Politico (1/1, Paun) reports, “Nearly 60 years after Congress barred Medicaid from treating people in what were then derided as insane asylums, lawmakers are on the verge of reversing course.” The House passed a bill in December that “would give states the option to treat Medicaid patients suffering from addiction for up to a month in a mental hospital on the government’s dime,” while “the Senate Finance Committee approved a similar provision in November.”
However, “fears of reinstitutionalization have also animated civil rights advocates” who “fear a slippery slope back to warehousing the sick and point to states like California and New York that are already experimenting with forcing patients into care.”
Related Links:
— “Mental hospitals warehoused the sick. Congress wants to let them try again.,” Carmen Paul, Politico, January 1, 2024