|
|
| PA Inmate Prescription Costs Swell |
| By The Allentown Morning Call |
| Published: 02/27/2006 |
|
Prescription medication costs for Pennsylvania's Schuylkill County Prison inmates last month skyrocketed 200 percent higher than costs in January 2005, according to figures released last week by Warden Gene Berdanier. Last month, 128 inmates racked up $20,445 in prescription medication costs. In January 2005, the figures were $6,814 for prescriptions for 68 inmates. The jump in costs prompted Prison Board President Judge William Baldwin to urge commissioners to take swift action. ''Maybe we could be in a position to consider some options by March 15,'' he said. That's when the Prison Board meets next. Commissioner Robert S. Carl Jr. said the county probably will discuss hiring an outside company to provide medical care. In October, commissioners heard a presentation by PrimeCare Medical, Inc. The Harrisburg medical provider company says its $425,643-a-year proposal would save the county money on prison health care. Prescription medicine costs have risen over the past year, spiking in August, when 106 inmates took medicines that cost a total of $21,163. The lowest ebb was last February, when 74 inmates took $5,848 worth of medications. The total for prescription medications last year was $142,654. The county received $42,976 in credit for returned medications. Medicine isn't the only hole in the county's pocket. The 154-year-old prison itself is deteriorating and crowded. Last month, Baldwin warned commissioners that the old coal-fired boiler system was faltering and that the county needs to have a backup system, perhaps gas-fired. Baldwin said that if the system fails in cold weather, the county would probably have to pay $50 a day per prisoner to house inmates elsewhere. This month, the jail is home to 266 inmates. He reminded them again of the need to have a backup system in place by this fall. St. Clair resident Jim Corrigan spoke of the need to bite the bullet and build a new jail. He said that costs will not be going down, and that the county needs to give the matter serious thought. ''The longer it's delayed, the more it's going to cost us,'' he said. |
MARKETPLACE search vendors | advanced search
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
|
Comments:
No comments have been posted for this article.
Login to let us know what you think