Colleen Barry, an associate professor at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, is available to discuss the expansion of Medicaid in 29 states and DC under the Affordable Care Act, and how these changes represent an unprecedented opportunity for states to enroll into Medicaid individuals involved in the criminal justice system. While these individuals cannot receive Medicaid benefits while behind bars, jurisdictions around the country are now initiating programs to ensure they are enrolled immediately upon reentering society. Many incarcerated people have high rates of chronic illness, and enrollment could lead to better access to treatment, which could eventually reduce recidivism rates.
Prior to January 2014, in most states Medicaid was only open to certain groups such as women with children and disabled individuals. The Affordable Care Act allows states to expand Medicaid coverage for most low-income adults to 138 percent of the federal poverty level. This paves the way for state and local jurisdictions to screen individuals, often during the booking or release process, to allow them to access health care often immediately upon release. Many of these individuals have never had health insurance, and suffer from serious conditions ranging from mental illness and addiction to diabetes and heart disease.
”The programs we studied are real innovators” Barry says. “We expect that, over the next few years, more and more jurisdictions all over the country will adopt similar initiatives. These programs offer an unprecedented opportunity to get people leaving jails and prison into community treatment, often for the first time. The hope is that fewer will end up back behind bars.”
To help policymakers and practitioners, Barry and colleagues launched an online tool this week that describes programs associated with county and state corrections departments to help them find prisoners eligible for future Medicaid enrollment.
The tool could also be a resource for journalists reporting on ACA, health care and the criminal justice system.
The tool is a collaboration with colleagues at the Harvard Medical School. The tool was developed with support from the Laura and John Arnold Foundation.
Barry has written on health policy topics ranging from health reform to mental illness and addiction.
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