Getting Sick? Commit a Crime!

A major issue and topic in the United States has been the rising cost of healthcare. One of the hardest things for people to do is to pay for the medical attention that is needed at any given time. Even if one has a good job that offers health benefits, the outrageous cost of the medical attention causes the co-pay to be practically unaffordable. However, when one gets sick, need medical assistance or prescriptions while serving time in prison, the state forks out the money at practically no cost to the inmate.

The cost that goes in to healthcare for prison inmates is over $3 billion annually. However, with the prison population still on the rise and the inmates aging due to longer sentences developed by policies like the three strikes law and war on drugs, our prison healthcare cost are rapidly increasing. In the last decade the prison population has almost doubled in elderly inmates; from just around 48,000 in 1998 to about 90,000 in 2007 (Chen, 2009). This is an astounding number when it comes to cost because the elderly are more prone to chronic and terminal diseases while needing more medical attention than the younger population. Some of the most common illnesses for the elderly in prison are dementia, hypertension, and diabetes (Chen, 2009). Although, it is common for prisoners to contract viruses like hepatitis C, tuberculosis, and HIV while serving time (Kaplan, 1999). These illnesses cause the inmates to need vast amounts of medical attention and pharmaceutical drugs to aid in the healing process at a price that is unaffordable to the average citizen.

Over the years prison officials have been trying to fight the cost of healthcare for inmates and have came up with strategies to reduce the annual cost. Some states have implemented a co-pay that an inmate must pay for medical services; these co-pays range from roughly $2 to $10 (Kaplan, 1999). Although, they have waved the co-pay cost for indigents, and over the years we have seen a rapid increase in indigent inmates! Prisons have also started placing elderly inmates in separate wings of the prisons in order to keep them from being attacked and lowering their chances of needing medical attention. But some officials have stated that these wings of the facilities have become more like a nursing home rather than a correctional facility (Chen, 2009). Some facilities have also contracted with private companies that offer medical attention and pharmaceuticals at a lower price than other hospitals, yet those that need special medical needs and operations must go to special medical facilities to get proper treatment (at a much, much higher cost).

Many activists have stood against these prisons fighting to lower the annual budget of healthcare for these inmates and have stated that this money should be allocated to higher education instead. They have fought these officials trying to cut the cost by giving the inmates generic prescriptions rather than expensive top of the line pharmaceuticals. They stated that these inmates should not have access to top notch medical facilities and specialist, but should receive regular mediocre Physicians just like the average citizen. Yet these inmates fight for their rights and say that it is an unfair practice if they don’t receive top of the line medical attention.

This debate over prison healthcare is becoming an even larger problem due to the major deficit our country has accrued. Yet we are still unable to meet the needs of these inmates while cutting the cost and allocating it towards something that would better benefit our society outside the prison walls. With our country rapidly falling deeper into debt we are in desperate need to change the prison healthcare practices and cut the annual cost pouring into the corrections system.

References

Chen, S. (2009, November 13). Prison health-care costs rise as inmates grow older and sicker. Retrieved April 29, 2011, from CNN Justice: http://articles.cnn.com/2009-11-13/justice/aging.inmates_1_prison-inmate-largest-prison-systems-medical-costs?_s=PM:CRIME

Kaplan, S. (1999, June 24). Health Care Costs Rising As Prison Population Grows And Ages. Retrieved April 29, 2011, from Stateline: http://www.stateline.org/live/ViewPage.action?siteNodeId=136&languageId=1&contentId=13721