Extra States Eye Increasing Medicaid Companies to Justice-Concerned People

In January 2023, California grew to become the primary state within the nation to be accredited to supply a set of pre-release healthcare companies and enhance entry to take care of folks returning dwelling from jails and prisons. Many different states at the moment are creating Medicaid re-entry waiver proposals following steering from the Facilities for Medicare and Medicaid Companies. 

With approval from CMS, Washington state will supply some Medicaid protection to youth and adults in correctional services as much as 90 days earlier than they’re launched, beginning July 1, 2025.

Six states—Illinois, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Utah, and West Virginia—have pending Medicaid re-entry demonstration waivers. A number of different states, together with Arizona, Montana, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, and Vermont, are reported to be creating waiver proposals.

Throughout a Nov. 14 occasion hosted by KFF, Jennifer Strohecker, Pharm.D., the Medicaid director in Utah, spoke concerning the efforts in her state. “Like many different states, Utah could be very invested in justice-involved re-entry initiatives. As we have now had additional steering from CMS, we’re actually excited concerning the alternatives this enables for enhancements in that connection of care and continuity of care by means of pre-release companies,” she mentioned. 

“With the speed of psychological sickness in Utah jails being six occasions greater than most people, substantial gaps in care is what we’re noticing. Incarcerated people who could have a substance use dysfunction, who’ve untreated psychological sickness are shifting by means of the system and having gaps,” Strohecker added. “They’re not receiving that degree of care we would like. We’re working with our prisons and our jails to actually rise up the infrastructure for this in anticipation that these conversations with CMS might be shifting in the direction of approval of this important service quickly. That is definitely a high-priority merchandise for us.”

In June 2022 Jami Snyder, who then oversaw Arizona’s Medicaid and CHIP program, mentioned “We wish to have the ability to reimburse for companies when a person is making ready to go away a correctional setting. We wish to have the ability to reimburse for these care coordination and case administration companies, so we will get people related to care shortly after they depart that correctional surroundings by means of a wide range of suppliers, together with our justice clinic websites.”


The farthest alongside on this path is California, which has taken a number of steps in establishing its Justice-Concerned initiative. 

The state is taking steps to deal with poor well being outcomes on this inhabitants by establishing pre-release Medi-Cal enrollment methods to make sure people have continuity of protection upon their launch, in addition to entry to key companies to assist them efficiently return to their communities.

The Justice-Concerned Initiative permits eligible Californians who’re incarcerated to enroll in Medi-Cal and obtain a focused set of companies within the 90 days earlier than their launch. This initiative goals to make sure continuity of healthcare protection and companies between the time they’re incarcerated and when they’re launched. It additionally gives people who find themselves re-entering the neighborhood with the prescribed drugs and sturdy medical tools they want, and entry to applications and companies to help this transition.

A number of initiatives that focus efforts on making certain Medi-Cal enrollment and advantages upon launch from correctional services embody the next:

• Since 2015, state prisons have been required to make use of a standardized course of for gathering and processing pre-release functions to make sure that JI people are enrolled in Medi-Cal earlier than their return to the neighborhood.

• From 2016 to 2021, 17 counties supplied whole-person care (WPC) pilots devoted to serving people reentering the neighborhood post-incarceration and have designed applications to straight interact native jails and/or probation departments. These applications have transitioned to turn out to be Enhanced Care Administration (ECM)/Group Helps applications in CalAIM.

• Since January 1, 2023, all counties are mandated to implement pre-release Medi- Cal software processes in county jails and youth correctional services.

• Since January 1, 2023, and as approved by SB 184, Medi-Cal advantages for juveniles and adults could also be stored in suspended standing till the person is not an inmate of a public establishment.

• A 2021 state legislation (AB 133) requires correctional companies to implement a course of to facilitate referrals to county specialty psychological well being companies (SMHS), Drug Medi-Cal (DMC), the Drug Medi-Cal Organized Supply System (DMC-ODS), and/or Medi-Cal MCPs for incarcerated people who acquired behavioral well being companies whereas incarcerated, to permit for the continuation of behavioral well being remedy. These referrals are known as behavioral well being linkages.

• Managed care plans are required to supply intensive, community-based care administration for people transitioning to the neighborhood by means of the statewide ECM and Group Helps profit. All people who’re eligible for pre-release Medi-Cal companies and enrolled in managed care may also be eligible to obtain ECM upon launch to the neighborhood.

CMS is requiring state Medicaid applications to evaluate whether or not these interventions are having optimistic impacts on well being outcomes and prices. 

As an illustration, in its letter approving Washington state’s waiver, CMS mentioned that “by permitting early interventions to happen within the full 90-day interval instantly previous to anticipated launch, reminiscent of for sure behavioral well being circumstances and together with stabilizing drugs like long-acting injectable anti-psychotics and drugs for dependancy remedy for SUDs, Washington expects that will probably be capable of scale back decompensation, suicide-related deaths, overdoses, and overdose-related deaths within the near-term post-release. The state will take a look at, and comprehensively consider by means of sturdy hypotheses testing, the effectiveness of the prolonged full 90-day protection interval earlier than the beneficiary’s anticipated date of launch on attaining these articulated objectives of the initiative.”