MILWAUKEE, MN - The number of inmates older than 60 in the state prison system has nearly tripled in the last decade, according to a newspaper analysis. In 1995, the state Department of Corrections had 165 prisoners older than 60.

Last year, it had 492 and the average prisoner age rose from 31 to 35, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported in Monday's editions.

Officials are considering whether an aging prison population is the reason for rising health care costs. Health costs more than tripled from $28.5 million in 1998 to $87.6 million in 2005, according to the Department of Corrections. The prison population went up 25 percent in the same period, to 21,763. Officials can't say how much of that increase is due to geriatric care...Read more.

If link has expired, check the website of the article's original news source.