HICKORY — Some people in the Greater Hickory area with mental illness may be forced to leave their adult care home because of a dispute between the state and federal government over the way care is paid for.
If that happens, experts and health professionals say jails, hospitals and homeless shelters will likely see an increase.
At issue is a decades-old law that says Medicaid will not pay for someone’s care in an adult care home if 50 percent or more of its residents are diagnosed with a mental illness. Even those in the home without mental illness can lose Medicaid benefits, say those in the know.
