Affordable Care Act - General

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ): The Affordable Care Act (ACA) and Justice-Involved Populations

The answers to the eleven most asked questions about providing health care in a correctional setting as directed by the Affordable Care Act (ACA) are given. This is important information for correctional agencies trying to address the costs they incur in the provision of inmate health services.

Medicaid and Financing Health Care for Individuals Involved with the Criminal Justice System

“This brief outlines opportunities for states and local jurisdictions to improve public health and safety outcomes, and reduce spending on corrections and health care services by maximizing the appropriate use of Medicaid coverage for people involved with the criminal justice system.” Sections discuss: federal Medicaid rules on coverage of criminal justice populations; what Medicaid entails; allowable uses of Medicaid for incarcerated persons; understanding Medicaid enrollment, suspension, and termination; the ACA’s (Affordable Care Act’s) Medicaid expansion-opportunities to increase health coverage for...

Healthcare Not Handcuffs: Putting the Affordable Care Act to Work for Criminal Justice and Drug Policy Reform

“The Affordable Care Act (ACA) sets the stage for a new health-oriented policy framework to address substance use and mental health disorders. By dramatically expanding and funding healthcare coverage to millions of currently uninsured people, the ACA represents a remarkable opportunity for criminal justice and drug policy reform advocates to advance efforts for policies promoting safe and healthy communities, without excessive reliance on the criminal justice solutions that have become so prevalent under the War on Drugs. 

This paper is...

Proceedings of the Large Jail Network Meeting Aurora, Colorado, September 15 - 17, 2013

Sections of these proceedings are: about this meeting; meeting highlights; “The Affordable Care Act: Health Care Reform and Jails” by Donna Strugar-Fritsch; “Handling Corrections Staff Wellness/Performance Issues: From Corrections Fatigue to Fulfillment” by Caterina G. Spinaris and Micheal D. Denhof; “Prison Rape Elimination Act: The Outlook for Facility Audits” by Joshua C. Delaney and Dee Halley; PREA Panel Discussion by Don Pinkard, Jeffery Newton, and Art Wallenstein; “Legal Issues in Jails-2013: PREA Enforcement, Freedom of Religion (Staff Attire and Inmate...

Health Care Reform and County Criminal Justice Systems: An Introduction to Health Care Reform and the Opportunities and Challenges for County Criminal Justice Systems

“This course provides an overview of how upcoming changes to California’s health care system will impact local criminal justice systems. Speakers compare and contrast health care in the county corrections systems today with health care in the years to come under the Affordable Care Act. A framework for providing health care to the criminal justice population is presented to facilitate preparations at the county level that can help to maximize criminal justice resources. Highlights include: How improving access to health...

Mapping the Criminal Justice System to Connect Justice-Involved Individuals with Treatment and Health Care under the Affordable Care Act

"By working together to build a visual portrait of how individuals progress through the criminal justice system, health and justice stakeholders gain better understanding of their respective policies and practices. In addition, mapping allows jurisdictions to consider decision points throughout the entire criminal justice system when exploring opportunities to enroll criminal justice-involved individuals in insurance coverage. This guide is for states and local jurisdictions interested in using system mapping to maximize opportunities for criminal justice and health care system integration...

Health Reform and Public Safety: New Opportunities, Better Outcomes [Internet Broadcast]

Research shows that there are a disproportionate number of justice involved individuals suffering from chronic illness and/ or mental health and substance abuse disorders. We also know that a majority of the justice-involved individuals are young adults and unemployed or earn an income that is well below the federal poverty line leaving them without the ability to obtain health care. There is now an opportunity to enhance collaboration between the criminal justice/corrections and healthcare systems. Early estimates indicate a significant...

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and the Pretrial System: A "Front Door" to Health and Safety

"The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) provides an historic opportunity for millions of low-income individuals to obtain insurance coverage for their physical and behavioral health care needs. For the last several years, diverse behavioral health advocates, health care providers and community-based prevention organizations, have worked to understand the implications of the ACA on the justice-involved population. Much of the conversation has been centered on the disproportionately high rates of physical and behavioral health care needs amongst this previously...

Health Coverage and Care for Youth in the Juvenile Justice System: The Role of Medicaid and CHIP

"This brief provides an overview of the health and mental health needs of girls and boys in the juvenile justice system and the role of Medicaid in addressing those needs. It focuses on the circumstances of those girls and boys who are placed in juvenile justice residential facilities, the discontinuity of Medicaid coverage for those youth, and the options for improving coverage, continuity of care and access to needed services post-discharge, including new opportunities provided by the Affordable Care Act"...

On Life Support: Public Health in the Age of Mass Incarceration

This report is an excellent introduction to the relationship between incarceration and public health and its significance for society. It is essential reading for anyone working within the fields of corrections and public health. Sections cover: the burden of disease behind bars-mental health, substance use and addiction, infectious disease, chronic disease, violence and self-harm, greater health disparities for women, and geriatric health; conditions of confinement and health-overcrowding, solitary confinement, sexual victimization, and quality of care; the health of communities--family structure...

Questions & Answers: The Affordable Care Act and County Jails

"The implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) has set off reforms in health care systems across the country, including in county jails ... Many of those who cycle in and out of county jails may now be able to obtain health insurance through the Health Insurance Marketplace or expanded Medicaid. County jails are therefore in a unique position to connect those in their custody with health insurance during pretrial detention or prior to discharge. Evidence suggests this could contribute...