Judy Solomon makes the case that the program reduces prison recidivism:
States considering whether to expand Medicaid should consider the growing evidence that connecting the jail-involved population to treatment for mental illness and substance abuse can lower the rate at which they return to jail or prison.
For example, a study of a Michigan program to help recently released prisoners obtain community-based health care and social services found that it cut recidivism by more than half, from 46 percent to 21.8 percent. Similarly, a study that the Justice Department funded in Florida and Washington found that “in both states, 16 percent fewer jail detainees with serious mental illnesses who had Medicaid benefits at the time of their release returned to jail the following year, compared to similar detainees who did not have Medicaid.”
The Dish 