Earlier this year, Councilmember Grosso's staff began researching policy issues for D.C. residents who are Medicaid recipients and become incarcerated. According to the National Council of State Legislatures, D.C. and many other states terminate an individual's Medicaid when that person is sentenced to prison--but under Medicaid rules, the government could also suspend the individual's Medicaid until their release. Grosso wrote to Director Wayne Turnage of the Department of Health Care Finance (which handles D.C.'s Medicaid policies) about this issue, and got a very informative letter in response. This included the revelation that DHCF had recently amended this policy to the best practice of suspending, not terminating, Medicaid. Good news for public health and public safety. You can read the letters below: