Although California prisons are unhappily laboring under court control because of overcrowding and poor medical treatment of inmates, the state still couldn’t get its act together quick enough to claim an estimated $13 million in federal health care funds.

A report from the state Legislative Analyst’s Office said that California lost the Medicaid reimbursement money for a couple of reasons. The court-appointed receiver overseeing the prisons had failed to sign an agreement with every affected county (Medicaid funs come through counties), and the Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) has been unable to process two-thirds of the inmate claims because of software problems.

The Medicaid funding, known as Medi-Cal in California, has been available for eligible prison inmates since 1997, providing they meet the low-income requirements. But the state has only recently made an effort to tap the matching funds. The federal government has also loosened requirements for obtaining the federal funds as part of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (otherwise known as Obamacare).

The software problem reported by DHCS resulted in the erroneous rejection of claims by 250 inmates who qualify for both Medi-Cal and Medicare.

California provided medical care to around 124,000 inmates in 33 prisons at a cost in 2011–12 of $1.8 billion. Until recently, inmate medical services were funded exclusively by the state General Fund, but changes in federal policies have expanded opportunities for receiving federal funds for off–site inpatient medical care delivered to certain inmates.

The legislative analyst estimated that if the state solves all of its application problems, it could pick up $70 million in fiscal year 2014-15. The court-appointed prison health care receiver, J. Clark Kelso, said he agreed with the report’s findings.     

–Ken Broder

To Learn More:

Obtaining Federal Funds for Inmate Medical Care—A Status Report (Legislative Analyst’s Office)

California Passes up Millions for Prison Healthcare, Report Says (by Paige St. John, Los Angeles Times)