Advancing New Opportunities:
Health Reform and Criminal Justice

COCHS and Health Affairs logos
On April 3, 2014, inWashington D.C., COCHS and Health Affairs Health held Advancing New Opportunities: Health Reform and Criminal Justice. Keynote speakers at the conference included former Assistant Attorney General, Tony West and Michael Bottecelli, Director of National Drug Control Policy at the White House under President Obama. In March of 2014, Health Affairs, working with COCHS, published its first-ever cluster of articles on health and healthcare for the jail-involved, with special attention to the implications of Medicaid expansion.
Conference panelists reviewed the salient health and criminal justice policy issues that affect the jail-involved population and provided an overview of initiatives that jurisdictions have undertaken to leverage health reform. In addition, panelist discussed the impact of the ACA on eligibility and enrollment into Medicaid and exchange plans as well as steps that jurisdictions have taken to integrate community and jail health systems. The final panel highlighted the role of health information technology for improving continuity of care and information-sharing.

Introduction



Host

Elizabeth Schneider, JD, CPAFounder of EAS Management, Chairperson, Community Oriented Correctional Health Services

Welcome





Speakers

Jane Hiebert-White, Executive Publisher, Health Affairs

Seema Gajwani, JD, Program Officer, Criminal Justice Program, The Public Welfare Foundation

Nancy Barrand, Special Adviser for Program Development, The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation

Steven Rosenberg, President, Community Oriented Correctional Health Services

Panel 1: Who’s in Jail? The ACA's Impact on Eligibility and Enrollment


Host

Michael DuBose, MSW, Chief Executive Officer, Community Oriented Correctional Health Services

First Keynote


Speaker

Tony West, Associate Attorney General of the United States

Panel 1 (part 2)


Host

Michael DuBose, MSW, Chief Executive Officer, Community Oriented Correctional Health Services

Panel 1: Presentations




Presenters

Marsha Regenstein, PhD, Professor, Department of Health Policy, George Washington University

Stephen Somers, PhD, President and Chief Executive Officer, Center for Health Care Strategies

Elena Nicolella, MPH, Medicaid Director, Executive Office of Health and Human Services, State of Rhode Island

Panel 1: Question and Answer Session


Panel 2: Breaking Down Silos


Speaker

Dr. Josiah Rich, MD, MPH, Professor of Medicine and Community Health, Brown University Medical School

Panel 2: Presentations




Presenters

Dr. Delores Burroughs-Biron, RN, MSN, MD, CCHP, Health Services Director, Vermont Department of Corrections

Paul Samuels, JD, Director and President, Legal Action Center

Steven Rosenberg, President, Community Oriented Correctional Health Services

Panel 2: Question and Answer Session


Second Keynote


Speaker

Michael Botticelli, MEd, Acting Director, Office of National Drug Control Policy

Panel 3: Integrating Services in Managed Care


Host

S. Elwood York, Jr., Esq., COCHS Board Member

Panel 3: Presentations




Presenters

Amy Boutwell, MD, MPP, Founder and President, Collaborative Healthcare Strategies

Kavita Patel, MD, Fellow, Economic Studies and Managing Director of the Engelberg Center, Brookings Institution

Jonathan Freedman, MPH, Chief of Strategy, Regulatory, and External Affairs, L.A. Care Health Plan

Panel 3: Question and Answer Session


Panel 4: Health IT Creating Connectivity


Host

Ben Butler, Chief Information Officer, COCHS

Panel 4: Discussion


Discussants

Ben Butler, Homer Venters, Judy Murphy, Linda Rosenberg

Panel 4: Question and Answer Session


Closing Remarks



Speakers

Michael DuBose, MSW, CEO, COCHS

Steven Rosenberg, President, COCHS

Health Affairs' Articles
How Health Care Reform Can Transform The Health Of Criminal Justice–Involved Individuals
Health Affairs
The Affordable Care Act offers new opportunities to apply a public health and medical perspective to the complex relationship between involvement in the criminal justice system and the existence of fundamental health disparities.
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To Improve Public Health And Safety, One Sheriff Looks Beyond The Jail Walls
Health Affairs
“Sheriff Ashe,” she began. “My daughter is in your jail.” She was beside herself. How could this have happened, she wondered? Her daughter had become addicted to heroin and landed in the Hampden County Correctional Center.
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The Impact Of Policies Promoting Health Information Technology On Health Care Delivery In Jails And Local Communities
Health Affairs
The Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act and the Affordable Care Act, are pieces of legislation favorable to jails’ implementation of health information technology (IT).
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Incarceration And Release From Jail: Improving Re-integration Into Society Using A Health Information Exchange
Health Affairs
In 2010, the Camden Coalition launched a health information exchange (HIE) as part of our ongoing effort to improve care delivery. A nonprofit group called Community Oriented Correctional Health Services (COCHS) proposed bringing the jail into the HIE. It made sense
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Health Information Exchange In NYC Jails: Early Policy Challenges
Health Affairs
The Department of Health and Mental Hygiene’s Bureau of Correctional Health Services (CHS) is responsible for the care delivered in all 12 NYC jail facilities. As part of this mission, CHS implemented a full electronic health record (EHR) system starting in 2008, completing the implementation of the final facility in 2011.
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How Will California’s Penal System Respond To The ‘Perfect Storm’?
Health Affairs
California’s system of incarceration is in the midst of sweeping changes. Recent shifts in state and federal law, motivated and bolstered by Supreme Court decisions, have created a perfect storm for institutional change.
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What The Affordable Care Act Means For Pregnant Inmates
Health Affairs
Pregnant incarcerated women generally have increased rates of complicated and preterm deliveries, and the costs of these complications are not lost on corrections officials. The ACA will facilitate more extensive training for corrections staff and connections with community agencies that are enrolling inmates.
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Ethical Dilemmas In Prison And Jail Health Care
Health Affairs
Prison and jail health care, despite occasional pockets of inspiration, provided by programs affiliated with academic institutions, is an arena of ethical conflict in which healthcare providers must negotiate with prison officials to provide necessary and decent care.
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Case Studies From Three States: Breaking Down Silos Between Health Care and Criminal Justice
Health Affairs
Current policy silos between health care and criminal justice need to be broken down in order to benefit both sectors and reduce unnecessary costs resulting from lack of coordination.
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