Bill Text: NJ A2057 | 2024-2025 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Requires inmate to participate in Medicaid enrollment session 60 days prior to release.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 5-0)
Status: (Introduced) 2024-01-09 - Introduced, Referred to Assembly Public Safety and Preparedness Committee [A2057 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2024-A2057-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
221st LEGISLATURE
PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2024 SESSION
Sponsored by:
Assemblywoman ELIANA PINTOR MARIN
District 29 (Essex and Hudson)
Assemblywoman ANNETTE QUIJANO
District 20 (Union)
Assemblywoman VERLINA REYNOLDS-JACKSON
District 15 (Hunterdon and Mercer)
Co-Sponsored by:
Assemblywoman Speight and Assemblyman Stanley
SYNOPSIS
Requires inmate to participate in Medicaid enrollment session 60 days prior to release.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative Counsel.
An Act concerning Medicaid enrollment for inmates prior to release, and supplementing Title 30 of the Revised Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. a. An inmate of a State prison or county correctional facility shall, at least 60 days prior to the release from the State prison or county correctional facility, participate in a Medicaid enrollment session. During the session, county welfare agency staff or designated State prison or county correctional facility personnel, who have received training from the Department of Human Services regarding the screening and enrollment process for Medicaid, shall provide the inmate with assistance, either in person or via telephone, in completing a Medicaid application and shall ensure that the inmate's application is submitted to the Department of Human Services or another Medicaid eligibility determination agency for processing.
b. An inmate who opts out of a Medicaid enrollment session, as provided for in subsection a. of this section, shall indicate such a decision in writing, in a manner and format determined by the Commissioner of Corrections. A State prison or county correctional facility staff member shall provide guidance to an inmate who opts out of a Medicaid enrollment session, both verbally and in a written format, of the health care benefits provided under Medicaid, as well as the process to apply for Medicaid, should the inmate decide to enroll following release from the State prison or county correctional facility.
c. As used in this section, "Medicaid" means the program established pursuant to P.L.1968, c.413 (C.30:4D-1 et seq.).
2. This act shall take effect shall take immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill implements certain recommendations included in the 2019 New Jersey Reentry Services Commission Report entitled "Barriers, Best Practices, and Action Items for Improving Reentry Services."
Specifically, this bill requires an inmate of a State prison or county correctional facility, at least 60 days prior to the release from the State prison or county correctional facility, to participate in a Medicaid enrollment session. During the session, county welfare agency staff or designated State prison or county correctional facility personnel, who have received training from the Department of Human Services regarding the screening and enrollment process for Medicaid, are to provide the inmate with assistance, either in person or via telephone, in completing a Medicaid application and to ensure that the inmate's application is submitted to the Department of Human Services or another Medicaid eligibility determination agency for processing.
Under the bill, an inmate who opts out of a Medicaid enrollment session is required to indicate such a decision in writing, in a manner and format determined by the Commissioner of Corrections. Furthermore, a State prison or county correctional facility staff member is required to provide guidance to an inmate who opts out of a Medicaid enrollment session, both verbally and in a written format, of the health care benefits provided under Medicaid, as well as the process to apply for Medicaid, should the inmate decide to enroll following release from the State prison or county correctional facility.
