By Laura Morgan

Recently we looked into why states terminate rather than suspend Medicaid benefits when Medicaid beneficiaries become incarcerated (see Why Do States Terminate Rather Than Suspend Inmate Medicaid Benefits?). Despite the fact that federal regulations left it open for states to suspend rather than terminate Medicaid benefits, 38 states plus the District of Columbia terminate rather than suspend inmate benefits – creating a potential gap in health care coverage when they are released. We identified four reasons that state policymakers choose the termination option: Confusion over federal requirements The administrative difficulty of accounting for their suspension in state information systems Desire…