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| How Medicaid Expansion Can Lower Prison Costs, Recidivism |
| By governing.com - Chris Kardish |
| Published: 11/29/2013 |
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For states expanding Medicaid to childless adults, the Affordable Care Act presents an opportunity that hasn’t gained as much attention as the hobbled rollout of the law’s online marketplaces: the chance to save millions on health care in prison systems and lower the number of ex-convicts who commit new crimes. It’s always been the responsibility of states to provide health care within their departments of correction, but under the Affordable Care Act states that agree to expand Medicaid to everyone earning up to 138 percent of the federal poverty line can ask the feds to cover hospitalizations outside the corrections system. Technically they’ve been allowed to do that since the 1990s, but in most states the typical prisoner—a low-income but childless adult—hasn’t qualified for Medicaid. Now, more states will be taking advantage of coverage for existing prisoners as well as the hundreds of thousands up for parole every year. Backed by studies that show access to mental health, substance abuse and other services help keep former prisoners from committing crimes again, some states are taking extra steps to ensure ex-prisoners not only sign up for Medicaid but keep their appointments. States are eager to combat rising prison health costs driven by an aging population, logistical challenges and a high incidence of chronic diseases. In a Pew Study examining prison health costs between 2001 and 2008, per-inmate spending rose in 35 of 44 states, with 32 percent median growth. That same study cited reports from state health agencies that found Medicaid expansion would save hundreds of millions over a decade from inpatient care in outside health facilities. In Ohio, it’s $273 million between 2014 and 2022. In Michigan, it’s $250 million in the law’s first decade. Read More. |
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