Humane Correctional Health Care Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 4141 To amend title XIX of the Social Security Act to provide a consistent standard of health care to the incarcerated, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES AUGUST 2, 2019 Ms. KUSTER of New Hampshire (for herself and Ms. NORTON) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Com- merce, and in addition to the Committee on the Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consider- ation of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To amend title XIX of the Social Security Act to provide a consistent standard of health care to the incarcerated, 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 INMATE EXCLUSION. 6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 1905(a) of the Social Se- 7 curity Act (42 U.S.C. 1396d(a)) is amended, in the matter 8 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:30 Aug 15, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4141.IH H4141 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •HR 4141 IH following paragraph (30), by striking ‘‘such term does not 1 include—’’ and all that follows through ‘‘patient in an in- 2 stitution for mental diseases’’ and inserting ‘‘such term 3 does not include any such payments with respect to care 4 or services for any individual who is under 65 years of 5 age and is a patient in an institution for mental diseases’’. 6 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Section 1902 of 7 the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1396a) is amended— 8 (1) in subsection (a)— 9 (A) by striking paragraph (84); 10 (B) by redesignating paragraphs (85) and 11 (86) as paragraphs (84) and (85), respectively; 12 (C) in paragraph (84), as redesignated by 13 subparagraph (B), by striking ‘‘(oo)(1)’’ and in- 14 serting ‘‘(nn)(1)’’; and 15 (D) in paragraph (85), as redesignated by 16 subparagraph (B), by striking ‘‘(pp)’’ and in- 17 serting ‘‘(oo)’’; 18 (2) by striking subsection (nn); 19 (3) by redesignating subsections (oo) and (pp) 20 as subsections (nn) and (oo), respectively; 21 (4) in subsection (nn), as redesignated by para- 22 graph (3), by striking ‘‘(85)’’ and inserting ‘‘(84)’’; 23 and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:30 Aug 15, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4141.IH H4141 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •HR 4141 IH (5) in subsection (oo), as redesignated by para- 1 graph (3), by striking ‘‘(86)’’ and inserting ‘‘(85)’’. 2 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 3 this section shall apply with respect to medical assistance 4 provided on or after January 1, 2020. 5 SEC. 3. REPORT BY COMPTROLLER GENERAL. 6 Not later than the date that is three years after the 7 date of the enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter 8 for each of the following five years, the Comptroller Gen- 9 eral of the United States shall submit to Congress a report 10 containing the following information: 11 (1) The percentage of inmates that receive med- 12 ical assistance under a State plan under title XIX 13 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1396 et seq.). 14 (2) The access of inmates to health care serv- 15 ices, including specialty care, and health care pro- 16 viders. 17 (3) The quality of health care services provided 18 to inmates. 19 (4) Any impact of coverage under such a State 20 plan on recidivism. 21 (5) The percentage of inmates who, upon re- 22 lease, are— 23 (A) enrolled under such a State plan; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:30 Aug 15, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4141.IH H4141 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •HR 4141 IH (B) connected to a primary care provider 1 in their community. 2 (6) Trends in the prevalence and incidence of 3 illness and injury among inmates. 4 (7) Any other information the Comptroller Gen- 5 eral determines necessary regarding the health of in- 6 mates. 7 SEC. 4. SENSE OF CONGRESS ON INCARCERATION AND 8 COMMUNITY-BASED HEALTH SERVICES. 9 It is the sense of Congress that— 10 (1) no individual in the United States should be 11 incarcerated for the purpose of being provided with 12 health care that is unavailable to the individual in 13 the individual’s community; 14 (2) each State and unit of local government 15 should establish programs that offer community- 16 based health services (including mental health and 17 substance use disorder services) commensurate with 18 the principle stated in paragraph (1); and 19 (3) Federal reimbursement for expenditures on 20 medical assistance made available through the 21 amendments made by this Act should not supplant 22 an investment in community-based services. 23 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:30 Aug 15, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H4141.IH H4141 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS