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| States Efforts To Outsource Prison Health Care Come Under Scrutiny |
| By antdaily.com - AHN · |
| Published: 07/23/2012 |
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United States (KaiserHealth) – States, in an attempt to cut costs, are increasingly outsourcing health care for inmates to for-profit companies, but the trend is raising concerns among unions and prisoners’ rights groups. An inmate is checked out by a doctor at San Quentin Hospital at San Quentin State Prison in California in 2009. (Photo by Jeff Chiu/Associated Press) About 20 states, including Arizona, Illinois and Maryland, have shifted all or portions of their prison health care operations to private firms. Officials in these states maintain that the companies, which provide physical, dental, mental and pharmaceutical services, are less expensive than employing state workers — partially because using the companies saves benefits and pension costs. “We believe that contracting out for inmate medical services is the best use of taxpayer money,” said Aurora Sanchez, deputy secretary of administration for the department of corrections in New Mexico. “It is state law to provide quality healthcare to inmates, and we are positive that inmates are getting professional healthcare at a reasonable cost.” One of the most recent states to make that decision was Florida, but that attempt became mired in a legal battle. Labor unions filed suit in May, urging a judge to block the proposal, which threatened the jobs of 900 state employees, said Jeanie Demshar, director of professional practice advocacy and labor relations for the Florida Nurses Association. The state planned to use two of the nation’s largest vendors, Corizon and Wexford Health Sources Inc., but the court refused to rule on the case this month after determining that the suit was moot since the 2011 budget had expired and the 2012 budget did not include the plan. “The reason that privatization is a better model is that when you look at state departments of corrections and local facilities, their core mission is safety, security and rehabilitation of the inmates,” said Mark Hale, Wexford’s president and CEO. “Health care is required by the Constitution but is not a core competency of those agencies.” Human rights groups, however, say that private services are not always providing care that is as good or better than what the state could. Joel Thompson, co-chair of the Health Care Project at Prisoners’ Legal Services in Massachusetts, said using private services can carry its own set of problems. “As with anything privatized or contracted out, you worry about whether the incentive to cut costs becomes too great,” he said. Public employees see the move as yet another attack on unions, and question the delivery of care. “Private correctional health care companies have a track record of cost cutting that put both inmates and staff at risk,” said Kerry Korpi, director of research for the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees. “These companies’ goal is profit, not public safety.” Complaints About Public And Private Care Both states and private companies have been the targets of numerous lawsuits during the past two decades, alleging negligent or inadequate care. “I’m not aware of any correctional system that thinks it’s where it needs to be,” said Jesse Jannetta, senior research associate at the Urban Institute’s Justice Policy Center. “I’ve noticed the same challenges and problems despite how things are structured or who is responsible for what aspect of care.” Under the Eighth Amendment directive against cruel and unusual punishment, prisoners are guaranteed adequate health care. Read More. |
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