create mental distractions that unintentionally provide motorists with a false sense of security about their safety behind the wheel.

 

MENTAL DISTRACTION – WHAT IS AAA DOINGAAA is dedicated to promoting road safety and reducing driver distraction through research, public education and collaboration with automakers to reduce the impact of mental distraction.

 

 

Gov. Malloy Talks Mental Health Claims

Malloy Announces Plan to Reduce Insurance Denials

for Mental Health Services

The Connecticut Insurance Department and the UConn Health Center are collaborating to help families struggling to get mental health treatment paid through their insurance, according to Gov. Dannel Malloy.

Malloy said the department and the health center are developing a “user-friendly ‘claims tool kit’” for policyholders and providers, including out-of-network providers who operate on cash basis.

The goal, according to a news release from Malloy’s office, is to reduce the number of insurance denials.

“No one should have to overcome mountains of red tape when they are trying to access mental health services,” Malloy said. “This collaboration allows us to leverage the respective expertise of the Insurance Department and the UConn Health Center to put in place a common-sense approach to what can be a profoundly frustrating process. I commend the Insurance Department and the Health Center for their commitment to improving mental health care access for residents.”

Access to mental health services is part of the governor’s multi-prong plan to reduce gun violence in response to the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown in December.

“It’s been the Department’s observations that incomplete or incorrect information, coding errors, and other documentation issues are often the cause of claims denials requiring multiple appeals. We don’t want families having to fight to get the care they need,” Deputy Insurance Commissioner Anne Melissa Dowling, who oversees the Department’s health insurance initiatives, said.

Malloy said the claims tool kit, which should be complete this summer, is the first in a series of behavioral health projects the Insurance Department and Health Center are undertaking to assist consumers and providers.