government
Senate bill would end Medicare cap on psychiatric hospital services
NEWS IN BRIEF — Posted March 7, 2011
Sens. John Kerry (D, Mass.) and Olympia Snowe (R, Maine) have introduced legislation to remove the lifetime cap on inpatient psychiatric hospital stays under Medicare.
The senators called the cap arbitrary. Ending it would be a step toward eliminating the unfair distinction between physical and mental disorders, Snowe said.
"After all the battles we've fought to equalize mental health care in this country, enforcing an outdated policy makes zero sense," Kerry said.
If adopted, the Medicare Mental Health Inpatient Equity Act would end the 190-day limit on inpatient psychiatric hospital stays starting Jan. 1, 2012.
Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2011/03/07/gvbf0307.htm.
Copyright © 2011 American Medical Association. All rights reserved.
