Committee backs resolution supporting Medicaid demonstration for inmates with substance use disorder

The Kenosha County Governance Committee voted to adopt a resolution supporting state demonstration authority that would permit Medicaid coverage for incarcerated people with substance use disorder during a prerelease window, aligning with Assembly Bill 604 as discussed in committee materials.

A presenter explained the measure would allow states to include local jails and other correctional facilities in a demonstration and create a 90‑day prerelease eligibility window. "This would give us a 90 day window they would be eligible for this for the last 90 days of incarceration of their sentence," the presenter said, describing how the policy could fund medications, discharge planning and mental-health services before release. Committee members asked how prescriptions and discharge planning would work; staff described standard practice of providing a 30‑day prescription supply at release and said the demonstration would help cover earlier in‑custody medication and planning costs.

Supporters described the measure as aligned with local efforts to use grants and behavioral-health partnerships rather than county tax levies to expand services. The committee moved and seconded the resolution and recorded a unanimous committee vote in favor.

What happens next: the adopted committee resolution will be forwarded to the full county board for awareness and to support local engagement with state legislators on Assembly Bill 604.