What Were They Thinking?

The federal government, that is.

While reading the Houston Chronicle today, I ran across an article about Medicaid changing it's funding from an HMO program to a "traditional" program, thus eliminating payment for inpatient mental health treatment at stand-alone hospitals. Sheer idiocy!!

There are too few mental health beds available in Texas as it is, so what do you do? Cut out the funding for some of the few programs that do accept low income mental health patients? *shakes head* So where are they supposed to go now for assistance? Our already crowded emergency rooms? That's not a solution. Even if they did, where will the hospitals treat these poor unfortunates? They don't have the available beds that are needed.

The state applied for a waiver, so those already under care could continue to be funded. The Medicaid people, in their infinite wisdom, said no. So, if the hospitals aren't able to help, what happens? Does this mean that people who truly qualify for mental health care will now be taken to our local jails because there are no mental health beds available? For a fair number of these people, living outside of a controlled setting may lead to harm to self or others.

At what point will mental health issues be treated the same as other health issues? The devastation of mental health illnesses is no less than that of other catastrophic health issues. Are those who are afflicted with these illnesses to be set aside, ignored, treated as though they are less than human?

Why do we so often pull the safety net out from under those who are least able to either protest or do anything about it? Oh! I see! That's why. It's wrong, so very wrong!