Reducing Medical Costs In Prison

Many advocates are fighting for improved medical care. It is improving slowly but surely. For example, many prisons started new counseling and education programs for HIV/ AIDS. Lawsuits and grievances are filed against prisons that are careless. The best strategy for change to occur is by having the media involved. “Lawsuits and Media go hand and hand,” Law stated. For example in Wisconsin, anonymous female prisoners called a Milwaukee newspaper to report medical negligence that led to an inmate’s death (Law, 2009). This phone call gave attention to this problem. Laws were passes to train medical personnel and for improved medical records.

was the use of telemedicine in order to reach patients who do not have access to

this? Is it because quality inmate health care is vital to public health? Who decided what type of

Inmates within the prison system experience a vast array of medical issues. Their medical issues are costly and require medical personnel with a multitude of experience to be available to inmates. Inmate health care is more reactive than it is preventative, which results in expensive treatments. If we were to implement a more comprehensive preventative system within our prisons, we would see a drastic decline in inmate medical issues.

Health Care is not just of concern to the private sector. Health Care reaches into the prison system as well. Federal and state laws have been created to ensure that the prison system provides health care through the medical facilities available. The Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) is the government agency that regulates the health care that is given to federal inmates in the United States. The BOP licenses’, certifies, accredits, and runs the background checks necessary to obtain employment.

Linder and Frederick J. Meyers. This article starts with a story about an inmate who found out he had cancer while incarcerated. Then, it goes on to incorporate his story throughout the article in interview form to provide inside information on the treatment of prisoners. Most inmates come in with addictions and substance abuse, no access to health care, homelessness, and untreated mental illnesses (Linder and Meyers 895). They blame this on the lack of medical health that’s available to the general population. According to Linder and Meyers, “Inmates and the free-living populations share 6 of the 10 leading causes of death: heart disease, cancer, cerebrovascular disease, respiratory disease, influenza/pneumonia, and septicemia”. With the remaining four for inmates being liver disease, AIDS, self-harm and digestion

Public policy is an important part of Texas government and in this section sources will be reviewed that apply to it. What about health care for prisoners, is it important, and if not why is it a public policy issue? Well, it is important because Texas spends nearly five-hundred million annually on prison health care systems (Gilroy & Kenny, 2012), and that’s precisely why it’s a public policy issue. The theory is that the system set in place now is not adequate enough to actually provide the correct health care for the inmates to heal or rehabilitate; and that Texas is spending its money in the wrong places when it comes to health care in the prisons. Besides the enormous amount of money, the government spends on the prison health care systems why else do they care? By not providing adequate medical care to prisoners its violating their rights under the eighth amendment. According to Raimer, Murray,

Another way to resolve this issue, would be to have each individual state come up with various health care plans in which inmates’ would be able to sign up and pay for with the money on their accounts, or having family members or friends pay for

One public policy issue that is attracting a great deal of attention is the matter of prison reform. While a great many members of the public support improvements in the safety, security and quality of life in prisons, few will endorse this at the expense of the same for law-abiding citizens. However, according to Koh (2013), Texas is currently facing one such dilemma. According to Koh, "prison reforms may result in better conditions for inmates, but those improvements come at the expense of welfare cash assistance and other government relief for the needy, according to a study released this month by Rice University and Louisiana State University." (Koh, p. 1)

Healthcare is a big topic no matter how you view it, but when looking at it from the point of a person who is in prison, it takes on a whole new view. Those who are in prison have federal and state laws that say that the prisons must provide them with medical facilities for their healthcare needs. This paper will identify a governmental agency that regulates the healthcare that is provided to prisoners in an institution within the United States, along with the foundation of such an agency and who regulates the licenses, accreditation, certifications, and authorization for employment for those who work within one of these

There are approximately 1,600,000 million inmates are behind bars in America (Glazer, 2014, para. 11) . Without a doubt, much of state prisons are overcrowded, which can lead to, very dangerous situations and environments. Due to the overwhelming number of inmates incarcerated it is difficult to deal with medical and mental health problems in prison. If most inmates complain about not feeling well or have symptoms, medical condition or disease that is not immediately, they would get some form of medication and get turned life back without seeing a doctor for a proper medical exam. A clear majority of the health care professional that work in the prison systems are very under qualified to work in such dangerous and trauma environments like prisons

The topic that I chose to research for my proposal is health care in the prison system. This is something that can vary drastically depending different details such as the specific prison, the management of the prison, as well as the needs of the inmates that could change for various reasons. It is generally believed that the health care that is available to inmates in both emergency situations as well as day-to-day medical needs is lacking compared to the health care that is available to the general public. The reasoning behind the quality of health care in the prison system can also be attributed to many different aspects such as an increase in inmates within the prison system, an increase in privately operated prisons that seek to make a profit, and the population of the prison system changing. There is now an increase in the elderly being incarcerated due to there being longer sentences which leads to there being an increase in age related health concerns that need to be taken care of within this growing population.

While, the issue of the incarcerated population having the privilege of this scarce medical resources is extensively and generally approved or compelling recognition within the correctional health profession and there is a case-law supporting the matter of concern, that the statues of a person as an inmate must not preclude such person as a patient from receiving adequate care in respect to serious health needs, regardless of the cost of such treatment. They also have all the social and moral values since the law does not exempt them from citizenship (Puisis, 2006, p.23).

There are several forms of technology that is used to monitor, assist patients with self-care management, assist physicians with delivering care to their patients, including consultation with specialist, and overcoming barriers with transportation. “60% of the healthcare executives, physicians, and nurses in this inaugural survey said that telemedicine was a high priority for 2015“ (Vockley, 2015, para. 7) Telemedicine

The prison system's overcrowding is making them more and more expensive to afford. Also, mandatory sentences have hindered the Judiciary's ability to sentence offenders with discretion; so many offenders are sent to prison automatically, without regard for mitigating circumstances. For some of these offenders, prison may not be the most appropriate remedy. The cost to house and feed the inmates is skyrocketing. As with the general public, the cost to provide medical treatment, especially to those elderly and special needs inmates, has increased substantially.