How Incarceration Affects SSI/SSDI and Medicaid Eligibility
Complex rules affect eligibility for federal benefits when someone enters a correctional facility. Federal laws prohibit federal financial participation (FFP), also known as matching payments, to support benefits to individuals in state-run institutions, including correctional facilities and Institutions for Mental Disease (IMDs).[1] While the federal statute bans FFP, it does not specify that states must terminate Medicaid benefit eligibility for individuals entering correctional facilities or IMDs. Yet, in practice, most states do terminate rather than suspend benefit eligibility for incarcerated individuals or terminate benefits after a certain period of time. A study conducted by the Council of State Governments in 2000 found that 46 states and two territories have policies that require termination of Medicaid supports for people in jail.[2]
Rules governing Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) eligibility when beneficiaries enter jail or prison are different than those that affect Medicaid. Benefits are not terminated when individuals enter a correctional facility and may never be terminated, depending on the length of stay in a correctional facility and type of conviction, among other factors. For a thorough discussion of the impact of incarceration on SSI/SSDI and Medicaid, please see the Council of State Governments Justice Center’s Criminal Justice/Mental Health Consensus Project Report, Appendix C.
Related Benefits:
[1] FFP may be allowed for specific services provided to IMD residents age 65 years and older and for IMD residents under age 21 or, in some cases, under age 22. (See “Medicaid Financing of State and County Psychiatric Hospitals”.)
[2] C. Brown, “Jailing the Mentally Ill,” State Government News, 2001, p. 28. Available at: http://www.csg.org/pubs/Documents/sgn0104.pdf. In addition, while state policies may require termination of Medicaid upon incarceration, in practice, eligibility may not be terminated until the state Medicaid agency is made aware of the incarceration at a later date or an individual who is incarcerated does not file a necessary continuation with the state agency.