Reducing Recidivism By Speeding Medicaid Eligibility

The effects of mental illness and addiction on the corrections system is well known. Approximately 64% of inmates have a serious mental illness such as bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, or a brief psychotic disorder, 53% suffer with addictions, and 49% of this population has coexisting mental health and addiction disorder issues (see Federal Policy Impacts On County Jail Inmate Healthcare & Recidivism and Serious Mental Illness Prevalence in Jails and Prisons). And when these inmates are released, they seek more emergency care, are hospitalized more frequently, and have twelve times the mortality rate than the general public—leading to higher rates . . .