Medicaid Payments Barely Keep Hospital Mental Health Units Afloat. Federal Cuts Could Sink Them.
SPENCER, Iowa — This town’s hospital is a holdout on behalf of people going through mental health crises. The facility’s leaders have pledged not to shutter their inpatient psychiatric unit, as dozens of other U.S. hospitals have. Keeping that promise could soon get tougher if Congress slashes Medicaid funding. The joint federal-state health program covers…