Oregon permitted to offer Medicaid coverage to inmates 90 days before release

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — Incarcerated people in Oregon will have access to health care up to 90 days before their release from correctional facilities across the state.

On Tuesday, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced that Oregon was one of five states that were officially permitted to use federal funding to offer Medicaid coverage to inmates awaiting their release.

llinois, Kentucky, Utah and Vermont were the other states that were recently approved. California, Massachusetts, Montana and Washington were previously allowed to expand healthcare access to incarcerated individuals.

According to the Oregon Health Authority, there’s a federal ban against using Medicaid dollars for incarcerated people being held in public correctional facilities. Because of this, Oregon Health Plan members have their Medicaid enrollment stripped away if they are put behind bars.

OHA reported that members see a delay in essential health care services such as addiction treatment and access to medication once they are released. The new approval from federal officials aims to help people as they transition out of incarceration.

“This approval is an important first step in making it possible for people leaving a carceral setting to be able to better access the care they need, including medications for opioid use disorders,” OHA Deputy Director for Police and Programs Dave Baden said in a statement. “Oregon Health Authority is looking forward to working with carceral institutions and community partners to build these services in the coming years to make them available.”

The Medicaid coverage will go to those being held in state and county prisons, jails and youth correctional facilities. "More than 20,000 beds" across 60 facilities will be eligible.