Sponsors (12)
The bill expands telehealth mental‑health access for Medicaid enrollees on judicial home confinement—improving continuity of care and public safety—while imposing state costs, administrative burdens, and a potentially insufficient 12‑visit cap for those with serious needs.
Medicaid enrollees under judicial home confinement gain up to 12 telehealth mental‑health visits per year, reducing transportation and security barriers and making it easier for them to receive needed care.
Recently incarcerated Medicaid enrollees receive continuity of mental‑health care via telehealth, which can lower risk of relapse or recidivism and support safer community reintegration.
State governments (and potentially taxpayers) will face increased Medicaid spending to cover the telehealth visits, putting pressure on state budgets or forcing tradeoffs in other services.
Medicaid enrollees with severe or chronic mental‑health conditions may find the 12‑visit-per-year cap inadequate, leaving some clinical needs unmet.
States and provider systems will need to develop new administrative processes and telehealth networks for this population, creating short‑term implementation burdens and operational costs.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Requires Medicaid plans (or waivers) to cover 12 telehealth mental-health visits per year for enrollees under court-ordered home confinement who were incarcerated immediately before confinement.
Requires Medicaid state plans (and approved waivers) to cover up to 12 mental-health visits delivered by telehealth per calendar year for Medicaid enrollees who are under court-ordered home confinement and who were incarcerated in a public institution immediately before that confinement. The coverage requirement applies to persons released from a public institution on or after the law takes effect.
Introduced February 12, 2026 by Valerie Foushee · Last progress February 12, 2026