Expedited Medicaid restoration in Washington state: Effects on costs and community days

Community reentry for persons with mental illness released from jails and prisons is one of the most pressing public health and public safety challenges today. To address this challenge, Connecticut and Washington State have expedited Medicaid restoration for mentally ill persons released from prisons to facilitate access and utilization of services upon release. To date, however, the effectiveness of expedited Medicaid restoration programs towards reducing the remarkably high recidivism rates for offenders with severe mental illness is unknown. Here, cost-effectiveness findings from an NIMH-funded study of expedited Medicaid restoration in Connecticut and Washington State are presented. In both states, expedited Medicaid restoration led to quicker and greater mental health service use but no strong effects were observed regarding reduced criminal justice outcomes and costs. Many controls went on to obtain Medicaid after release so further analyses are needed to isolate overall effects of having vs. not-having Medicaid. However, our current analyses suggest that Medicaid alone might not be enough to keep people with SMI out of criminal justice system.