Nursing homes take in mentally ill

CLEVELAND (AP) -- Some northeastern Ohio nursing homes use a Medicaid loophole to accept hundreds of mentally ill patients discharged from hospital psychiatric wards, spending millions of taxpayer dollars to house patients who often do not qualify for nursing-home care, a state investigation found.

Mentally ill patients are eligible for nursing home care paid for by Medicaid if they need 24-hour supervision or hands-on assistance, but an investigation by the Ohio Department of Mental Health found that 60 percent of the psychiatric patients admitted into Cuyahoga County nursing homes don't need such intensive care, The Plain Dealer reported.

Medicaid pays about $148 a day to house such patients, about three times what it would cost to care for the patient in a group home.

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