New Medi-Cal rules ease pressure on San Mateo County jails by covering more inmate medical expenses
San Mateo County, California – A statewide program that could save San Mateo County approximately $2 million a year is changing the way the county pays for healthcare for those in jail. The California Advancing and Innovating Medi-Cal program, or CalAIM, will now pay San Mateo County Correctional Health Services for caring for eligible people in its correctional facilities. This is expected to help with financial challenges and improve service quality.
The county has been paying for all of the medical care for prisoners in its jails for years, but it only gets some money back through the Medi-Cal Inmate Eligibility Program (MCIEP), which only pays for hospital stays longer than 24 hours. But that changes with CalAIM. Medi-Cal will soon start paying for more medical costs for qualified individuals who are in jail, even before they are released.
On any given day, the two correctional facilities in San Mateo County take care of about 1,000 people. Almost half of them, or around 46%, are eligible for Medi-Cal. These people often need a lot of different medical services, which cost the county an average of $1,100 per patient. Medications add another $500 to $900 each person. With the new CalAIM reimbursements in place, the local system can now get some relief from those costs.
“The CalAIM initiative is a significant step toward ensuring that incarcerated individuals receive the medical care they need while also reducing the financial burden on local governments,” said Michael del Rosario, director of Correctional Health Services, in a release. “These projected savings will allow us to invest in additional administrative and clinical staff, ultimately improving the quality and continuity of care for our patients.”
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CalAIM’s Justice-Involved Reentry program is an important component of the effort. It gives people medical and behavioral health care for 90 days before they are released. This specific window is really important. It’s a moment when the probability of relapsing, committing another crime, or needing emergency medical care are at their highest. San Mateo County wants to make things more stable and avoiding crises following reintegration by providing care before release, like mental health services and substance use therapy.
The county’s Integrated Medication Assisted Treatment (IMAT) team already works with individuals who have been released from jail to help them recover from drug usage. With CalAIM’s aid, they can now begin that job sooner and better.
This change puts San Mateo County on a growing list of localities in California that are using CalAIM’s extended Medi-Cal benefits. Not only is the main goal to save money, but also to fix long-standing gaps in care, lower health inequities, and make it easier for people to move from prison to the community.
