White House officials on Thursday announced a new rule that would extend government-funded health care to most people living in halfway houses, providing coverage to nearly 100,000 additional people.
They also clarified for states that people on probation, parole or in home confinement were not considered inmates of a public institution and could also receive the government-funded coverage. Medicaid, the program they will be covered under, extends to the poorest Americans under Obamacare and comes at little or no cost to patients.
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"What this guidance does is remind states of some of the tools they have available to them," said Victoria Wachino, director of the Center for Medicaid and CHIP Services, said in a call with reporters Thursday.
The model is likely to fit into the bipartisan emphasis on prison reform that is reshaping criminal justice policy and that has been endorsed by presidential candidates. When prisoners are incarcerated, the state or federal government is required to provide them with medical care. When they are released, however, for the most part they become uninsured. This population also has disproportionately high rates of chronic conditions and infectious disease.
Obamacare Medicaid Expansion Status | HealthGrove
Government officials emphasized the impact the program could have on people with mental health and substance abuse disorders, who are believed to make up about half of the incarcerated population. People with these conditions often cycle through the criminal justice system, whether while causing disruption during a state of psychosis or breaking the law to access drugs. Michael Botticelli, the White House's director of national drug control policy, said enrolling this group in Medicaid was one of the "best ways to protect public safety" because it could help provide care for those who might otherwise relapse or die from a drug overdose.
Some county jail officials have already helped former inmates enroll in Medicaid and have said they have seen a dramatic reduction in the number of people who cycle in and out of the justice system.
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Friday, April 29th 2016 at 11:39AM
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