Jails as Public Health Partners: Incarceration and Disparities Among Medically Underserved Men.

There were nearly 12 million admissions to U.S. jails in 2011, the majority of them Black or Hispanic. We analyzed data on men's health screenings from the last Bureau of Justice Statistics Survey of Inmates in Local Jails. Black and Hispanic men had the same or higher odds of reporting nearly all types of screenings compared to White male inmates. Because many prisoners are medically underserved, jails can be crucial public health partners in reducing disparities by identifying men in need of health care. The anticipated expansion of Medicaid eligibility in 2014 constitutes an important opportunity for correctional and public health authorities to work together to ensure linkage to care following release from incarceration.