The U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Justice Programs (OJP) and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Office of Minority Health released a new Coverage to Care (C2C) resource to support individuals upon release and re-entering the community to connect to health coverage and health services.
The Returning to the Community: Health Care After Incarceration guide will help people better understand their health care needs, including physical and behavioral health, to—
- learn key information, terms, people, and titles to help connect to health care services pre- and post-release,
- connect with mental health and crime victim services hotlines,
- learn about insurance coverage types and how to apply, and
- tips to get started using health coverage to receive needed services to support a successful reentry and healthy life.
Based on community and peer feedback, OJP and CMS worked together to create this resource to help fill a gap and give people returning to the community information that can support their ability to advocate for needed services and coverage. This resource is specifically tailored to consider the unique considerations, concerns, and needs of individuals that are incarcerated, soon to be released, or recently released.
Returning to the community can be overwhelming. OJP and CMS encourage family members, community partners, peer support services, and justice-related programs and other stakeholders to use this resource to help start conversations about and support individuals in seeking health care coverage, services, and how to get started.
Coverage to Care (C2C) is a CMS initiative to assist consumers in understanding their health coverage and using it to receive needed health care services.