SRLJC hears limits, timeline delays and billing uncertainty on Washington’s 1115 reentry waiver

Eric Green, the project manager for the 1115 reentry waiver project, told the Spokane Regional Law & Justice Council on the council’s recent meeting that Washington’s Health Care Authority reentry initiative provides a limited package of Medicaid benefits for people while incarcerated and in the weeks before and after release.

"The reentry initiative is basically a Medicaid waiver that allows for a set of limited benefits for inmates," Eric Green said, summarizing the program’s intent. Under the waiver, Green said, incarcerated people who are found eligible or enrolled in Medicaid move to a suspended status while jailed and may receive up to 90 days of pre-release services and an initial 30‑day supply of medications at release. Optional services can include prerelease medications, labs and radiology.

Green told the council the state initially placed Spokane County in cohort 1 with a July 1 go‑live but later clarified the cohort timing was intended for facilities that already have Medicaid…