As Roughly 700,000 Prisoners Are Released Annually, About Half Will Gain Health Coverage And Care Under Federal Laws
As Roughly 700,000 Prisoners Are Released Annually, About Half Will Gain Health Coverage And Care Under Federal Laws
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DOI：
10.1377/hlthaff.2011.0501
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发表时间：
2012-05-01
期刊：
影响因子：
9.7
通讯作者：
Cheema, Jehanzeb
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Cuellar, Alison Evans;Cheema, Jehanzeb
2009年，联邦和州监狱释放了73万名囚犯，比2000年增加了21%。健康状况不佳和医疗保险不佳一直是试图重新融入社区和找工作的前囚犯面临的主要挑战。我们将讨论这些挑战以及近期联邦立法可能产生的影响，包括《第二次机会法案》、《精神健康平等和成瘾公平法案》以及《平价医疗法案》。我们估计，随着医疗改革的实施，每年释放的囚犯中高达33.6%——2009年超过24.5万人——可以加入医疗补助计划。同样，我们估计每年释放的囚犯中有23.5%——2009年超过17.2万人——有资格获得联邦税收抵免，以支付从州健康交易所购买保险的费用。这种健康保险，结合新的药物滥用服务和以病人为中心的医疗家庭模式，可以极大地改善前囚犯重返社区后的健康和成功。各州应该考虑几项政策变化，以缓解囚犯的过渡，包括暂停而不是终止罪犯的医疗补助福利；将纠正信息纳入资格确定系统；针对监狱囚犯的医疗补助推广和登记工作；设计全面的方法来满足前囚犯的医疗保健需求。
During 2009, 730,000 prisoners were released from federal and state prisons-a 21 percent increase from the number of prisoners released in 2000. Poor health and poor health coverage have been major challenges for former prisoners trying to reintegrate into the community and find work. We discuss these challenges and the likely effect of recent federal legislation, including the Second Chance Act, the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act, and the Affordable Care Act. We estimated that with the implementation of health reform, up to 33.6 percent of inmates released annually-more than 245,000 people in 2009-could enroll in Medicaid. Similarly, we estimated that up to 23.5 percent of prisoners released annually-more than 172,000 people in 2009-could be eligible for federal tax credits to defray the cost of purchasing insurance from state health exchanges. This health insurance, combined with new substance abuse services and patient-centered medical home models, could dramatically improve the health and success of former inmates as they return to the community. States should consider several policy changes to ease prisoners' transitions, including suspending rather than terminating Medicaid benefits for offenders; incorporating corrections information into eligibility determination systems; aiming Medicaid outreach and enrollment efforts at prison inmates; and designing comprehensive approaches to meeting former prisoners' health care needs.