Senate gives initial nod to psychiatric boarding bill
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A proposal aimed at preventing mental health patients from languishing in emergency rooms won preliminary approval Thursday in the New Hampshire Senate.
The bill sent to the Senate Finance Committee on Thursday would spend $6 million of the state surplus to encourage the construction of hospital psychiatric units by doubling the state’s reimbursement rate for designated receiving beds and subsidizing hospital renovation costs. The 16-8 vote, with two Republicans joining Democrats to advance the bill, came after the Senate rejected an amendment that would have spent significantly less on so-called designated receiving beds but would have added money for mobile crisis teams that could help patients avoid emergency rooms.