The Gwinnett County Sheriff’s Office made an announcement earlier this week about an innovative way they are helping inmates reentering society.
An advisor with the Affordable Care Act (ACA), Christian Skinner, announced on Wednesday that inmates leaving the jail will be able to sign up for health insurance before ever leaving the building. “We are launching a program in the Gwinnett County Jail to help anyone that needs insurance being released to have access to that. What we do is enroll people being released from incarceration so you can get health insurance. Upon leaving the facility, you will have two computers set up right where you can enroll in and get your insurance,” said Skinner.
The program is the first of its kind in the United States. Ashley Castiblanco, public information office for the Gwinnett County Sheriff’s Office, explains that the goal is to simply provide inmates with an easy way to sign up for health insurance.
“Our program provides kiosk in the sheriff’s office lobby so former inmates can conveniently fill out an electronic application for healthcare,” says Castiblanco. “We are not directly providing health insurance. What we are providing is easy access and the guidance for these individuals to be able to apply for health insurance.” She adds that they found through their program GRIP – Gwinnett Reentry Intervention Program – that individuals who are incarcerated do not have any form of health insurance, during incarceration or even after they leave, and most don’t even know how or where to begin looking for it.
“We are the first agency in all of the United States to have a program like this,” she says. “Through our GRIP program we were able to read the statistics and see there’s a large amount of our population that needs health insurance. We were able to connect with the proper personnel over at the Affordable Care Act and together we were able to create this partnership that we now have.”
According to Castiblanco, providing access to health insurance can make a huge difference in an inmate’s life. “It can become a vicious cycle. Let’s just say we have someone who is incarcerated due to substance abuse, and they get clean while being incarcerated. They exit our programs and sometimes they don’t have that insurance or that counseling that this health insurance is offering. And so what happens is that they fall back into the same patterns and fall back into the criminal justice system.”
Castiblanco adds that many people are unaware just how impactful such a small step can be. She says health insurance has a correlation to justice reforms. “We are trying to better the standard of life it has to do with those individuals not falling victims to their old habits by having the proper support through their journey of being clean and staying clean to better their life.” She says that Sheriff Keybo Taylor was excited for this program, as one of his focuses is on justice reforms.
So, while the program doesn’t determine eligibility or qualifications, just providing access can be one great big step for an inmate. As soon as an inmate is released, they have 60 days to get access. While enrollment is open to the public certain times of the year, an inmate can enroll as soon as they are released due to their change in circumstances. Once an inmate applies for healthcare, an ACA advisor will reach out to them to be sure they are choosing the right plan with the right benefits for their situation. The healthcare coverage will begin on the first day of the next month.
Skinner made sure to encourage all those who are eligible to take advantage of the program. “You will have access to healthcare once you are released. Every policy, whether it is a free or paid plan, will cover well checks. For men, that includes a physical and prostate exam. Every female gets a well woman visit, a pap smear and a mammogram – absolutely free of charge.”
Skinner said that insurance cards get mailed approximately two weeks later and says that it is as simple as clicking on a computer to enroll. “I hope everyone takes advantage of this,” he says.
The hope, according to Castiblanco, is that other agencies around the country will follow in the footsteps of Gwinnett County. “We are hoping to be a trailblazer for our neighboring agencies to do the same thing.” She added that they will document the success as the program goes on. She said they will be sharing the success stories in the hopes that other agencies will take notice and do the same.
The kiosks are not just open to jail inmates, but to the public, as well. Anyone can walk into the headquarters and fill out an application. The goal is to make insurance easily available for inmates – and anyone who might need it. “It’s open to the general public, anyone residentially challenged, anyone unemployed, disabled, really any member of the public can come in, stop by a kiosk and fill out an application,” says Castiblanco. As is true with the inmates, an ACA advisor will contact each individual who applies to make sure they have the guidance they need.
The kiosks are located just inside the Sheriff’s Office Headquarters located at 2900 University Parkway in Lawrenceville.
There is also an email for inmates to use to enroll that way, as well. The email address is [email protected]. An ACA advisor will be getting those emails to assist inmates and address any questions.
