The Register's Editorial: How Obamacare could keep convicts out of prison

Times are tough for Obamacare opponents. Every time they turn around, they're faced with another story about how the law is helping people: The middle-aged man who starts his own business because he wasn't tied to his employer's health plan. The young adult who remains on his parents' insurance. People with cancer, heart disease and other illnesses finally able to buy affordable coverage.

That pesky health reform continues to produce success stories. Here's another one: Obamacare has rescued former prison inmates, a forgotten group of people when it comes to health insurance.

About half the Iowans incarcerated in state prisons have been diagnosed with a mental health problem. While the percentage is high, it is hardly a surprise. Someone who self-medicates with drugs, hallucinates or can't control impulses is more likely to get crossways with the law. State prisons have become de facto psychiatric facilities, providing counseling and medication to thousands of inmates.

But the vast majority of these individuals return to our communities. This is not a population likely to quickly land a job with benefits or have money to buy coverage on their own. Leaving prison has long meant immediately joining the ranks of the uninsured. With unreliable access to mental health services, they are more likely to reoffend.

Then along came Obamacare.

The health reform law expanded eligibility for Medicaid to more low-income Americans. Some states wise enough to implement that expansion were also wise enough to figure out they could use the law to get former inmates insured. Leaders in those states know being insured means better access to mental health services. They also know this may reduce recidivism rates.

Fortunately, Iowa leaders have recognized this, too.

More than a year ago, state workers in corrections and human services started working together on a pilot project to get departing inmates covered. A month or two before inmates leave, a corrections worker assists them in applying for insurance made possible by the reform law. The application is mailed with a special cover sheet to a worker at the Iowa Department of Human Services who is able to process the application.

Corrections workers have helped about 1,100 departing inmates obtain insurance in 2014 and 2015.

"The goal is for offenders to leave incarceration with health-care coverage," said Fred Scaletta, assistant director of corrections. This improves the chances that offenders will be successful in the community, which increases public safety, he said.

Everyone knows health insurance is important to keep people physically healthy. A diabetic needs expensive test strips to monitor blood glucose levels and prevent complications. Controlling high blood pressure can prevent a stroke. Someone suffering from mental illness who receives counseling and medication is less likely to engage in behavior that hurts others and lands them back behind bars.

That, of course, is a success story for all of us — whether or not opponents of the law want to acknowledge it.