Most former inmates leave California prisons with no steady place to get medical care. Instead, they rely on random county-funded clinics or end up at county emergency rooms. That is beginning to change in California, according to a report by KQED and Kaiser Health News..
The state negotiated with the Obama administration to gain access to funds available under the federal health law. Starting in August, counties began enrolling all low-income residents—including ex-offenders—into a version of Medi-Cal.
Most ex-offenders with medical problems, first diagnosed and brought under control while incarcerated, leave prison with only a four-week supply of medication. Many ex-convicts have not had health insurance since they were children. Now that’s changing.
With the early expansion of health coverage this summer, former inmates will be covered for preventive care, prescription drugs, specialty visits and mental health and substance abuse. One place where inmates will now get care is at the non-profit Healthy Oakland. This is one of the few clinics in the state that offers medical care to ex-convicts.
Untreated chronic medical problems can lead right back to prison or jail, researchers say. That includes hypertension, which can become heart failure, diabetes, that can turn into diabetic neuropathy and lead to amputation, even blindness. Giving ex-offenders health insurance and assigning them a regular doctor brings some order to their chaotic lives.
Some county health departments are using the new federal money to restructure their safety nets to provide a fuller array of services.
“Historically, services for this population are fragmented and tend to be episodic. And what we’re trying to do is prepare for health reform by assigning all consumers in our system, all clients in our system, to a medical home,” said Alex Briscoe of the Alameda County Public Health Department.
Those preparations are especially important as California begins to comply with a court order to reduce its state prison population. That means even more ex-offenders signing up for the expanded health coverage.
Emily Wang of the Yale School of Medicine says many former inmates return home with communicable diseases. “Treating substance abuse, HIV, hepatitis C will reduce the disease rates in our communities,” she said.
