Avoiding lawsuits and evading accountability are two of the key drivers of healthcare decisions behind bars.
Prison Policy Initiative updates for February 19, 2025 Exposing how mass incarceration harms communities and our national welfare
New Prison Policy Initiative report explains notoriously bad correctional healthcare [[link removed]]
Why are terrible prison and jail healthcare systems so resilient against lawsuits and government oversight? How do healthcare providers cut corners with patient care to keep costs down? When and why did corrections agencies start to swing towards contracting out healthcare to companies?
In a new report, Cut-Rate Care [[link removed]] , [[link removed]] the Prison Policy Initiative answers these questions and others, providing a sweeping explainer of correctional healthcare. We focus on the incentives behind notoriously bad care found in prisons, and explain the major changes — in particular, a shift away from control of healthcare by departments of corrections — that would be necessary to reorient these systems toward a public health approach to care.
People in prison have unique health needs, suffering disproportionately from illnesses like Hepatitis C, HIV, and substance use disorder. As we’ve shown before, [[link removed]] these needs routinely go unmet in prisons. Our new report explains why: Correctional healthcare systems are services for corrections departments, not incarcerated people, and are therefore focused less on patient care and more on avoiding lawsuits.
The explainer covers:
The ways prisons protect themselves against legal consequences for poor medical care, from contracts that offload responsibility onto private companies to federal and state laws that stymie legal action. The history of privatization in prison healthcare, including a table showing the three main business models of healthcare contracts in effect in prisons today. The few quality control measures for prison healthcare — government oversight, accreditation, and litigation — and why these have all ultimately failed to meaningfully improve the quality of care.
“With prison healthcare, you regularly see that incarcerated people’s complaints get ignored, their requests for exams get denied, and their care gets slow-walked,” said author Brian Nam-Sonenstein. “That’s because prison healthcare systems are really more like liability management systems, and what’s bad for patient care can actually be good for limiting liability.”
Beyond offering an overview of correctional healthcare, the explainer also includes:
Policy recommendations for decision-makers at all levels of government, but particularly for state and federal lawmakers — whom we urge to remove the provision of prison healthcare from departments of corrections and transfer it to public health agencies, breaking down the “wall” that currently exists between correctional healthcare and public health. An appendix [[link removed]] with a thumbnail history of the evolution of correctional healthcare, centered around the pivot to privatization since the turn of the millennium. Anecdotes from six incarcerated people (in six different prison systems) whom we asked about their experiences with correctional healthcare.
“Private or public, the goal of prison healthcare providers is to provide the minimum amount of care possible in order to avoid claims of negligence,” said Nam-Sonenstein. “These are medical systems caught up not just culturally, but systemically, with the handing out of punishment. That won’t change until we take correctional healthcare out of the hands of departments of corrections and give it to professionals who are solely focused on public health.”
The full report is available at: [[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!
Other news: WEBINAR: Challenging the myths about recidivism [[link removed]]
Decision-makers often cite worries about recidivism as a primary reason to oppose criminal legal system reforms. However, the realities of recidivism are complex.
On Wednesday, March 19th, Prison Policy Initiative will host a webinar to train advocates on how to push back against unproductive and inaccurate uses of recidivism stories and statistics.
Register here [[link removed]] Chronic Punishment: The unmet health needs of people in state prisons [[link removed]]
People behind bars have complex health needs, and prisons and jails aren't equipped to meet them. In this 2022 report [[link removed]], we examined some of the most common physical, mental and other health challenges faced by people in state prisons.
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]])
Update your newsletter subscriptions [link removed].
You are receiving this message because you signed up on our website [[link removed]] or you met Peter Wagner or another staff member at an event and asked to be included.
Prison Policy Initiative [[link removed]]
PO Box 127
Northampton, Mass. 01061
Web Version [link removed] Unsubscribe [link removed] Update address / join other newsletters [link removed] Donate [[link removed]] Tweet this newsletter [link removed] Forward this newsletter [link removed]
You are receiving this message because you signed up on our website or you met Peter Wagner or another staff member at an event and asked to be included.
Prison Policy Initiative
PO Box 127 Northampton, Mass. 01061
Did someone forward this to you? If you enjoyed reading, please subscribe! [[link removed]] Web Version [link removed] | Update address [link removed] | Unsubscribe [link removed] | Share via: Twitter [link removed] Facebook [[link removed] Email [link removed]
