Congressman Ritchie Torres Introduces the ‘Repealing the IMD Exclusion Act’

Congressman Ritchie Torres (NY-15) has introduced the “Repealing the IMD Exclusion Act” into the U.S. House of Representatives. This legislation would amend title XIX of the Social Security Act to remove the exclusion from medical assistance under the Medicaid program of items and services for patients in an institution for mental diseases, and for other purposes.

Rep. Torres released the following statement on the legislation:

“For me, there is no set of people who we are failing more miserably than the severely mentally ill, who are left to languish in our subways, streets, jails, and prisons. The fact that Rikers Island is one of the largest providers of mental healthcare in America is a profound indictment of our society. As a country, we have to recognize that there are Americans whose mental illness is so severe that it requires in-patient care. Public policy at the federal level has swung the pendulum too far in the direction of deinstitutionalization, which has been a failure.

“I am introducing legislation that would repeal the IMD exclusion, which radically restricts the availability of federal funding for institutional care. For me, greater investment in in-patient care is critical to preventing tragedies like the Ramon Rivera rampage.

“An environment like Rikers Island produces far more mental illness than it prevents. It is far more compassionate and cost effective to treat those with serious mental illness in a healthcare setting than to let them languish on the streets and subways, where they are a danger not only to themselves, but to the people around them.”

The full bill text available here.