Backer touts Medicaid expansion bill as way to help Nebraska's prison reform efforts

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.omaha.com/news/legislature/backer-touts-medicaid-expansion-bill-as-way-to-help-nebraska/article_b5b181e9-19b7-5506-99bf-8dd6c2aef740.html

POSTED: THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2015 12:00 AM
By Martha Stoddard / World-Herald Bureau

LINCOLN — A plan to expand Nebraska’s Medicaid program could play a key role in the state’s prison reform efforts, a panel of state lawmakers was told Wednesday.

The expansion would make health coverage available for freed inmates, most of whom leave prison without any means of paying for mental health and substance abuse treatment, said Jon Bailey, a researcher with the Center for Rural Affairs.

A study by the center and Nebraska Appleseed estimated that such treatment could keep 375 people from returning to prison each year, saving the state about $10.5 million.

“The Nebraska taxpayer and public safety, as well as those in the corrections population, will be the beneficiaries,” Bailey said.

FULL story at link.