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| Michigan is taking bids to privatize prison health care |
| By freep.com - Paul Egan |
| Published: 07/20/2012 |
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LANSING -- The State of Michigan has called for bids in what could be the largest privatization of state government services in Michigan history. Proposals are due Aug. 29 for a massive deal to provide medical services -- physical and mental -- to all 43,000 inmates held in Michigan prisons. Services include wound care, treatment of heart disease and diabetes, dental care, optometry and sex offender treatment. The contract could replace the work of 1,300 state employees, Department of Corrections spokesman Russ Marlan said Thursday. Prison medical and mental health services cost the state $306 million in 2011, and the state wants to test the waters through competitive bidding to determine how much or whether it can reduce that, he said. The three-year deal, if it proceeds, could easily eclipse the state's 1995 sale of its workers compensation insurer, the Michigan Accident Fund, for $255 million. Though privatization initiatives of various types can be difficult to compare, that deal, under former Republican Gov. John Engler, is sometimes cited as the largest to date by the state. Privatizing prison medical services would be a major step for Michigan, but some state governments have privatized entire prisons, in addition to other services. Michigan's track record on privatization has been spotty. Because many of the jobs in the current deal involve health care professionals with marketable skills, such as nurses, critics say the state won't be able to save as much on pay and benefits as it might in other cases. The move to privatize prison health care drew praise from conservatives but concern from others who say there are no assurances such a move will dent the $2-billion annual cost of housing inmates. "I think it's a good start -- we've recommended privatizing the entire (corrections) system," said Michael LaFaive, a director at the conservative Mackinac Center for Public Policy and privatization specialist. Read More. |
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