![]() The government’s top mental health official said the president is acknowledging that more needs to be done to make Americans safe in their communities. ![]() Experts say the program’s longstanding restriction on inpatient treatment is at odds with changes in federal law over the last 20 years to create parity between coverage for mental and physical diseases. Medicaid is the federal-state health program for low-income people, a major source of coverage for mental health treatment. “That spectrum should include everything from community-based resources as well as more structured institutional care.” “There is a need for a spectrum of services for people suffering from mental illness and substance abuse,” Salo said. Democrats say it’s no substitute for stronger gun control laws.īut state officials would welcome a change to Medicaid’s exclusionary rule, said Matt Salo, head of the nonpartisan National Association of Medicaid Directors, which supports full repeal of the policy and, short of that, expanded waivers. There’s no telling if a more robust mental health care system would have saved the 17 lives lost in Parkland, Florida, as well as other victims of mass shootings that have become tragically commonplace. “We are actively exploring how best to provide states with new opportunities to improve their mental health delivery systems.” proposals and strong interest from states to allow similar demonstrations for individuals with serious mental illness,” Johnathan Monroe, a spokesman for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, said in a statement. On Monday a spokesman said states are pressing the administration for similar waivers for mental health care, and officials are looking for ways to address those requests. ![]() Last year, the Trump administration opened the way for states to seek waivers from the policy in cases involving treatment for substance abuse. IMD stands for “institution for mental diseases.” But they also say that federal action is needed to reverse a decades-old law known as the “IMD exclusion,” which bars Medicaid from paying for treatment in mental health facilities with more than 16 beds. Organizations representing state officials and people with mental illness say no one wants to go back to warehousing patients. we have nothing between a prison and leaving him at his house, which we can’t do anymore.” “We’re going to have to start talking about mental institutions. “In the old days, you would put him into a mental institution,” Trump said, apparently referring to alleged shooter Nikolas Cruz, whose troubling behavior prompted people close to him to plead for help from authorities, without success. ![]() President Donald Trump again brought up the issue of mental hospitals in a meeting with governors on Monday, invoking a time when states maintained facilities for mentally ill and developmentally disabled people. WASHINGTON - Amid the outcry over the Florida school shootings, the Trump administration says it is “actively exploring” ways to help states expand inpatient mental health treatment using Medicaid funds. ![]()
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