March 28, 2006

Dear Editor:

I read Ellen Tandy's March 27th article about inmate healthcare costs. This is an important issue facing corrections departments in many states. In fact, the U.S. Justice Department just launched a civil rights investigation into prison healthcare practices in Delaware.

Some states have used public-private correctional partnerships to deal with the increasing costs of inmate healthcare. Many have used competitive bidding to attract suppliers of prescriptions, nurses, and even full medical services.

Other jurisdictions have chosen to outsource the management of the entire prison, including the responsibility for health care. In doing so they have enjoyed the benefits of a cost structure obtained through the competitive process and, in some cases, have transferred the risk of catastrophic healthcare costs to the private provider.

Since healthcare is such an important element of both public and private correctional costs, your readers should be aware of zn interesting fact revealed by two Vanderbilt University professors when they studied the impact of private prisons on the rate of increase in state corrections costs. They found that having at least 20% of a state's prison beds managed by private contractors slows the rate of increase in the state's cost to operate the other 80% by almost 10% over five years.

Public-private correctional partnerships are an option worth considering.

Sincerely,
 

 
Paul Doucette
Association of Private Correctional and Treatment Organizations
www.apcto.org

By ELLEN TANDY
Published: Mar 27, 2006
From a report by News 2's Scott Satchfield

Like the majority of Americans, Louisianans probably think they pay too much for medical care, but they may not have any idea how much of their money goes toward healthcare for Louisiana's inmates. It's no small cost, and a report from the state's legislative auditor shows that inmates require a lot of medical care these days.

Costs are on the rise, and officials say that hurricanes Katrina and Rita only added to the expenses.

When an inmate gets sick, state money pays the bill. Louisiana's legislative auditor reported that the Legislature shelled out more than $40 million to provide healthcare for the incarcerated in nine state institutions during the last fiscal year.

The Louisiana Health Sciences Center budgeted an additional $27 million for public hospitals to care for inmates.

"A lot of these people have been there a long time," said the Criminal Justice Committee's Rep. Danny Martiny. "(They) have the same problems that people in the private sector have, and we have to deal with them on an emergency basis."

Many of the state's inmates though, have illnesses that require very expensive treatment. The auditor's report, for example, shows that 30 percent of state inmates have hepatitis C. It costs the state $20,000 per patient to go through the 18-month treatment for the disease. However, the majority of the money goes toward medications to treat HIV, hepatitis B and various mental illnesses -- drugs that cost an average of $5 million per year. According to officials with the Department of Corrections, a lack of beds at public hospitals means inmates must be cared for at private facilities, and that problem has only been exacerbated by hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

While the costs for the state are high, criminal justice officials insist they are necessary.

"We have an obligation to the inmates," Martiny said, "to provide them with the necessary care." One way the Department of Corrections is trying to save money is through "telemedicine," which allows physicians to examine inmates at other locations using interactive video. Officials said that technology saves money for travel and increases public safety.