On April 17, 2023, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released a State Medicaid Director Letter (SMDL), “Opportunities to Test Transition-Related Strategies to Support Community Reentry and Improve Care Transitions for Individuals Who Are Incarcerated.”

The SMDL implements Section 5032 of the Substance Use-Disorder Prevention that Promotes Opioid Recovery and Treatment for Patients and Communities (SUPPORT) Act, which directed the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to issue guidance on how states can design Section 1115 demonstrations to provide services to justice-involved individuals prior to release to support their reentry into the community.

In an expert perspective prepared for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s State Health and Value Strategies program, Manatt Health outlines the opportunity for states to waive the inmate exclusion and receive federal financial participation (FFP) for expenditures for certain pre-release health care services provided to individuals who are incarcerated and otherwise eligible for Medicaid prior to their release.

To read the full issue brief, click here.