Kaiser Health News\u00a0is\u00a0a nonprofit national health policy news service that is part of the nonpartisan Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation.<\/p>\n
(By Jay Hancock for Kaiser Health News)<\/p>\n
Stacey McHoul left jail last summer with a history of heroin use and depression and only a few days of medicine to treat them. When the pills ran out she started thinking about hurting herself.<\/p>\n
\u201cOnce the meds start coming out of my system, in the past, it\u2019s always caused me to relapse,\u201d she said. \u201cI start self-medicating and trying to stop the crazy thoughts in my head.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jail officials gave her neither prescription refills nor a Medicaid card to pay for them, she said. Within days she was back on heroin \u2014 her preferred self-medication \u2014 and sleeping in abandoned homes around Baltimore\u2019s run-down Sandtown-Winchester neighborhood.<\/p>\n
Thousands of people leave incarceration every year without access to the coverage and care they\u2019re entitled to, jeopardizing their own health and sometimes the public\u2019s. Read article here…..<\/a><\/p>\n Kaiser Health News\u00a0is\u00a0a nonprofit national health policy news service that is part of the nonpartisan Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation.<\/p>\n
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