Requires inmate to participate in Medicaid enrollment session 60 days prior to release.

S3801

SENATE, No. 3801

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

222nd LEGISLATURE

�

INTRODUCED MARCH 5, 2026

Sponsored by:

Senator� M. TERESA RUIZ

District 29 (Essex and Hudson)

SYNOPSIS

���� Requires inmate to participate in Medicaid enrollment
session 60 days prior to release.

CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT

���� As introduced.

��

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.�