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WASHINGTON – The House Energy & Commerce Committee advanced Congressman Paul Tonko’s Medicaid Reentry Act (H.R. 4005) out of committee this morning. The bill focuses on expanding treatment for individuals who have completed their time in prison to help them transition back into society without overdosing on opioids. Specifically, it requires the Secretary of Health & Human Services to release guidance on Medicaid waiver opportunities based on recommendations from a group of experts to improve care transitions for incarcerated individuals who are reentering society.

“This smart-on-crime legislation will plant the seeds for meaningful change and will help to give individuals reentering society a fighting chance to live a healthier, drug-free life,” Rep. Tonko said during his opening statement about the bill.

Energy & Commerce Chairman Greg Walden (R-OR) expressed strong support for Rep. Tonko’s bill during debate, saying, “I want to thank the gentleman for his good work on this and other bills we’re working on, and we will continue our discussions going forward but this is a really sound piece of legislation, the amendment improves upon the underlying bill with the substitute, and I am fully in support of it.”

Individuals suffering from substance use disorder are roughly 129 times more likely to die of an overdose in the first two weeks after release from prison compared to the general population. The risk of overdose is elevated during this period due to reduced physiological tolerance for opioids among the incarcerated population, a lack of effective addiction treatment options while incarcerated and poor care transitions back into the community.

Video of the Congressman’s statement can be found here.

Find out more about Rep. Tonko’s work to combat the opioid epidemic here.

Full text of Rep. Tonko’s statement introducing H.R. 4005 and his amendment:

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

This is an amendment in the nature of a substitute to the Medicaid Reentry Act.

The underlying legislation attempts to address the high incidence of overdose deaths occurring among individuals reentering society after a stay in a jail or a prison. This population is 129 times more likely to die of an overdose than the general population during their first two weeks post-incarceration.

The risk of overdose is elevated during this period due to reduced physiological tolerance for opioids among the incarcerated population, a lack of effective addiction treatment options while incarcerated, and poor care transitions back into the community.

The underlying legislation would have allowed states the flexibility to waive the existing Medicaid inmate payment restriction during the 30 days prior to an individual’s release in an effort to expand access to Medication-assisted treatment in corrections facilities and to create a warm handoff to community care upon reentry. This legislation would allow states to expand innovative approaches to reentry that are already underway in places such as Ohio, New Mexico, and Rhode Island.

Working with the majority, and based on feedback from our legislative hearing, the Amendment in the Nature of a Substitute, would instead require the Secretary of HHS within one year to release guidance on innovative service delivery systems demonstration waiver opportunities based on recommendations from a group of stakeholders on how to improve care transitions for individuals who are reentering society.

I’d like to thank the majority for their constructive collaboration on this amendment, and I’d also like to thank my Republican co-lead, Rep. Mike Turner, for his efforts to help shine a light on this vulnerable population.

I believe that this smart-on-crime legislation will plant the seeds for meaningful change and will help to give individuals reentering society a fighting chance to live a healthier, drug-free life.

I urge my colleagues to support this meaningful legislation, and I yield back.

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