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| Kansas: Cuts to inmate health care limited |
| By joplinglobe.com |
| Published: 04/28/2009 |
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TOPEKA, Kan. — While nearly every state agency has seen millions of dollars slashed from programs as lawmakers struggle to balance the budget without raising taxes, cuts to inmate health care have been minimal. That’s because federal law mandates that inmates have access to the same level of health care available to people who aren’t in prison. The law means doctors, nurses and medications must be available to inmates, sometimes on a round-the-clock basis. “There aren’t a lot of opportunities for savings,” said Kansas Department of Corrections Secretary Roger Werholtz. Still, the department is cutting the inmate health care budget by $600,000 for fiscal year 2010, which begins July 1. The agency’s 2009 health care budget was $45 million and it’s overall budget for the year was $267 million. Werholtz said some vacant medical staff positions will not be filled. Providing patient care in a prison’s infirmary, rather than a community hospital or clinic, is another option to help keep costs down, he said. A new, $6 million clinic being built at Lansing Correctional Facility will provide more medical care on site, which is cheaper than the costly, security-sensitive alternative of taking inmates to a community hospital where they must be under 24-hour guard. Read more. If link has expired, check the website of the article's original news source. |
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