Bill Text: NJ A5937 | 2018-2019 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Requires DOC to ensure inmates have opportunity to participate in Medicaid pre-enrollment and enrollment sessions at least 60 days prior to release; requires applicable inmates to receive Medicaid card at release.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2019-11-18 - Introduced, Referred to Assembly Human Services Committee [A5937 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2018-A5937-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Assemblyman ANTHONY S. VERRELLI
District 15 (Hunterdon and Mercer)
SYNOPSIS
Requires DOC to ensure inmates have opportunity to participate in Medicaid pre-enrollment and enrollment sessions at least 60 days prior to release; requires applicable inmates to receive Medicaid card at release.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning Medicaid enrollment procedures 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. The Commissioner of Corrections, in collaboration with the Commissioner of Human Services, county welfare agencies, and the county administrators of the county correctional facilities, shall ensure that an inmate of a State prison or county correctional facility has the opportunity to participate in:
(1) a peer-led Medicaid pre-enrollment session at least 60 days prior to the release from the State prison or county correctional facility. The session shall include, at a minimum, information regarding the benefits of Medicaid, the application process, and pertinent differences between the managed care plans available under the program; and
(2) an enrollment session no more than five calendar days following the peer-led Medicaid pre-enrollment session required under paragraph (1) of this subsection. 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.
b. The Commissioner of Corrections, in collaboration with the Commissioner of Human Services, county welfare agencies, and the county administrators of the county correctional facilities, shall establish a process by which the Department of Human Services or another Medicaid eligibility determination agency notifies an inmate, who completes a Medicaid application during a Medicaid enrollment session, of the inmate's eligibility determination prior to release from the State prison or county correctional facility and, if applicable, provides the inmate with a Medicaid identification card at the time of release from the State prison or county correctional facility.
c. Nothing in this section shall be construed to alter the eligibility standards for medical assistance under the Medicaid program.
d. 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 effect 60 days following the date of enactment.
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, the bill directs the Commissioner of Corrections, in collaboration with the Commissioner of Human Services, county welfare agencies, and the county administrators of the county correctional facilities, to ensure that an inmate of a State prison or county correctional facility has the opportunity to participate in:
(1) a peer-led Medicaid pre-enrollment session at least 60 days prior to the release from the State prison or county correctional facility. The session is required to include, at a minimum, information regarding the benefits of Medicaid, the application process, and pertinent differences between the managed care plans available under the program; and
(2) an enrollment session no more than five calendar days following the peer-led Medicaid pre-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 required to provide the inmate with assistance, either in person or via telephone, in completing a Medicaid application.
The Commissioner of Corrections, in collaboration with the Commissioner of Human Services, county welfare agencies, and the county administrators of the county correctional facilities, is also required to establish a process by which the Department of Human Services or another Medicaid eligibility determination agency notifies an inmate, who completes a Medicaid application during a Medicaid enrollment session, of the inmate's eligibility determination prior to release from the State prison or county correctional facility and, if applicable, provides the inmate with a Medicaid identification card at the time of release from the State prison or county correctional facility.
Although federal Medicaid law, particularly 42 U.S.C. s.1396d(a), prohibits coverage to incarcerated individuals (except as patients in a medical institution), the federal law does not prevent the enrollment of those individuals who are otherwise qualified for coverage, which can thereafter take effect upon the individual's release from incarceration.
