REVERSING COURSE ON MENTAL HOSPITALS — A 1965 rule that banned Medicaid from paying for hospital treatment for people with mental illness and substance use could soon be struck down, POLITICO’s Carmen Paun reports. The House passed a bill in December to give states the option to treat Medicaid patients with substance use disorder for up to a month in a mental hospital on the government’s dime — and the bill has good prospects in the Senate. Why it matters: Both public health groups and lawmakers say the nearly 60-year-old rule had unintended consequences: a lack of psychiatric beds that forced vulnerable people to end up on the streets, in jail, in emergency rooms or dead. The legislation comes as many American cities face a dual drug addiction and homelessness crisis. Some states, like California and New York, are already experimenting with ways to force patients into care. Mixed feelings: While Republicans agree on the bill, Democrats are divided, wary that it could force people into institutions. New Jersey Rep. Frank Pallone, the top Democrat on the House Energy and Commerce Committee that shepherded the bill, has instead advocated for caring for people in their homes with a team of specialized health and social workers. Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) has argued that a person diagnosed with mental illness and substance use disorder needs inpatient care for doctors to stabilize them. UTAH VS. SOCIAL MEDIA — Utah’s governor blamed social media for mental illness among children Sunday and defended a state law that would restrict its use among minors, POLITICO’s Kelly Garrity reports. “[Social media] is absolutely causing these terrible increases, these hockey stick-like increases that we are seeing in anxiety, depression, and self-harm amongst our youth,” Gov. Spencer Cox (R-Utah), the chair of the National Governors Association, said during an interview on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” A Utah law enacted last year that would require social media users to verify their ages when logging in to their accounts is facing legal challenges from a trade group that represents Meta, TikTok and X. First Amendment advocates have also argued the law, which is to go into effect in 2024, infringes on free speech rights. Cox said Sunday that big tech companies know their sites are harmful anyway. Colorado Gov. Jared Polis, a Democrat, agreed with Cox on the role social media plays in fueling the mental health crisis in the country. But policing social media use should be left up to parents, Polis said. “I think the responsibility belongs with parents, not the government,” Polis, the vice chair of the NGA, said during the joint interview with Cox.
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