After Shooting, Administration Reconsiders Ban On Medicaid Funding For Certain Mental Health Facilities
An outdated law currently bars Medicaid from paying for treatment in mental health facilities with more than 16 beds. The administration has already opened the way for states to seek waivers from the policy in cases involving treatment for substance abuse, so mental health treatments could be next. Meanwhile, outlets look at what Congress can realistically do on gun control and the limits on gun research.
The Associated Press:
Administration Considers Expanding Mental Health Treatment
Amid the outcry over the Florida school shootings, the Trump administration says it is "actively exploring" ways to help states expand inpatient mental health treatment using Medicaid funds. President Donald Trump again brought up the issue of mental hospitals in a meeting with governors on Monday, invoking a time when states maintained facilities for mentally ill and developmentally disabled people. "In the old days, you would put him into a mental institution," Trump said, apparently referring to alleged shooter Nikolas Cruz, whose troubling behavior prompted people close to him to plead for help from authorities, without success. (2/27)
Los Angeles Times:
What The Florida School Shooting Reveals About The Gaps In Our Mental Health System
After Adam Lanza burst into Sandy Hook Elementary School and gunned down 20 students and six educators, Connecticut’s Office of the Child Advocate tapped Julian Ford to help make sense of the shooting. A professor of psychiatry at the University of Connecticut School of Medicine and a practicing psychologist for 35 years, Ford served on an expert panel that conducted a detailed review of Lanza’s brief life to look for “any warning signs, red flags, or other lessons that could be learned.” The resulting report painted a picture of an odd, sensitive child with significant communication difficulties who became an anxious and withdrawn adolescent. ... At every turn, the report saw missed opportunities to treat Lanza’s multiple interpersonal and mental health difficulties ... and to draw him out of his profound isolation. (Healy, 2/26)
The Washington Post:
What Will Congress Realistically Do On Guns After The Florida Shooting?
Congress is back this week for the first time since the Parkland, Fla., high school massacre. Sustained national media attention on the shooting, emotional confrontations between politicians and survivors and their families, as well as a public-opinion shift in favor of stricter gun laws could spur Congress to do something to tighten access to guns. But don't expect Congress to do something big. The party that tends to support looser gun laws controls both chambers, and President Trump has appeared to double down on a pro-gun position to arm some teachers. (Phillips, 2/26)
The Wall Street Journal:
Background-Checks Bill Runs Into Hurdles In Congress
Legislation designed to improve background checks for gun purchases ran into new hurdles Monday, raising doubts about lawmakers’ ability to act in the wake of the Florida school shooting. The background-checks bill, sponsored by Sen. John Cornyn (R., Texas), would encourage states and federal agencies, including the military, to submit criminal-conviction records to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System, or NICS. That step has broad bipartisan support. (Peterson and Bender, 2/26)
Sacramento Bee:
California Lawmakers Push New Gun Restrictions After The Parkland Shooting
In the aftermath of the Florida high school shooting that left 17 people dead on Valentine’s Day, state lawmakers are introducing 10 new bills to increase gun control in California — home to some of the strictest gun laws in the nation. (Deruy, 2/26)
Politico:
Trump Says He Is 'Writing Out' Bump Stocks
President Donald Trump said Monday he is “writing out” so-called bump stocks, which allow semi-automatic weapons to mimic the firing speed of fully automatic weapons. “Bump stocks, we are writing that out. I am writing that out,” he said, addressing a group of state governors at the White House. “I don’t care if Congress does it or not, I’m writing it out myself." (Alexander, 2/26)
Stateline:
Limits On Federal Gun Research Spur States To Step In
As deaths from mass shootings have mounted across the United States, some states are moving to collect hard data to guide their decisions about guns — even as the federal government has retreated from such research in the face of pressure from pro-gun groups. The New Jersey Legislature, for example, is weighing a measure that would create a gun-violence research center at Rutgers University. The center would be modeled on the new Firearm Violence Prevention Research Center at the University of California at Davis, which launched last summer with $5 million in state money over five years. (Ollove, 2/27)