Cost savings of a primary care program for individuals recently released from prison: a propensity-matched study

BMC Health Services Research

Shira Shavit¹  Susan H. Busch²  Jenerius A. Aminawung³  Tyler D. Harvey⁴  Emily A. Wang⁴  Lisa Puglisi⁴  Hsiu-Ju Lin⁵ 

[1] Department of Family and Community Medicine, University of California, San Francisco;Department of Health Policy and Management, Yale School of Public Health;Department of Internal Medicine, Yale School of Medicine;SEICHE Center for Health and Justice, Yale School of Medicine;School of Social Work, University of Connecticut;

关键词: Medicaid;    Criminal justice system;    Prison;    Costs and cost analysis;    Primary care;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s12913-022-07985-5

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Abstract Background Criminal justice system costs in the United States have exponentially increased over the last decades, and providing health care to individuals released from incarceration is costly. To better understand how to manage costs to state budgets for those who have been incarcerated, we aimed to assess state-level costs of an enhanced primary care program, Transitions Clinic Network (TCN), for chronically-ill and older individuals recently released from prison. Methods We linked administrative data from Connecticut Department of Correction, Medicaid, and Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services to identify a propensity matched comparison group and estimate costs of a primary care program serving chronically-ill and older individuals released from incarceration between 2013 and 2016. We matched 94 people released from incarceration who received care at a TCN program to 94 people released from incarceration who did not receive care at TCN program on numerous characteristics. People eligible for TCN program participation were released from incarceration within the prior 6 months and had a chronic health condition or were over the age of 50. We estimated 1) costs associated with the TCN program and 2) costs accrued by Medicaid and the criminal justice system. We evaluated associations between program participation and Medicaid and criminal justice system costs over a 12-month period using bivariate analyses with nonparametric bootstrapping method. Results The 12-month TCN program operating cost was estimated at $54,394 ($146 per participant per month). Average monthly Medicaid costs per participant were not statistically different between the TCN ($1737 ± $3449) and comparison ($1356 ± $2530) groups. Average monthly criminal justice system costs per participant were significantly lower among TCN group ($733 ± $1130) compared with the matched group ($1276 ± $1738, p < 0.05). We estimate every dollar invested in the TCN program yielded a 12-month return of $2.55 to the state. Conclusions Medicaid investments in an enhanced primary care program for individuals returning from incarceration are cost neutral and positively impact state budgets by reducing criminal justice system costs.

【 授权许可】

Unknown