Managing Mental Illness

From The Washington Post:

That is why the president declared at the first White House Summit on Mental Health, “My administration is strongly committed to helping Americans suffering from mental illness.” And the administration has already taken action. Last year’s funding bill provided $3.9 billion for mental health programs, a $328 million increase. We invested in evidence-based programs including early detection, assisted-outpatient treatment and supported our law enforcement professionals. Finally, the administration solicited and approved the first-of-their-kind demonstrations for states to improve access to the full continuum of care these individuals desperately need.

But more remains to be done: President Trump is proposing to modify the outdated Institutions for Mental Disease payment exclusion, the long-standing Medicaid policy that prohibits federal reimbursement for many Medicaid-eligible patients who receive care in certain inpatient facilities dedicated to mental disease. These important changes will provide more than $5 billion in new federal funding to states that ensure a full continuum of care is in place to assist in getting people with serious mental illness the care they need and, in many cases, off the streets and out of prisons. (Read more.)