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| Oklahoma Jails Facing High Inmate Medical Costs |
| By KOCO |
| Published: 11/25/2002 |
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Obtaining free health care in Oklahoma is as easy as breaking the law, according to a recent news report. 'You don't have a constitutional right to health care, but if you are incarcerated, you do,' explained Bob Ferguson, administrator for Correctional Healthcare Management, a company that provides in-house medical treatment at the Oklahoma County Jail. Ferguson said his company has a current budget of $3.1 million in Oklahoma County, with an estimated 11,500 patient encounters a month in a report by Eyewitness News. To see a doctor all an inmate has to do is fill out a medical request form. 'Within 24 hours, you're going to be in front of a nurse or a doctor,' he said. 'Twenty-four hours is not bad. You probably can't make an appointment to your doctor and get seen in 24 hours.' The costs cut into the Oklahoma County Sheriff Department's General Fund. Ferguson said the largest bill he had received for a single inmate was $106,000 for an eight-day hospital stay. 'The gentleman tried to commit suicide and he was facing life without possibility of parole,' Ferguson said. Ferguson said Oklahoma County is fortunate because its budget is big enough to absorb the high medical costs. But for small counties, that isn't the case. 'Health care problems in county jails are out of control,' Grady County Sheriff Stan Florence said. 'A $5,000 bill can kill a small county.' Florence should know. He said two jail inmates got into a fight, causing one inmate to be hospitalized. 'One inmate picked up the other and just threw him on the floor head first,' Florence said. The hospital tab cost $50,000, he said. Smaller counties have few options when confronted by high inmate medical bills. Grady County can pay the bill, fight the bill in court, or ask the sheriff to make sacrifices to cover the cost, including cuts in equipment or staffing. The problem of escalating inmate medical bills is made worse by the state's decision to close many mental health institutions, officials said, with many jails becoming warehouses for the mentally ill. To address the problem of high medical costs for inmates, some sheriffs would like to see a health maintained organization plan established for inmates only. However, it would take legislative action to make that happen, officials said. |
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