Comment on CMS-2026-2047-0002

See attached file(s) The New Jersey Reentry Corporation (NJRC) respectfully submits this comment on the community engagement requirement. NJRC serves returning citizens, persons in recovery, and veterans across New Jersey, including justice-involved individuals transitioning from incarceration to community life. NJRC supports CMS's recognition that recent incarceration warrants protection, but urges CMS to clarify several operational issues so eligible people do not lose Medicaid coverage at the moment when continuity of care, behavioral health treatment, addiction treatment, housing stability, and employment support are most critical. First, CMS should confirm that any month in which an individual is incarcerated for any part of the month is deemed compliant. The 80-hour requirement is measured on a calendar-month basis, and § 435.553(a) recognizes that exception criteria may apply for part or all of a month. CMS should make clear that this same partial-month principle applies to the incarceration exception in § 435.553(b). A person released mid-month should not be expected to complete 80 hours of qualifying activity during the remaining days after release. Second, CMS should address the point at which the three-month post-incarceration protection ends. For many people leaving custody without stable housing, identification, transportation, employment, or treatment continuity, the first month after the lookback, no longer incarcerated, is the highest-risk month. CMS has already recognized in § 435.552(c) that short interruptions in school enrollment should not create an unreasonable compliance cliff. The same reasoning applies to reentry. CMS should adopt a transitional accommodation for the first unprotected month after release, rather than allowing an abrupt loss of coverage. Third, CMS should confirm that education, training, and work-program activity completed during incarceration count on the same terms as identical activity completed in the community. Many correctional facilities offer programming through community colleges, registered apprenticeship sponsors, WIOA Title I programs, high school equivalency programs, Perkins career and technical education programs, and State-approved providers. If the program would qualify under § 435.552 outside a correctional facility, its hours and enrollment status should retain that character inside a correctional facility, subject to the same verification standards. This clarification is especially important when the post-incarceration exception expires, and the individual must show qualifying activity. Fourth, CMS should confirm that the recent-incarceration exception satisfies the pre-application review period for applicants recently released from incarceration. A person applying immediately after release will often have a review period that includes the months of incarceration. The rule should expressly state that such months are deemed compliant under § 435.553(b), so applicants are not denied coverage for failing to document community engagement during a period when CMS itself recognizes they should be treated as compliant. Finally, CMS should direct States to verify incarceration status, release dates, and pre-release qualifying activity through records from corrections, education, workforce, and reentry providers before requesting documents from the beneficiary. The rule emphasizes ex parte verification and reliable information available to the State. For justice-involved individuals, the relevant records are usually held by correctional agencies and contracted providers, not by the person leaving custody. Requiring self-documentation will predictably result in erroneous denials of eligibility at the point of greatest instability. CMS should require States to establish practical data-sharing and verification arrangements with departments of corrections, education providers, workforce partners, and reentry organizations. NJRC appreciates the opportunity to comment and urges CMS to finalize these clarifications to ensure that the community engagement requirement is implemented in a manner that protects continuity of Medicaid coverage, supports reentry, and avoids unnecessary risk of reincarceration.