Ohio among states pushing prisoners on Medicaid, By Lisa Bernard-Kuhn, February 18, 2014, USA Today: “Landing time in an Ohio prison could also soon get you help enrolling into health care coverage under Obamacare. Ohio is among a small but growing number of states working to enroll prisoners into Medicaid when they get sick and as they are being released. The move could save the state nearly $18 million this year alone in costs of providing health care to prisoners — money that would be shifted onto the federal government’s tab. Longer term, prison and health care officials say it also could help curb the number of repeat offenders as more ex-prisoners gain access to needed mental health services and substance abuse programs, benefits now required to be covered under the health reform law, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act…”
Tag: Prisons
Medicaid Coverage and Prison Inmates
States missing out on millions in Medicaid for prisoners, By Christine Vestal, June 25, 2013, Stateline: “Only a dozen states have taken advantage of a long-standing option to stick the federal government with at least half the cost of hospitalizations and nursing home stays of state prison inmates. The other states have left tens of millions of federal dollars on the table, either because they didn’t know about a federal rule dating to 1997 or they were unable to write the laws and administrative processes to take advantage of it. States and localities have a constitutional obligation to provide adequate health care to prisoners, and they must pay for it out of their own budgets. However, a 1997 ruling says that care provided to inmates beyond the walls of the prison qualifies for Medicaid reimbursement if the prisoner is Medicaid eligible. The federal government then pays 50 percent to 84 percent of Medicaid costs…”
Families of Prisoners and Long-Distance Calling
FCC considers limiting costs of long-distance calls for families of prisoners in Ohio, By Stan Donaldson, February 12, 2013, Cleveland Plain Dealer: “The price of long-distance calls for the families of inmates inside Ohio prisons could be coming down this year. The Federal Communications Commission has been looking into the calls’ cost in part to make it easier for prisoners and their families to keep in contact and continue to forge family bonds — bonds experts say are needed to help inmates re-enter society when they are released…”