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Program Helps Individuals With Mental Illness Get Coverage Upon Release From Correctional Facilities

A new study released by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) reports that a model program, implemented to ensure that eligible individuals with serious mental illness were enrolled in Medicaid upon discharge from state correctional facilities, increased Medicaid enrollment among this group by 15%. The effort significantly improved access to mental health treatment and services by reducing barriers to health insurance for eligible individuals leaving state institutions.

“The study underscores the importance of interagency collaboration to help people with serious mental illness and substance abuse disorders obtain access to needed services to sustain their life in the community,” says SAMHSA Administrator Pamela S. Hyde, JD. “As a result, barriers to health and behavioral health care are reduced and recovery is supported so that people do not find their way back into higher cost systems.”

The model program, implemented in Oklahoma, aimed to achieve Medicaid enrollment on the day of discharge for all eligible inmates with mental illness. The areas of focus involved:

•identifying individuals with severe mental illness who were likely eligible for Medicaid about six to nine months before their release from correctional facilities;

•helping them apply for federal disability benefits four months before their release; and

•assisting them with subsequent Medicaid applications two months before their release.

The new program significantly improved access to Medicaid for discharged inmates with mental illness due to staff training, interagency agreements, and agency collaboration in program implementation.

— Source: Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration