[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 35 (Friday, March 22, 2002)]
[Senate]
[Page S2330]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. CORZINE (for himself, Mr. Bingaman, and Mr. Breaux):
  S. 2072. A bill to amend title XIX of the Social Security Act to 
provide States with the option of covering intensive community mental 
health treatment under the Medicaid Program, to the Committee on 
Finance.
  Mr. CORZINE. Mr. President, I am very pleased to introduce today a 
critical piece of mental health legislation with my colleagues Senators 
Bingaman and Breaux. This legislation, the Medicaid Intensive Community 
Mental Health Act, will assist and encourage States to provide 
comprehensive intensive mental health services through the Medicaid 
Program.
  Since deinstitutionalization, too many people with severe mental 
illnesses have fallen through the cracks of our mental health system in 
part because too many States and localities have not established 
intensive community-based programs to assist those with severe mental 
illness.
  In 1999, the Supreme Court rules in its Olmstead decision that 
individuals with disabilities, including mental illness, who are 
capable of living in a community setting, must be placed in less 
restrictive settings. Two years after this decision, my State of New 
Jersey and States nationwide are struggling to improve and expand 
community-based mental health services in order to ensure that the 
appropriate services are in place for the mentally ill so that they can 
lead productive lives outside of the institution. And, let me be clear 
that this applies to children just as it applies to adults. I know my 
colleague from New Mexico, Senator Bingaman, has expressed deep concern 
about the hundreds of youth with mental illness in his State who are 
being held at detention centers because there are very limited 
community-based mental health treatment options.
  These children do not deserve to be treated as criminals, they need 
and deserve access to treatment, counseling, and other rehabilitative 
and supportive services. We need to give States the flexibility and the 
resources they need to make these options available. Currently, Federal 
financing for community-based mental health care is so complex and 
burdensome that States are unable to offer a comprehensive, coordinated 
set of community-based intensive mental health services with a single 
point of access. Rather, those in dire need of these services are 
forced to rely on a patchwork of uncoordinated programs with missing 
service components.
  Currently, States must apply for six optional Medicaid waivers in 
order to provide these services. This legislation would help fill the 
cracks in our mental health care system by allowing States, through a 
single policy decision, to finance the entire array of community-based 
services that individuals with severe mental illness need. The Medicaid 
Intensive Community Mental Health Act would allow States to choose the 
``intensive community mental health treatment'' option under Medicaid, 
which would allow States to provide services such as psychiatric 
rehabilitation, crisis residential treatment, medication education and 
management, integrated treatment services for individuals with co-
occurring mental illness and substance abuse disorders, and family 
psycho-education services, among others, in a coordinated manner.
  In my home State of New Jersey, there are about 3,000 people residing 
in psychiatric hospitals. About half of these people, or 1,500 people, 
are eligible to be released, but, due to a lack of intensive community-
based treatment, they continue to remain needlessly institutionalized. 
If passed, this legislation would help States to create an integrated 
system of intensive community-based mental health care for those with 
severe mental illness. Not only would this option improve community-
based services for the mentally ill, but it would also give states a 
mechanism to assist people who otherwise require costly 
hospitalization.
  Far too often in our Nation, individuals with severe mental illness 
are either unable to access appropriate mental health care or have 
repeated but ultimately unsuccessful hospitalizations. And 
unfortunately, untreated mental illness has led many sufferers to 
become homeless. It has also led many to commit crimes. Ultimately, 
this legislation will help States respond to the problems associated 
with deinstitutionalization, homelessness, and the criminalization of 
mental illness, and in doing so, it will help people with severe mental 
illness to live better lives in their communities and with their 
families.
  I want to thank my colleagues, Mr. Bingaman and Mr. Breaux, for 
joining me today to introduce this important legislation.




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