Last week, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released a range of cost estimates for the repeal of an archaic federal policy known as the Institutions for Mental Diseases (IMD) Exclusion. The rule has led to a shortage of psychiatric hospital beds nationwide, seen in tandem with hundreds of thousands of mentally ill now in jails or on the streets. Even the highest cost that CBO estimates for repeal of the IMD Exclusion is justifiable. The federal government should finally put this outdated policy to bed.
This piece originally appeared on The Hill
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Carolyn Gorman is an adjunct fellow at the Manhattan Institute.
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