Mary Neal's Sharebook 

January 28, 2009

The Honorable Eddie Bernice Johnson
U.S. House of Representatives
1511 Longworth Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
.
Dear Representative Johnson:

On behalf of the 210,000 members and 1,200 affiliates of the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), I am writing to offer our strong support for your legislation to repeal the out dated and discriminatory Medicaid Institutions for Mental Disease (IMD) Exclusion (HR 619). As the nation’s largest organization representing people with severe mental illness and their families, NAMI deeply appreciates this effort to address a longstanding limitation in federal Medicaid law.

For years, NAMI has advocated that the IMD Exclusion be repealed. It is simply unfair for the Medicaid program to single out a distinct service – inpatient psychiatric care – for exclusion from a program that is supposed to be a critical safety net for the most vulnerable, extremely low-income people with severe disabilities (including SSI beneficiaries with serious mental illness between the ages of 22 and 64). By denying state federal Medicaid matching funds, the IMD Exclusion codifies discrimination and leaves public mental health systems underfunded relative to other systems such as those serving beneficiaries with developmental disabilities.

HR 619 will help states and local communities address the enormous erosion of acute inpatient hospital capacity that we have seen all across the nation. As you know, the loss of inpatient psychiatric bed capacity in recent decades has been a significant precursor to what many states and communities are currently experiencing – people with serious mental illness stuck in a tragic and costly cycle of chronic homelessness, moving between the streets, shelters, transitional housing, jails and emergency rooms. Repeal of the IMD Exclusion will help states move toward breaking this downward spiral.

HR 619 is long overdue. In NAMI’s view, eligibility for Medicaid should not be denied to non-elderly adults with severe mental illness solely because they reside in housing that is classified by the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services ( CMS ) as being an IMD. It is important to note that this distinction and limitation on Medicaid eligibility does not apply to non-elderly people with other disabilities including developmental disabilities. Further, it should be noted that the IMD Exclusion bars Medicaid eligibility for ALL medical services, not just psychiatric treatment. As a result individuals residing in IMDs – who are otherwise eligible for Medicaid as a result of qualifying for SSI – are not eligible for Medicaid coverage for even the most basic medical treatment including emergency hospital and physician services. It is time for Congress to act on ending this fundamental discrimination.

Thank you for your leadership on behalf of people living with serious mental illness and their families. NAMI looks forward to working with you to pass HR 619 and bring an end to discrimination against people with mental illness in the Medicaid program.

Sincerely,

Michael J. Fitzpatrick, M.S.W.
Executive Director

cc: Marsha Rodgers, NAMI Dallas
Effie Clewis & Helen Sorrells, NAMI Southern Sector Dallas

NATIONAL ALLIANCE ON MENTAL ILLNESS
2107 Wilson Blvd., #300 * Arlington, VA 22201 * 703-524-7600 *
www.nami.org

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THANK YOU, NAMI, FOR SUPPORTING H.R. 619 TO AMEND TITLE XIX OF THE SOCIAL SECURITY ACT TO REMOVE THE EXCLUSION FOR MEDICAID FUNDING FOR INPATIENT PSYCHIATRIC SERVICES.  
 

Please VOTE at OpenCongress.org for H.R.619 to replace prisons with hospitals for acute mental patients. The link below will take you to OpenCongress.org where you can use your voice to say to our elected officials, mentally ill citizens need insurance, too.
 http://www.opencongress.org/bill/111-h619/show


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PLEASE USE THIS LINK TO EMAIL YOUR CONGRESSIONAL REPS DIRECTLY AND SUPPORT H.R. 619 TO HELP DECRIMINALIZE MENTAL ILLNESS.  http://www.usa.gov/Contact/Elected.shtml  

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