Our analysis fuels policy change
Prison Policy Initiative updates for August 8, 2019 Showing how mass incarceration harms communities and our national welfare
Momentum is building to end medical co-pays in prisons and jails [[link removed]] Three states have taken action in 2019 to change one of the most harmful policies in prison healthcare. [[link removed]]
by Wanda Bertram [[link removed]]
Prison healthcare is almost always a depressing topic, but not today, when we can report an important victory: Illinois recently became the third state in 2019 to reform the practice of charging medical co-pays to incarcerated people.
Previously, we published a state-by-state analysis [[link removed]] showing that most prisons charge medical copays to people inside - despite the fact that their patients are impoverished and earn little to no money [[link removed]] for their work in prisons. Using prison and free-world wage data, we calculated what each state's co-pay would cost if it was charged to free-world patients making the minimum wage. Our analysis revealed that fourteen states charge co-pay amounts equivalent to charging minimum wage workers over $200.
Charging co-pays to incarcerated people to shore up a state's correctional budget is simply wrong. In our analysis, we explained that not only does this policy squeeze poor people and their families; it hurts public health by making the choice to seek medical attention a costly one.
We're glad to see that states are now paying attention and taking action:
Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker signed a bill in June eliminating the state's $5 co-pay. [[link removed]] Previously, people working in an Illinois state prison (where the minimum wage is 9 cents per hour) would have had to work for over 55 hours to afford the $5 fee. That's like charging a non-incarcerated minimum-wage earner in Illinois over $460. In some cases, incarcerated people paid even more before getting adequate care, because paying the fee didn't guarantee a doctor visit - only that a nurse would review one's medical request. Earlier this year, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation announced that it would stop charging a $5 medical co-pay to incarcerated people. CDCR's press release [[link removed]] acknowledged what advocates have long known: Charging co-pays is bad for public health. "Copayments," the press release noted, "may hinder patients from seeking care for issues which, without early detection and intervention, may become exacerbated." The department's decision came as the California legislature was considering AB 45, a bill to eliminate medical co-pays in both state prisons and county jails. AB 45 (for which we wrote a letter of support) continues to move through the state legislature. [[link removed]] The Texas legislature stopped short of eliminating medical co-pays in prisons entirely, but made substantial progress by replacing the notorious $100 fee [[link removed]] Texas had charged incarcerated people with a $3 per-visit fee. Incarcerated people in Texas, who earn nothing for their labor, had previously been charged the most extreme medical co-pays in the country - effectively forcing low-income families to pay hundreds of dollars to subsidize the state's prison healthcare system.
These reforms can't come soon enough. As we noted in our 2017 analysis, [[link removed]] out-of-reach co-pays in prisons and jails have two inevitable and dangerous consequences. First, when sick people avoid the doctor, disease is more likely to spread to others in the facility - and into the community, [[link removed]] when people are released before being treated. Second, illnesses are likely to worsen as long as people avoid the doctor, which means more aggressive (and expensive) treatment when they can no longer go without it.
It's welcome news that states are finally taking action to change this risky and regressive policy. Will your state be next?
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Other news: John Oliver cites our work on Last Week Tonight [[link removed]]
In case you missed it, Sunday's episode of Last Week Tonight exposed the high fees and low wages that prisons impose on people inside. Host John Oliver cited our research on the prison telecom industry and our analysis of prison wages. "Part of the way mass incarceration persists in this country is by keeping the true costs of it off the books," Oliver explained.
Watch the full segment [[link removed]], or read Rolling Stone's recap of the show. [[link removed]]
We're hiring - come work with us!
Do you want to shape the future of the criminal justice reform movement? We're hiring a Development Director (or Development and Comms Associate, depending on experience) as well as a Policy Fellow. For more information, see our Jobs page. [[link removed]]
Please support our work [[link removed]]
Our work is made possible by private donations. Can you help us keep going? We can accept tax-deductible gifts online [[link removed]] or via paper checks sent to PO Box 127 Northampton MA 01061. Thank you!
Our other newsletters Ending prison gerrymandering ( archives [[link removed]]) Criminal justice research library ( archives) [[link removed]]
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