Emmer unveils bill to address access barrier to mental health care

U.S. Rep. Tom Emmer (R-MN) introduced legislation that would end an arbitrary cap on mental health services that has created a barrier for Americans seeking treatment. 

“The federal government has instituted a limitation to care that has no regard for a doctor’s recommendation for proper care. As a result, many individuals are left out in the cold, and often face law enforcement or end up in emergency rooms when we could be addressing their mental health challenges,” Rep. Emmer said. “This legislation would be an important step in addressing one of the many barriers to ensuring access to mental health care.”

The congressman on March 2 sponsored the Expanding Access to Inpatient Mental Health Act, which would eliminate the 15-day cap for Managed Care Organizations (MCOs) and Prepaid Inpatient Health Plan (PIHP) beneficiaries receiving care in an Institution for Mental Disease (IMD), according to a bill summary provided by Rep. Emmer’s office. 

This change would allow individuals to receive care for the appropriate amount of time required to treat their mental illness, the summary states.

“Every community throughout the country has been struggling with the same challenge: providing quality mental health care to individuals experiencing mental illness,” said Rep. Emmer. “The current public health crisis has only exacerbated the need for mental health care.” 

Under current law, mental healthcare treatment is limited at some facilities due to the IMD exclusion that results in caps being placed on the number of beds provided for patients, and the number of days a patient may receive care, according to Rep. Emmer’s statement. 

The IMD exclusion initially was enacted in 1965 to ensure state responsibility for mental health treatment. An IMD facility is one having more than 16 beds, which are primarily utilized for the treatment of mental disease, the statement says, noting that a change in 2016 to the Medicaid Managed Care rule permitted Medicaid beneficiaries to receive up to 15 days of treatment in an IMD each month. But 15 days is often not an adequate amount of time to provide needed care, according to Rep. Emmer’s office.