San Francisco Sun

SAN FRANCISCO, CA — The San Francisco Sheriff’s Office (SFSO) and the San Francisco Department of Public Health (SFDPH) announced today the receipt of a $660,000 collaborative grant from the California Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) to provide greater support to plan, implement, and improve insurance support to prevent lapses in Medi-Cal coverage for those persons newly released from San Francisco County Jail.

“People transitioning out of the criminal justice system, including low-income and uninsured individuals with significant physical and mental health needs, should not have to put their health on hold,” said Sheriff Paul Miyamoto. “By breaking down the barriers to healthcare that many people experience, we are not only creating a more equitable system, but we are improving the quality of life for all San Franciscans.”

This funding, provided under the California Advancing and Innovating Medi-Cal (CalAIM) initiative, will allow for program enhancement to ensure the continuity of healthcare coverage for those re-entering the community through pre-release Medi-Cal enrollment, providing key services in the 90 days prior to release.

“The Department’s Jail Health Services (JHS) provides comprehensive medical, psychiatric, and substance-related care to people who are incarcerated in the San Francisco County Jail system,” said Dr. Grant Colfax, Director of Health. “We want this care to continue when they leave jail and return to their community, and the CalAIM program will do just that. With continued access to healthcare, there will be better health outcomes for those leaving our jail.”

CalAIM is a five-year statewide initiative to transform California’s Medi-Cal program by improving quality outcomes. Through collaborative planning, SFDPH and SFSO will design, modify, and launch new processes to provide more streamlined access to care, which includes eliminating the bureaucratic red tape that many incarcerated people experience when it comes to securing health insurance upon release.

“If we make it difficult for people to continue receiving medical attention upon release, they could self-medicate and wind up in the back of an ambulance,” said Chief Deputy Michele Fisher, Director of SFSO’s Community Programs Division. “This grant money will save the City money in unnecessary hospital admissions, and it could potentially save lives.”

“The CalAIM justice-involved initiatives have the potential to profoundly transform the way individuals transition from the jail to the community and improve long-term health and public safety outcomes by ensuring continuity of healthcare coverage and services and creating increased access to community programs,” said Tanya Mera, Deputy Director, Jail Health Services, a division of DPH.

CalAIM’s mission to transform Medi-Cal requires the investment and sustained commitment of a broad network of health partners, including plans, providers, and community-based organizations. CalAIM is improving Medi-Cal for more than 14 million Californians. By funding partners with a particular focus on those who have been historically under-resourced, Cal AIM’s Providing Access and Transforming Health Initiative (PATH) will help California advance health equity and address social drivers of health.

Original source can be found here.