{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,14]],"date-time":"2026-09-14T21:46:35Z","timestamp":1789422395597,"version":"build-2803163510"},"reference-count":43,"publisher":"Cambridge University Press (CUP)","issue":"S1","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,16]],"date-time":"2026-04-16T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1776297600000},"content-version":"unspecified","delay-in-days":105,"URL":"https:\/\/www.cambridge.org\/core\/terms"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["J. Law. Med. Ethics"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2026]]},"abstract":"<jats:title>Abstract<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:p>When returning to their communities after incarceration, individuals face elevated rates of mortality and other poor health outcomes. The reentry period provides a critical opportunity for interventions to improve health, but, historically, a prohibition on federal Medicaid coverage during incarceration has created barriers to care after release. To address these barriers, many states have applied for Medicaid section 1115 reentry waivers to expand access to Medicaid coverage for certain pre- and post-release services. These waivers present an important opportunity to improve care access during reentry, but, if driven by carceral entities, they run the risk of replicating carceral systems that harm health. This article advocates for an alternative approach: centering the perspectives of people with lived experience of incarceration in all aspects of waiver design, implementation, and evaluation. Drawing on personal and professional experience, the authors explore the value of centering lived experience in health policy and identify successes, challenges, and lessons learned from California\u2019s waiver. This article also explores the importance of centering lived experience in information sharing and privacy practices in waiver implementation. Across these areas, waivers driven by lived experience can promote dignity, autonomy, and wellbeing, dismantling carceral approaches that reinforce stigma, erode trust, and perpetuate inequities.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1017\/jme.2026.10226","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,16]],"date-time":"2026-04-16T04:29:18Z","timestamp":1776313758000},"page":"26-31","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["Centering Lived and Living Experience: The Key to Effective and Equitable Medicaid Section 1115 Reentry Waivers"],"prefix":"10.1017","volume":"54","author":[{"given":"Anna","family":"Steiner","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/043mz5j54","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}],"name":"University of California San"},{"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/017ztfb41","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}],"name":"San Francisco Public Health Foundation"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Emma","family":"Kaeser","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/05e58kh79","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}],"name":"The Network for Public Health Law"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Susan M.","family":"Fleurant","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/05e58kh79","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}],"name":"The Network for Public Health Law"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Dorel","family":"Clayton","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/017ztfb41","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}],"name":"San Francisco Public Health Foundation"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Shira","family":"Shavit","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/043mz5j54","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}],"name":"University of California San"},{"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/017ztfb41","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}],"name":"San Francisco Public Health Foundation"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"56","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,16]]},"reference":[{"key":"S1073110526102265_r19","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1001\/jamanetworkopen.2020.29650"},{"key":"S1073110526102265_r1","unstructured":"1. Office of the Assistant Secretary of Planning and Evaluation, \u201cIncarceration and Reentry,\u201d United States Department of Health and Human Services, https:\/\/aspe.hhs.gov\/topics\/human-services\/incarceration-reentry-0 (last visited December 29, 2025)."},{"key":"S1073110526102265_r16","unstructured":"16. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, \u201cOpportunities to Test Transition-Related Strategies,\u201d at 13, 24-26."},{"key":"S1073110526102265_r20","unstructured":"20. Wang et al., \u201cA High Risk of Hospitalization\u201d; Binswanger et al., \u201cRelease from Prison\u201d: 157\u201365."},{"key":"S1073110526102265_r10","unstructured":"10. Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, Health Care Transitions for Individuals Returning to the Community from a Public Institution: Promising Practices Identified by the Medicaid Reentry Stakeholder Group (US Department of Health and Human Services, January 2023): at 13\u201314 https:\/\/aspe.hhs.gov\/sites\/default\/files\/documents\/d48e8a9fdd499029542f0a30aa78bfd1\/health-care-reentry-transitions.pdf (last visited December 30, 2025)."},{"key":"S1073110526102265_r23","unstructured":"23. Wang et al., \u201cEngaging Individuals Recently Released;\u201d Wang et al., \u201cPropensity-matched study.\u201d"},{"key":"S1073110526102265_r15","unstructured":"15. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, \u201cOpportunities to Test Transition-Related Strategies,\u201d at 17."},{"key":"S1073110526102265_r22","article-title":"Engaging Individuals Recently Released From Prison Into Primary Care: A Randomized Trial","volume":"102","author":"Wang","journal-title":"American Journal of Public Health"},{"key":"S1073110526102265_r38","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1097\/JAC.0000000000000405"},{"key":"S1073110526102265_r9","unstructured":"9. 42 U.S.C. \u00a7 1396d (2013)."},{"key":"S1073110526102265_r31","unstructured":"31. Beth Schwartzapfel and Jimmy Jenkins, \u201cInside the Nation\u2019s Overdose Crisis in Prisons and Jails,\u201d Marshall Project, July 15, 2021, https:\/\/www.themarshallproject.org\/2021\/07\/15\/inside-the-nation-s-overdose-crisis-in-prisons-and-jails (last visited December 30, 2025); Emily Widra, \u201cAddicted to punishment: Jails and prisons punish drug use far more than they treat it,\u201d Prison Policy Initiative, January 30, 2024, https:\/\/www.prisonpolicy.org\/blog\/2024\/01\/30\/punishing-drug-use\/ (last visited December 30, 2025)."},{"key":"S1073110526102265_r39","article-title":"Barriers to Change in the Informed Consent Process: A Systematic Literature Review","volume":"38","author":"Hallinan","year":"2016","journal-title":"Ethics and Human Research"},{"key":"S1073110526102265_r3","first-page":"1464","volume-title":"The Prevalence of Mental Illness in California Jails is Rising: An Analysis of Mental Health Cases and Psychotropic Medication Prescriptions, 2009-2019","author":"Binswanger","year":"2020"},{"key":"S1073110526102265_r6","unstructured":"6. \u201cRacial and Ethnic Disparities,\u201d Prison Policy Initiative, https:\/\/www.prisonpolicy.org\/research\/racial_and_ethnic_disparities\/ (last visited December 30, 2025); Leah Wang, \u201cUpdated Data and Charts: Incarceration Stats by Race, Ethnicity, and Gender for All 50 States and DC,\u201d Prison Policy Initiative, September 27, 2023, https:\/\/www.prisonpolicy.org\/blog\/2023\/09\/27\/updated_race_data\/ (last visited December 30, 2025)."},{"key":"S1073110526102265_r24","unstructured":"24. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, \u201cOpportunities to Test Transition-Related Strategies\u201d: at 31."},{"key":"S1073110526102265_r12","unstructured":"12. Carolyn L. Yocom, Medicaid: Information on Inmate Eligibility and Federal Costs for Allowable Services, (US Government Accountability Office, September 5, 2014): 4, http:\/\/gao.gov\/assets\/670\/665552.pdf (last visited December 30, 2025)."},{"key":"S1073110526102265_r2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1186\/2194-7899-1-3"},{"key":"S1073110526102265_r5","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1056\/NEJMsa064115"},{"key":"S1073110526102265_r14","unstructured":"14. Letter from Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, US Department of Health and Human Services (Daniel Tsai, Deputy Administrator and Director), \u201cOpportunities to Test Transition-Related Strategies to Support Community Reentry and Improve Care Transitions for Individuals Who Are Incarcerated\u201d (April 17, 2023), https:\/\/www.medicaid.gov\/federal-policy-guidance\/downloads\/smd23003.pdf (last visited December 30, 2025)."},{"key":"S1073110526102265_r4","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1186\/1471-227X-13-16"},{"key":"S1073110526102265_r17","unstructured":"17. The nineteen states with approved section 1115 reentry waivers are Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Illinois, Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Montana, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Utah, Vermont, Washington, and West Virginia. \u201cMedicaid Waiver Tracker: Approved and Pending Section 1115 waivers by State,\u201d KFF, https:\/\/www.kff.org\/medicaid\/issue-brief\/medicaid-waiver-tracker-approved-and-pending-section-1115-waivers-by-state\/ (last visited December 30, 2025)."},{"key":"S1073110526102265_r37","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.ssmph.2022.101092"},{"key":"S1073110526102265_r43","unstructured":"43. Leah Wang and Wanda Bertram, \u201cNew Data on Formerly Incarcerated People\u2019s Employment Reveal Labor Market Injustices,\u201d Prison Policy Initiative, February 8, 2022, https:\/\/www.prisonpolicy.org\/blog\/2022\/02\/08\/employment\/ (last visited December 30, 2025). While H.R. 1 creates an exemption from work requirements for people who have been incarcerated in the last three months \u2014 see \u00a7 71119(a)(3)(A)(ii) \u2014 barriers to employment of people with histories of incarceration persist for years after release, rendering this exemption inadequate."},{"key":"S1073110526102265_r25","unstructured":"25. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, \u201cOpportunities to Test Transition-Related Strategies\u201d: at 18\u201319."},{"key":"S1073110526102265_r29","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.2105\/AJPH.2018.304514"},{"key":"S1073110526102265_r42","unstructured":"42. H.R.1, 119th Cong. (2025)."},{"key":"S1073110526102265_r40","unstructured":"40. \u201cTracking How the Trump Administration is Making the Criminal Legal System Worse,\u201d Prison Policy Initiative, https:\/\/www.prisonpolicy.org\/federaltracker.html (last visited December 30, 2025)."},{"key":"S1073110526102265_r11","unstructured":"11. Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, Health Care Transitions for Individuals Returning to the Community: at 17\u201318."},{"key":"S1073110526102265_r21","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1365-2524.2010.00976.x"},{"key":"S1073110526102265_r30","unstructured":"30. Hudson v. Palmer, 468 U.S. 517, 526 (1984), finding that incarcerated people do not have a Fourth Amendment right to privacy in their cells, as such a right \u201csimply cannot be reconciled with the concept of incarceration and the needs and objectives of penal institutions.\u201d"},{"key":"S1073110526102265_r26","unstructured":"26. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, \u201cOpportunities to Test Transition-Related Strategies\u201d: at 18\u201321."},{"key":"S1073110526102265_r35","unstructured":"35. Mass Incarceration Trends (Sentencing Project, May 21, 2024), https:\/\/www.sentencingproject.org\/reports\/mass-incarceration-trends\/ (last visited December 30, 2025)."},{"key":"S1073110526102265_r32","unstructured":"32. \u201cSexually Transmitted Infections Treatment Guidelines, 2021: Persons in Correctional Facilities,\u201d Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, https:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/std\/treatment-guidelines\/correctional.htm (last visited December 30, 2025)."},{"key":"S1073110526102265_r7","unstructured":"7. Kirzinger, Ashley et al., Experiences of Adults Who Have Been Incarcerated: Findings from the KFF Survey on Racism, Discrimination, and Health, (KFF), September 9, 2024, https:\/\/www.kff.org\/racial-equity-and-health-policy\/experiences-of-adults-who-have-been-incarcerated-findings-from-the-kff-survey-on-racism-discrimination-and-health\/ (last visited December 30, 2025)."},{"key":"S1073110526102265_r36","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.17294\/2330-0698.1656"},{"key":"S1073110526102265_r8","unstructured":"8. Kirzinger et al., Experiences of Adults Who Have Been Incarcerated."},{"key":"S1073110526102265_r28","first-page":"12","article-title":"Retention in HIV Care: What the Clinician Needs to Know","volume":"19","author":"Giordano","year":"2011","journal-title":"Topics in Antiviral Medicine"},{"key":"S1073110526102265_r27","unstructured":"27. Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, Health Care Transitions for Individuals Returning to the Community: at 12\u201314."},{"key":"S1073110526102265_r41","unstructured":"41. Complaint, California v. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, No. 3:25-CV-05536 (N.D. Cal. July 1, 2025), ECF No. 1, https:\/\/oag.ca.gov\/system\/files\/attachments\/press-docs\/CA%20v.%20HHS%2C%20Complaint%207.1.25.pdf (last visited December 30, 2025)."},{"key":"S1073110526102265_r33","unstructured":"33. Wildra, \u201cAddicted to punishment.\u201d"},{"key":"S1073110526102265_r13","unstructured":"13. 42 U.S.C. \u00a7 1315 (1995)."},{"key":"S1073110526102265_r18","unstructured":"18. \u201cMedicaid Waiver Tracker,\u201d KFF."},{"key":"S1073110526102265_r34","unstructured":"34. For example, HIV status information may be used to impose or enhance criminal penalties on people living with HIV. \u201cMapping HIV Criminalization Laws in the U.S.,\u201d Center for HIV Law and Policy, September 2025, https:\/\/www.hivlawandpolicy.org\/maps (last visited December 30, 2025)."}],"container-title":["Journal of Law, Medicine &amp; Ethics"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.cambridge.org\/core\/services\/aop-cambridge-core\/content\/view\/S1073110526102265","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,16]],"date-time":"2026-04-16T04:31:16Z","timestamp":1776313876000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.cambridge.org\/core\/product\/identifier\/S1073110526102265\/type\/journal_article"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2026]]},"references-count":43,"journal-issue":{"issue":"S1","published-print":{"date-parts":[[2026]]}},"alternative-id":["S1073110526102265"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1017\/jme.2026.10226","relation":{},"ISSN":["1073-1105","1748-720X"],"issn-type":[{"value":"1073-1105","type":"print"},{"value":"1748-720X","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2026]]}}}