A law hindering treatment for severe mental illness must be repealed

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At a time when movements for equity and social justice have captivated the nation’s attention and galvanized activists, one of the most ongoing and notorious forms of discrimination in this country remains enshrined in federal law.
Since 1965, a provision that denies vulnerable Americans with severe mental illness equal access to medically necessary health care services has been embedded within Medicaid’s enabling legislation. 
The so-called Institutions for Mental Diseases (IMD) exclusion is not some nuance of the law, but open and flagrant federally sanctioned discrimination in plain view of lawmakers and the public.
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Here’s how this law works: The exclusion prevents federal Medicaid funds from covering inpatient services in a psychiatric facility with more than 16 beds, unless states and facilities meet specific requirements for waivers or utilize other mechanisms that allow for payment. It bars Medicaid enrollees with “mental diseases” from receiving the same level of care that enrollees without severe mental illness receive for physical ailments such as cancer and heart disease. In doing so, the exclusion denies equal protection under the law to the very group of people it is supposed to help.

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