However, many do not have access to programs that would help them enroll in Medicaid once they are released.
Research shows that access to health services on release leads to greater well-being and a lower risk of committing further crimes.
For former prisoners, the first days and weeks back in the community are crucial. A 2007 study published in the New England Journal of Medicine found that in the 2 weeks after release, the mortality rate among former prisoners was 13 times higher than in the general public, especially from a drug overdose.
Many of those being released have serious health conditions, mental illness or substance abuse problems, and often, when their medication runs out, they commit new crimes that put them back in jail.
Researchers from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore, MD, led by Colleen L. Barry, PhD, investigated programs that help enroll prisoners in Medicaid upon release.
As of January 2015, there were 64 programs - half of them in California. Only 42 of these programs have kept data on the numbers enrolled, but those that have kept count had enrolled 112,000 people by January 2015, mostly men. The total number is probably far higher.
Barry explains that men with serious health conditions, from schizophrenia to heart disease, receive treatment while in prison, but leave with 1-2 weeks' supply of medication and no access to a doctor.
Now, in participating states, many newly released prisoners are qualifying for health insurance through Medicaid. A small number of innovative programs have been created to help former prisoners enroll in Medicaid and to connect them with health care services.
Under federal law, those serving time cannot receive Medicaid, so that, on being convicted, people lose their benefits but receive treatment from the corrections system. After, it can take months to re-enroll.
One strategy involves states and counties suspending rather than terminating benefits while serving time, so that Medicaid is automatically reinstated upon release.