Safer Prisons. Safer Communities.

Criminal Justice

• In an op-ed for the CT Mirror, attorney Alex Taubes draws on the experience of Illinois and New Jersey to explain why Connecticut should move towards reducing its reliance on money bail.
   
• The federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) could alleviate some of its understaffing and cost problems by more fully utilizing the home confinement provisions of the First Step Act, Walter Pavo writes in Forbes. “The use of home confinement is imperative in lowering costs of incarceration and the BOP is not maximizing that,” he says.
   
• According to new research summarized at the Cato Institute, felony convictions that don’t result in prison time lead “to large and long-lasting increases in recidivism (relative to dismissal).” This suggests that policies to minimize the likelihood and impact of felony convictions “could reduce the penal system’s revolving door problem.”

• The Associated Press reported on Maryland’s Legislative Policy Committee vote to approve the state Prescription Drug Affordability Board’s (PDAB’s) upper payment limit action plan. The PDAB will conduct an in-depth review of drugs to determine if they pose affordability challenges for state health insurance plans.  
   
• The Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) released several briefs underscoring the latest eligibility and enrollment trends for people dually eligible for Medicare and Medicaid. Notably, 31% of dually eligible people received coverage through Medicare Savings Plans, meaning that Medicaid pays for premiums and some cost-sharing but not for wraparound benefits. Of full-benefit dually eligible people, KFF found that 94% were enrolled in health plans that offered separate coverage arrangements, making Medicare and Medicaid benefits coordination a challenge.
   
• A report from the Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Inspector General (OIG) found that Medicare Advantage plans, led by UnitedHealth Group, collected $7.5 billion in risk-adjusted payments in 2023 from health risk assessments (HRAs) and HRA-linked chart reviews that diagnosed serious health conditions for which patients received no follow-up care.

• At The Century Foundation, Carolyn Fast argued that state oversight of online colleges is inadequate, leading to issues such as low graduation rates and poor student outcomes. Fast recommends strengthening regulatory frameworks by enhancing transparency, increasing accountability for institutions, and ensuring that states actively monitor and support online programs to protect students and improve educational quality.
   
• Johnson & Wales University became one of the newest institutions to gain approval to offer 3-year bachelor’s degrees, making degree attainment faster and more economical for students than for those in 4-year programs, in Higher Ed Dive.