Call to help inmates keep Medi-Cal benefits

Many lose them if they are incarcerated for more than a year

OAKLAND >> Noting that inmates with mental illness are likely to commit more crimes after serving their time if they do not get medical care, a group of local churches is asking Alameda County to help ensure that those who qualify will receive Medi-Cal benefits when they are released from Santa Rita Jail.

Currently under state law, Medi-Cal recipients who are jailed or in mental institutions have their benefits suspended when they are taken into custody, and benefits are terminated if their incarceration extends beyond one year.

But state law also allows county supervisors to designate someone or an organization to meet with inmates before their release to help them submit an application to get their Medi-Cal benefits reinstated.

“Simply having medicine available to them when they are released from jail is a very important first step for justice and humanity,” the Rev. Jim Hopkins, pastor of Oakland’s Lakeshore Baptist Church, told supervisors Tuesday.

Hopkins was among representatives from 11 religious congregations who showed up at the board meeting to hand over a petition with about 1,000 signatures, calling for Alameda County to allocate resources to make sure inmates remain on track to continue receiving the benefits.

The board took no formal action. But Supervisor Richard Valle said the board will consider the issue at a future meeting.

Just how many individuals could be affected by the change in policy was not immediately available.

Bob Britton, chairman of Live Free — Faith in Action, a nonprofit that advocates around issues involving incarceration, said inmates with mental illness are more likely to reoffend and end up back behind bars if they are released without access to medication.

People accused of serious crimes, or who cannot afford to post bond, also often will spend more than a year in jail as they wait for their case to get resolved, putting them especially at risk of losing benefits, Britton said.

“We are here today asking and trusting you to do justice,” the Rev. Marjorie Matthews, pastor of Plymouth United Church of Christ on Monte Vista Avenue in Oakland, told supervisors.

Among the demands of those who circulated the petition are that county officials ensure Medi-Cal benefits are restored before an inmate is released, that they provide help to those who may be eligible for the benefits but are not yet enrolled and that every inmate needing prescription medication has a 30-day supply when released from jail.