States can use Medicaid to pay for short mental health stays.
H.R. 10647 — IMD CARE Act · Filed by Cliff Bentz (R-OR) · 1 cosponsor · Introduced Oct 1, 2026 · Referred to committee
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What it does
The bill lets states use Medicaid money for mental health care centers. Adults aged 21 to 64 with serious mental illness can stay up to 30 days per year. States that join must keep spending the same amount on community mental health care. States must screen patients and plan their return to regular care. States must report to the federal government.
Who it affects
Adults aged 21 to 64 with serious mental illness gain access to mental health care through Medicaid. States decide whether to participate. Mental health care centers and community care providers are involved.
One thing to notice
The bill ties new care center funding to a rule. States must keep funding community mental health care at 2023 levels.
From the analysis of the bill text, linked under Primary records below.
Where it stands
1 cosponsor: 1 Democrats.
- Oct 1, 2026 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
- Oct 1, 2026 — Referred to House Committee on Energy and Commerce · Congress.gov: “Referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
Words to know
- Medicaid — A federal and state program that pays for health care for low-income people.
- serious mental illness — A mental health condition that significantly limits a person's daily activities.
- community mental health care — Mental health services that help people in their own neighborhoods and towns.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (12,509 characters) on Oct 6, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 16,222 analysed bills.
Status and sponsors — Congress.gov's bill record — actions, committee referrals and cosponsors — loaded nightly. The timeline shows status changes, not every procedural action.
As of — page rendered 2026-10-20.
“States can use Medicaid to pay for short mental health stays.” QuorumCivic. https://share.quorumcivic.app/bill/119/hr10647/simple Report an error
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