Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Case Reports
. 2009 Jul;24(7):860-2.
doi: 10.1007/s11606-009-0977-x. Epub 2009 Apr 18.

Filling the gap: the importance of Medicaid continuity for former inmates

Sarah E Wakeman  1 , Margaret E McKinney, Josiah D Rich
Affiliations
Case Reports

Filling the gap: the importance of Medicaid continuity for former inmates

Sarah E Wakeman et al. J Gen Intern Med. 2009 Jul.

Abstract

Despite no federal law mandating Medicaid termination for prisoners, 90 percent of states have implemented policies that withdraw inmates' enrollment upon incarceration. This leaves a medically and psychiatrically vulnerable population uninsured during the months following release, a time period during which former inmates have been shown to have an increased risk of medical problems and death. We believe it is of critical importance for the 10 million Americans who cycle in and out of corrections each year, as well as the communities they return to, that Medicaid be suspended rather than terminated during incarceration.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Morrissey JP, Steadman HJ, Dalton KM, Cuellar A, Stiles P, Cuddeback GS. Medicaid enrollment and mental health service use following release of jail detainees with severe mental illness. Psychiatr Serv. 2006;57(6):809–815. doi: 10.1176/appi.ps.57.6.809. - DOI - PubMed
    1. SAMHSA. The prevalence of co-occurring mental illness and substance use disorders in jails: Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA); 2004.
    1. Rich JD, Holmes L, Salas C, et al. Successful linkage of medical care and community services for HIV-positive offenders being released from prison. J Urban Health. 2001;78(2):279–289. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Okie S. Sex, drugs, prisons, and HIV. N Engl J Med. 2007;356(2):105–108. doi: 10.1056/NEJMp068277. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Freudenberg N, Daniels J, Crum M, Perkins T, Richie BE. Coming home from jail: the social and health consequences of community reentry for women, male adolescents, and their families and communities. Am J Public Health. 2005;95:1725–1726. doi: 10.2105/AJPH.2004.056325. - DOI - PMC - PubMed

Publication types

MeSH terms