CMS Letter Re: Suspension Of Medicaid Eligibility For Incarcerated Persons

In December 2008, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) responded to questions posed by  the Colorado Department of health Care Policy and Financing to clarify federal Medicaid policy for Medicaid eligible individuals that become incarcerated. The letter reiterates guidance provided by the Health Care Financing Administration in 1997. The letter defines the terms: inmate, institutions of incarceration, inpatient, change in circumstance triggering a review of Medicaid eligibility, and the process required for a state to implement a suspension of Medicaid eligibility rather than a termination of benefits . . .