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.

A1756

ASSEMBLY, No. 1756

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

222nd LEGISLATURE

�

PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2026 SESSION

Sponsored by:

Assemblyman ANTHONY S. VERRELLI

District 15 (Hunterdon and Mercer)

Assemblywoman SHANIQUE SPEIGHT

District 29 (Essex and Hudson)

Co-Sponsored by:

Assemblywoman Reynolds-Jackson and Assemblyman Sampson

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

���� Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative
Counsel.

��

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, the 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 release from the
State
prison or county correctional facility.
�The session shall include, at a
minimum, information regarding the benefits of Medicaid, the Medicaid 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, the
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 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, the
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 inmate�s 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 Medicaid 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, the 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 inmates (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.