PHOENIX – The Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System (AHCCCS) has selected 57 health care providers to receive incentive payments over the next five years to integrate health care services for Medicaid-eligible incarcerated individuals prior to their release from jail or prison.
“Since many individuals who leave jails and prisons are Medicaid-eligible, it made sense to co-locate health care services right where they already are and eliminate as many barriers as we possibly could,” said Carmen Heredia, AHCCCS CEO. “This program is just one more way Arizona’s Medicaid agency finds innovative ways to provide health care that encompasses the whole person.”
Selected providers will create 57 co-located, integrated clinics where primary care and behavioral health providers deliver services to justice-involved individuals. By co-locating clinics with, or adjacent to, probation and/or parole offices, AHCCCS members are more likely to keep health care appointments for emergent or preventative health care needs.
The Targeted Investments Program for Justice is a five-year program that strives to increase efficiencies in integrated physical and behavioral service health care delivery and improve health and financial outcomes for individuals transitioning from incarceration. Participating clinics will:
The co-located justice clinics will prioritize access to appointments for individuals with complex health conditions and focus on same-day access to appointments on the day of release and during visits to a probation or parole office.
By integrating high-performing health care providers with parole and probation offices, the Targeted Investments Project aims to enhance care coordination and health care utilization for a population that often experiences barriers to care, support behavioral health needs, and ultimately, contribute to reduced recidivism.
