II 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2305 

To amend title XIX of the Social Security Act to provide a consistent 

standard of health care to the incarcerated, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 29, 2019 

Mr. BOOKER introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Finance 

A BILL 

To amend title XIX of the Social Security Act to provide 

a consistent standard of health care to the incarcerated, 

and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Humane Correctional 

5 Health Care Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. REPEAL OF MEDICAID INMATE EXCLUSION. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 1905(a) of the Social Se8 curity Act (42 U.S.C. 1396d(a)) is amended, in the matter 

9 following paragraph (30), by striking ‘‘such term does not 

10 include—’’ and all that follows through ‘‘patient in an inVerDate Sep 11 2014 05:41 Aug 02, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2305.IS S2305

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1 stitution for mental diseases’’ and inserting ‘‘such term 

2 does not include any such payments with respect to care 

3 or services for any individual who is under 65 years of 

4 age and is a patient in an institution for mental diseases’’. 

5 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Section 1902 of 

6 the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1396a) is amended— 

7 (1) in subsection (a)— 

8 (A) by striking paragraph (84); 

9 (B) by redesignating paragraphs (85) and 

10 (86) as paragraphs (84) and (85), respectively; 

11 (C) in paragraph (84), as redesignated by 

12 subparagraph (B), by striking ‘‘(oo)(1)’’ and in13 serting ‘‘(nn)(1)’’; and 

14 (D) in paragraph (85), as redesignated by 

15 subparagraph (B), by striking ‘‘(pp)’’ and in16 serting ‘‘(oo)’’; 

17 (2) by striking subsection (nn); 

18 (3) by redesignating subsections (oo) and (pp) 

19 as subsections (nn) and (oo), respectively; 

20 (4) in subsection (nn), as redesignated by para21 graph (3), by striking ‘‘(85)’’ and inserting ‘‘(84)’’; 

22 and 

23 (5) in subsection (oo), as redesignated by para24 graph (3), by striking ‘‘(86)’’ and inserting ‘‘(85)’’. 


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1 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

2 this section shall apply with respect to medical assistance 

3 provided on or after January 1, 2020. 

4 SEC. 3. REPORT BY COMPTROLLER GENERAL. 

5 Not later than the date that is three years after the 

6 date of the enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter 

7 for each of the following five years, the Comptroller Gen8 eral of the United States shall submit to Congress a report 

9 containing the following information: 

10 (1) The percentage of inmates that receive med11 ical assistance under a State plan under title XIX 

12 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1396 et seq.). 

13 (2) The access of inmates to health care serv14 ices, including specialty care, and health care pro15 viders. 

16 (3) The quality of health care services provided 

17 to inmates. 

18 (4) Any impact of coverage under such a State 

19 plan on recidivism. 

20 (5) The percentage of inmates who, upon re21 lease, are— 

22 (A) enrolled under such a State plan; and 

23 (B) connected to a primary care provider 

24 in their community. 


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1 (6) Trends in the prevalence and incidence of 

2 illness and injury among inmates. 

3 (7) Any other information the Comptroller Gen4 eral determines necessary regarding the health of in5 mates. 

6 SEC. 4. SENSE OF CONGRESS ON INCARCERATION AND 

7 COMMUNITY-BASED HEALTH SERVICES. 

8 It is the sense of Congress that— 

9 (1) no individual in the United States should be 

10 incarcerated for the purpose of being provided with 

11 health care that is unavailable to the individual in 

12 the individual’s community; 

13 (2) each State and unit of local government 

14 should establish programs that offer community15 based health services (including mental health and 

16 substance use disorder services) commensurate with 

17 the principle stated in paragraph (1); and 

18 (3) Federal reimbursement for expenditures on 

19 medical assistance made available through the 

20 amendments made by this Act should not supplant 

21 an investment in community-based services. 

Æ 


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