NCJ Number
164602
Journal
Corrections Compendium Volume: 21 Issue: 10 Dated: (October 1996) Pages: 6-20
Date Published
1996
Length
15 pages
Annotation
A 1996 survey of corrections agencies in the United States and Canada collected information on inmate health care budgets and cost trends.
Abstract
Responses came from 44 States and eight provinces. Results revealed that costs for inmate health care increased from just under $2 billion in 1994 to more than $2.3 billion in 1996, an increase of more than 16 percent. At the same time, the number of new inmates increased nearly 20 percent. The cost of providing health care to one inmate for 1 year increased 5.6 percent. Health care consumed an average 10.45 percent of total budgets, an increase from 9.59 percent in the previous period. Eighty-six percent of the jurisdictions perform tuberculosis testing of inmates, while 75 percent test for HIV and 30 percent test for hepatitis. More than 150,000 inmates were reported to have undergone treatment for alcohol or other drug problems in 1995. Thirty-nine percent of the systems provide alcohol and drug treatment, 50 percent provide sex offender treatment, and 80 percent provide mental health treatment. Forty-seven percent of the State corrections agencies have special facilities for older inmates. Figure and tables