Humane Correctional Health Care Act

II 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1821 To amend title XIX of the Social Security Act to provide a consistent standard of health care to incarcerated individuals, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MAY 25, 2021 Mr. BOOKER introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance A BILL To amend title XIX of the Social Security Act to provide a consistent standard of health care to incarcerated indi- viduals, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Humane Correctional 4 Health Care Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. REPEAL OF MEDICAID EXCLUSION RELATING TO IN- 6 CARCERATED INDIVIDUALS. 7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 1905(a) of the Social Se- 8 curity Act (42 U.S.C. 1396d(a)) is amended, in the matter 9 following paragraph (31), by striking ‘‘such term does not 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:58 Jun 11, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1821.IS S1821 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 1821 IS include—’’ and all that follows through ‘‘patient in an in- 1 stitution for mental diseases’’ and inserting ‘‘such term 2 does not include any such payments with respect to care 3 or services for any individual who has not attained 65 4 years of age and who is a patient in an institution for 5 mental diseases’’. 6 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Section 1902(a) 7 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1396a(a)) is amend- 8 ed— 9 (1) by striking paragraph (84); and 10 (2) by striking subsection (nn). 11 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 12 this section shall apply with respect to medical assistance 13 provided on or after January 1, 2022. 14 SEC. 3. REPORT BY COMPTROLLER GENERAL. 15 Not later than the date that is 3 years after the date 16 of enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter for each 17 of the following 5 years, the Comptroller General of the 18 United States shall submit to Congress a report con- 19 taining the following information: 20 (1) The percentage of incarcerated individuals 21 that receive medical assistance under a State plan 22 under title XIX of the Social Security Act (42 23 U.S.C. 1396 et seq.). 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:58 Jun 11, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1821.IS S1821 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 1821 IS (2) The access of incarcerated individuals to 1 health care services, including specialty care, and 2 health care providers. 3 (3) The quality of health care services provided 4 to incarcerated individuals. 5 (4) Any impact of coverage under such a State 6 plan on recidivism. 7 (5) The percentage of incarcerated individuals 8 who, upon release, are— 9 (A) enrolled under such a State plan; and 10 (B) connected to a primary care provider 11 in their community. 12 (6) Trends in the prevalence and incidence of 13 illness and injury among incarcerated individuals. 14 (7) Any other information the Comptroller Gen- 15 eral determines necessary regarding the health of in- 16 carcerated individuals. 17 SEC. 4. SENSE OF CONGRESS ON INCARCERATION AND 18 COMMUNITY-BASED HEALTH SERVICES. 19 It is the sense of Congress that— 20 (1) no individual in the United States should be 21 incarcerated for the purpose of being provided with 22 health care that is unavailable to the individual in 23 the individual’s community; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:58 Jun 11, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1821.IS S1821 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 1821 IS (2) each State and unit of local government 1 should establish programs that offer community- 2 based health services (including mental health and 3 substance use disorder services) commensurate with 4 the principle stated in paragraph (1); and 5 (3) Federal reimbursement for expenditures on 6 medical assistance made available through the 7 amendments made by this Act should not supplant 8 an investment in community-based services. 9 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:58 Jun 11, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S1821.IS S1821 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS