Medicaid coverage of most substance abuse treatment programs,
including Odyssey House, is in danger thanks to the IMD exclusion. This
exclusion bars Medicaid from paying for community-based residential treatment
at facilities of 16 beds or more. While the IMD exclusion originated in
the 1960s as a means of ending the warehousing of patients in large psychiatric
hospitals, today it is a significant barrier to providing care for our most
vulnerable citizens.
After intensive and
sustained advocacy by Treatment Communities of America, in early January
Congressman Alcee Hastings (D-FL) is prepared to introduce legislation that
would reform the IMD exclusion to allow for Medicaid reimbursement of
residential treatment for substance use disorders (SUD).
This is a significant
milestone but the work is not done. We now need to build support and momentum
for the effort by securing cosponsors for Congressman Hastings’ legislation.
Please take a few minutes
to call your Member of the House of Representatives to urge them to cosponsor Congressman
Hastings’ IMD exclusion reform legislation that will be introduced in January.
You can reach your
Representatives via the Capitol Switchboard at 202-224-3121. If you’re not sure
who your Representative is, you can search by zip code here.
In the midst of the current
opioid crisis, there is a huge shortage of treatment beds and many barriers to
accessing treatment. We can end one of those barriers by supporting the
Hastings bill.
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